Category Archives: Uncategorized

By BartenderOne | Published: January 29, 2016

Hot off the heels of the “Made with Love Toronto Qualifiers,” meet Amy S. Amy is a bartender at Marche Restaurant in Downtown Toronto. Wanting to sharpen her skills and broaden her knowledge, Amy took the International Bar Chef Certification (IBC) in 2015. Speaking about the course, Amy says: “The class went way beyond my high expectations and gave me a new appreciation for the detailed aspects of Mixology. My instructor was engaging, knowledgeable and interactive. The material was not overwhelming, although some classes did require learning a bit of Chemistry which was actually a lot of fun! I really enjoyed the blind taste tests as well, and learning the history behind the main spirits groups. At the end of the course, we were required to put our new found knowledge to use, and were asked to create a cocktail menu. I enjoyed IBC so much, I picked up skills I use every day. Given the chance, I would definitely do it all over again!”

Amy’s signature cocktail is a “Longanesa Manhattan,” a Filipino inspired cocktail made with smoked Longanesa sausage.

 

Screen Shot 2016-01-29 at 10.50.18 AM                                                                                             Amy competes with some of the city’s finest Bartenders at Made With Love

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Maybe you should just head straight to the bar for your next team-building event?

By BartenderOne | Published: July 13, 2015

youtube_link_image

Click here to watch a team-building workshop in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iBoNGV_YWU

Is your workday in need of more open communication, creativity and positive motivation?
Are you looking for new ways to spark innovation and strengthen team dynamics?
Would you like to know how to spread the happiness of happy hour throughout your whole organization?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re probably ready to introduce a little happy hour into your 9 to 5! 

Bar Chefs know that different spirits, liqueurs, sweeteners, and citrus combine to make a mouth-watering cocktail, just like different personalities, skill sets and expertise combine to make up a successful team.  Understanding these synergies, and how the ingredients in a cocktail (and a team) work harmoniously together have tremendous parallels when you consider why a well-made cocktail tastes so delicious, and how the strengths of each team member combine to achieve a common objective.

When you motivate people to pool their talents in a team environment, they will perform at their best individually and as team players.  So whether you’re launching a new product, tackling a difficult company transition or building a perfect martini waterfall, you’ll want to make sure the team is as strong as possible!  Here are some of the reasons that building and strengthening internal teams is so important to the success of an organization:

 

  1. Relationships are strengthened,
  2. Lines of communication are opened,
  3. Creativity is stimulated,
  4. New ways of strategizing and solving challenges are discovered,
  5. Whiners, complainers and hidden agendas are eliminated.

 

Working on the premise that happy staff are productive staff (and most everyone is happy when they’re enjoying a cocktail or even a mocktail), make sure that your team-building workshops are fun-filled as this is a common language the entire team will understand!

 

The BartenderOne team (founded by award-winning flair bartender and master mixologist Gavin MacMillan) are experts in bringing people together in a fun, engaging way, to build team dynamics and increase productivity – offering everything from general “Get Into the Spirit” and “Rockin’ Mocktails” workshops to events focused on specific beverage types (e.g. “Let’s Get Hopped Up” Beer workshops and “Buena Barista” Coffee Workshops).

 

 

Also posted in Featured Events, How to Videos, Mixology, Raising the Bar | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Quest for the Best New Bartender in Toronto is coming!

By BartenderOne | Published: June 29, 2015

Quest for the Best new Bartender in Toronto is happening on August 13th, 2015!

Check out these bartenders in action as they compete for the title of:

Best New Bartender in Toronto!

Jeong Ho Lim

David Miguel

Joanna Oliver

Rashi Gupta

Eder Sanchez

Srirag Babu

Jeremy Gui

Bartenders, your cocktail recipe must be submitted AT LEAST 48 hours before the event starts!

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This is how you become your bartender’s favourite costumer

By BartenderOne | Published: January 13, 2014

You spend more time with your bartender than you do with your family; you should have a better relationship with him/her than the one you have with the people who drove you to hang out in bars all the time. To help, we asked a bunch of ‘tenders for advice on how to become exceptional at being a regular.

Order simple when things get hectic
Even if the bartender designed the cocktail menu, he’ll be grateful if you ask for a beer or whiskey instead of an 8-ingredient masterpiece.

Handle your people when they get out of hand
If someone you brought in starts instigating fights, grabbing asses, etc, get them to stop, or get them to leave. Don’t wait for the bartender or bouncer to step in. Their first move’s gonna be to ask you to handle it, because you’re in a better position to calm your boy with words instead of judo.

Offer your bartender the right shot, for the right reasons
The right attitude’s “I know you’re working, but it’d be awesome if you joined us”, not “Screw your job, hop on our party train!”. Also, offer them their preferred shot, not yours; and remember that a shot is never a substitute for a tip.

Perfect the Casual Half-Raise
It’s not universally accepted yet, but there might be a way to get a bartender’s attention without being a jerk. This open-palm, one-raised-finger, half-mast gesture says in the most undemanding way possible, “I’m here when you’re ready”. It’s so good!

Err towards cash, but don’t sweat credit
Cash is king because you take tips home that night instead of 1-2 weeks later, and they’re (shh…) not taxed. BUT: Bartenders get that this is a plastic world; you’re not losing cred by using credit, but tip a bit more anyway, because credit cards aren’t real money.

Keep your bartender company on slow nights
Do talk about: sports, music, movies, drinking, embarrassing sex stories, “ancient aliens”.
Don’t talk about: politics, religion, how much money bartenders make, sex stories where you’re really good at sex.

Don’t freak your bartender out on slow nights
If you’re a creepy stalker, just be low-maintenance about it. Bartenders of both sexes know they’ll have admirers. If they think “I can live with this creep” instead of “I’m calling the cops on this creep”, you’re winning (relatively).

Be respectful even when you feel you’ve been horribly wronged
Bad-tasting beer is rarely the bartender’s fault, and regardless he’ll comp you a replacement — happily so if you’re cool. If you got the wrong cocktail, you might have ordered wrong, especially if you ordered for a group. If you got the right cocktail but think it was made wrong, remember that bartenders dip a straw for a taste before serving. If the drink’s truly off, they’ll catch it.

 

Bus your table, mind your chair 
If you ordered at the bar, bring your empties back. If there’s table service but the barback’s overwhelmed (sure sign: the bartenders are frantically washing glasses), lending a hand is a “veteran move”. Pushing in your chair to keep service lanes clear is a subtle assist, but the guy not tripping over your chair will notice.

Streamline every interaction so the bartender never has to ask additional questions:
Always say “Can I start a tab?” or “Can I close this out?” when handing over a card.

Lay out specific ingredients, in the order the drink’s constructed: “Grey Goose & cranberry with extra limes” vs “Cranberry & vodka… can I get more limes?”.

With multiple drinks, flag down the bartender only when your entire order’s ready.

Tell him how much change you want; it saves a step, and now he knows it was you who tipped $3 on a $7 drink, and not the Tip Fairy.

Tip like a boss, or at least senior management
$2 per drink is solid; $3 is more than solid. 30% on an end-of-evening bill gets you remembered that night; 50% gets you remembered every night. For buybacks, 50% of whatever the drink would’ve cost works, though even at 100% you’re still saving cash.

For a “This is for you, please take care of me” bonus, 50-100% of that crucial first round’s total works, followed up by $2-$3 per round to keep the goodwill flowing. But if things get hectic, don’t remind the bartender of your generosity — it’s a fine line between rewarding you and shafting everybody else.

Make “a shot and a beer” your regular order
“Makes me smile, every time.” — every bartender in the world

Let the bartender determine when you’ve earned “regular” status…
You can’t force things by introducing him to your friends on your second visit or commiserating about how terrible the other customers are. If you do, like, half of the above stuff, seven visits (not including weekends!) ought to do it.

… and to keep that status, be discreet 
If you have an “awesome guy” discount, don’t put 10 friends on your tab. If you get to order after last call, this quote pretty much sums it up: “Last call is like corralling a bunch of toddlers at nap time. Everybody is hurting each others’ feelings, hitting each other, wetting themselves, etc. The last thing that needs to happen is for them to see the one kid still playing with the toy that they all want.”

 

ORIGINAL SOURCE

http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/how-to-become-your-bartenders-favorite-customer

 

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Is using the Jigger the new trend for mixology in 2014?

By BartenderOne | Published: January 6, 2014

David Rios rised to fame in 2013 after being crowned as DIAGEO World Class Bartender of The Year. His forecast is that in 2014 cocktails will become cleaner, simpler and with a focus on masterful execution where serious mixologists will return to the basics with a special focus on achieving precision by using the jigger for every pour.

If you took part of the BartenderOne Masterclass to become a bartender, you probably know that BartenderOne strongly advices perfecting the free pour instead of the use of jiggers to provide bartenders with a skill that sets the industry’s standards. For many years, the use of the jigger was associated with unexperienced or even worse ungenerous bartenders who would count every drop of alcohol driven by greedy bar owners trying to squeeze every cent out of the bottle. However, according to Rios, creating the perfect cocktail is more like baking than savory cooking requiring  mathematical precision to achieve the results desired and the jigger stands out as the perfect tool to make perfect cocktails allowing to manipulate the product in process without being forced to dump it out and start again

Among other trends, Rios mentions the return of classic cocktails like the Martini and a growing use of theatrical elements to the making of clients’ drinks, the appearance of bottled cocktails, flavored ice cubes and locally-produced spirits.

What’s your opinion on this subjet? What do you think are gonna be the trends in the cocktail and mixology world for 2014? Let us know your opinion, you might be the next guru the industry needs!!
ORIGINAL SOURCE:

“World’s best bartender says to expect cocktails to be simpler in 2014” Daily News Online. Available at:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/cocktails-cleaner-simpler-2014-article-1.1561496#ixzz2peKcsjtd

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WARNING: Controversial subject” TV show “reveals” 4 ways a bartender can rip you off

By BartenderOne | Published: November 21, 2013

As you know, the temptation to take money that is not yours in this industry is one of the biggest issues for managers and owners and can destroy a career if trust in a bartender is lost. That is one of the reasons why BartenderOne stresses the importance of work ethics and honesty as a key element in any bartender. However, our friends at ABC have a very different opinion. Keep on reading, this concerns you

An ABC show airing tomorrow (10 p.m. ET) at ABC is bringing up a very relevant subject for all of us in the industry: The ways some bartenders and bar owners rip off their guests.

For this purpose, ABC hired Jon Taffer, who has owned more than 600 bars and clubs during his career and is the host of Spike TV’s “Bar Rescue where he travels the country, helping to turn struggling bars back into booming businesses but who comes down to this show with a very harsh reality:

“In the bar business, sometimes people are losing so much money. They can be losing $10,000 to $20,000 a month. Their house is on the line. They get desperate,” he said.

Among the tricks bartenders use to cheat customers according to Taffer are pouring less than the full amount of liquor charged for, watering down drinks and even secretly giving a cheaper brand than the one ordered when the guest cannot tell the difference between top-shelf vodka and the cheap stuff.

“If you come and say ‘Let me have a Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks,’ I’m not going to mess with that. I’m giving you Johnnie Walker Black,” he said. “If you come up to me and say ‘Let me have a Grey Goose and orange juice,’ that’s the ticket to pour you the cheapest vodka I’ve ever had.”

According to Taffer, these are the most usual ways bartenders rip off their customers:

 

1- Swapping Good Booze for a Cheaper Brand or Even Water

Sometimes bartenders will pour cheap liquor into an empty premium bottle, Taffer said, or they’ll add water to a half-finished top-shelf brand.

“Either you’re getting diluted [liquor] or you’re getting a different brand altogether,” he said. “It’s the epitome of desperation. It’s stupidity.”

It could be the bartender doing the switcheroo on his own, or the owner telling the bartender to be dishonest, or both, Taffer said. In the end, those who do it do so to try to make more money off each drink.

 

2- Giving You the ‘Short Pour’

Crushed ice, meaning the ice that comes out of those large bins behind the bar, means less liquor, Taffer said, while cubed ice allows for more space for liquor and is a better deal. But a half jigger of booze poured over crushed ice appears to look like more booze than a full jigger poured over cubed ice, he said.

 

 

3- Giving You the ‘Long Pour’

Don’t be impressed if your bartender can pour a drink a foot away from the glass, Taffer said. He is just cheating you out of booze by creating an illusion.

“This idea is holding the arm up high in an exaggerated pouring motion, you think you are getting special treatment, you are only getting a special show. No extra booze, maybe even less,” he said. “When you lift that arm, you create an illusion of quantity. … Not only are you not special, you’re the exact opposite. I’m ripping you off.”

4- Giving You the ‘Sneaky Pour’

When a bartender holds the bottle over your glass for a long time, he is obviously giving you something extra, right?

Wrong, says Taffer, but you’ll tip him as if he did.

“The truth is they hold their finger over the air hole on the spout, which reduces the flow to a trickle,” he said. “They hold the bottle instead of the glass so you can’t see how little is flowing out. … Then they quickly add the mixer and plop in that straw.”

That little red straw is the key to fooling you into thinking that weak drink the bartender just gave you tastes strong because, Taffer said, unscrupulous bartenders will keep those straws in a glass of vodka hidden under the bar.

“The bartender draws a swig out of that vodka and your first sip tastes strong,” he said. “You are convinced, even though the rest of the drink is weak.”

 

Want to Avoid Being Messed With? Order Bottled Beer

The only thing the bartender can’t tamper with in a bar, Taffer said, is bottled beer.

“Unfortunately bottled beer is your safest bet,” he said. “It’s prepackaged. It’s sealed. You see it opened in front of you.”

Original Source:

ABC News Online

http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/ways-bartender-rip-off-order/story?id=20940303

 

 

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A new film about bartending? It was about time!

By BartenderOne | Published: November 19, 2013

HEY BARTENDER FOTO

Since 1988 when Tom Cruise took flair bartending to the masses with “Cocktail” – a movie which many bartenders in the industry openly dislike- the interest in the noble art of pouring a drink has been virtually back in the shadows.

That is why, it is always good when you find another film that brings back the life of a bartender to the big screens. This being said, it was a pleasant surprise to find “Hey Bartender; The story of the bartender in the era of the crafted cocktail” produced this year and which even more surprisingly is good!

This documentary focuses on the lives of two bartenders trying  to achieve their dreams through bartending.  The first, an injured Marine who turns his goals to super star  bartender at the best cocktail bar in the world. The other, a former bank executive who leaves his white-collar job to buy the corner bar in his hometown years later he struggles to keep afloat. The bar is three deep and the bartenders are in the weeds at the greatest cocktail party since before Prohibition.

Hey Bartender is the story of the rebirth of the bartender and the comeback of the cocktail. Featuring the world’s most renowned bartenders and access to the most exclusive bars in New York with commentary from Graydon Carter, Danny Meyer and Amy Sacco.

For all of you know -it- alls out there, this documentary may not be the kind of absolutely real film you are waiting for, but one of the features that adds points to this film is that despite the fact of being backed by a major distillery it is not the propaganda, advertising tool you could expect.

We won’t spoil the surprise for you.  Here is the tariler for you to find out more about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HUwmDqi2kA

Watch it and give us your opinion. It’s finally good to be back on screen

 

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What is the most effective way to get a bartender’s attention in a crowded bar?

By BartenderOne | Published: November 18, 2013

Going to your favorite bar or club is as you may already know, one challenge after the other. Choosing the rights clothes, handling the logistics to get there, going through the bouncer’s filter. But probably, the biggest challenge is when you get to the bar and you are competing with another 50 thirsty throats for the bartender’s attention.

This issue has been around since bars exist, but now science comes to our help. Behavioral researchers from the BielefeldUniversity in Germany sat down and figured out the best and worst tactics using body language when ordering a drink. After analyzing 105 customer attempts to order drinks in nightclubs in Germany and Scotland, they looked at what the customers were doing in the 35 seconds before being served. Their conclusion: The most effective strategy is to stand squarely to the bar and look directly at the bartender as he/she moved around. You need to do both to communicate you’re “bidding for attention.”

Looking at the bartender was successful in 86% of the orders. Leaning on the bar happened infrequently but also seemed to high a high strike rate when it did happen.

The findings were used to produce an update to the robotic bartender’s programming to allow it to ask customers if they would like a drink when they display the right body language.

The researchers also, isolated a few tactics that definitely DO NOT WORK. These included squeezing in between other customers (you might end up waiting even longer), leaning on the bar, looking at a menu or the drinks available, or looking at money. The study also reported that waving money is a surefire way of not getting served.

What you think of this research, do you think there is any other tactic they missed?  Share the secret and help your fellow partygoers get their alcohol faster.

Original Source

The Telegraph Online ‘How to use body language to get served first at a bar”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/10315850/How-to-use-body-language-to-get-served-first-at-a-bar.html

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Pissed bartender destroys customer’s credit card and then throws the pieces in her face

By BartenderOne | Published: November 14, 2013

A couple days ago we mentioned the story about a bartender who responded to a drunk guest throwing his face on her face to stabbing his hand Hannibal Lecter style. Today we have a somewhat similar case – with much less blood – regarding a short tempered bartender and a card with no funds in the city of  Dayton, Ohio.

Check the story:

“A West Milton woman’s recent request to run a bar tab set in motion a bizarre set of events at a local bar that could not possibly have been the best use of two officers’ time.

The bartender decided to charge the woman’s debit card instead of holding it for the tab she requested, according to a police report.

The 23-year-old’s debit card was declined for insufficient funds.

Things spiraled out of control from there, as they often do in these situations.

The bartender told the woman her card was “no good” and accused her of trying to scam him, the report says.

The woman protested as the bartender tore at the card in a scene that must have seemed like something you’d see on “Real Housewives of New Jersey.”

She told the bartender that the card was her only means of getting her paycheck to be deposited at midnight.

Not buying it, the bartender broke the card in half and threw the pieces in the woman’s face.

Wow

A short time later, the woman called police and her bank. She learned her paycheck had been deposited in to her account after all.

Officers interviewed the woman and the bartender.

The bartender said he decided to charge the woman’s $9 drink to her card when he realized she was paying with a debit card and not a credit card.

According to police reports, he said he was scammed recently by another person and now “just tears up people’s cards when they are declined. He said the debit cards are not real credit cards and they are just the same as a loaded card someone gets from the blood bank.”

OK, what?

He doubted the woman’s story about being paid at midnight and told police he wasn’t about to let the woman scam him so he tore her card in half. He asked the officers if they had ever heard of anyone checking at midnight to see if their checks were deposited”

 

So what you think?

We know that this industry is harsh and it implies dealing with a ton of cheap drunks trying to scam you, but do you consider this bartender’s actions were justified?

Let us know your opinion

 

Original Source:

 

Dayton Daily News Online:

Angry bartender destroys customer’s debit card

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/entertainment/angry-bartender-destroys-customers-debit-card-thro/nbrMk/

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15 Reasons NOT To Date a Bartender

By BartenderOne | Published: November 14, 2013

flirtybartener

A few weeks ago we shared a very popular article listing the 10 reasons to date a bartender. Now, to be fair, we are reproducing a very good reply to this originally mentioned in the Huffington Post.

Here are the 15 reasons NOT TO DATE a Bartender. Check it out and let us know your opinion.

15 Reasons NOT to date a bartender

1: You will not see them. When you do they will look like they are a) hungover and b) exhausted. This is because they are a) hungover and b) exhausted.

2: Whenever you visit a bar together, no matter how stunning you look, their first glance will always be at the spirit selection. If the bar has a poor spirit selection, they will be depressed and listless for the rest of your evening.

3: Unless you are willing to learn something about aged rum and the subtle nuances of various bitters, they will resent you.

4: No matter how super-smart they actually are, all your friends will think they have less than three GCSE’s to their name and almost certainly in humanities subjects like drama and home economics.

5: Other women will hit on them and they will reciprocate under the guise that all bartenders need to be “professionally single.”

6: On a sunny day, when you wish to frolic in the park, they will be hidden in a sweaty pit of duvet moaning in pain at the sunshine creeping through the window like the vampires of old.

7: Face facts, your mother is not going to be pleased.

8: Every holiday you take together will have a hidden alcohol theme. You may visit Cuba (Havana Club), Guatemala (Ron Zacapa), and France (Hennessy Silver Jubilee 1977) but you will never visit Egypt, (makes nothing) Cambodia (less than nothing), and Puerto Rico (Bacardi).

9: You will have at least six conversations a day about how c**p the tips are. Then you will eat out and they will leave a c**p tip because their tips are c**p. (This may be deemed controversial in the USA where you get on average a dollar a drink; however in the UK, Australia and New Zealand you get on average a dollar a fortnight divided between eight of you with a discretionary percentage to the kitchen, so I’m sticking with it.)

10: In fashion, both on shift and off, they will lean toward wearing more black than Johnny Cash at the height of his career (1960-1963) and only marginally less than a Hasidic Rabbi.

11: Their natural musk will be the faintly perceptible smell of Jagermeister.

12: Years of inbuilt cynicism from dealing with the general public means they will believe in no faith, creed or deity but will fly into an uncontrolled state of rapture at the mention of the name Dale Degroff.

13: Their sexual performance will be limited by a bad back caused by years of picking up heavy objects with poor lifting technique. Plus who knows what effect years of living off pizza, KFC, the bar’s complimentary peanuts and dubiously coloured staff meals has had on their sperm count.

14: Your chances of getting on the property ladder are slim, as the pay is so bad it will take you approximately 1,253 years to get a down-payment together, and then only on a one-bedroom flat in Croydon, Loughton or Dagenham, which will never be cool or trendy.

15: They will judge all your friends harshly when they order a mojito.

 

Original Source:

The Huffington Post Online, “15  Reasons not To Date a Bartender”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-miles/15-reasons-not-to-date-a-bartender_b_4267527.html

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