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Out of curiosity, what kind of percentages are you guys pulling down on average? My new gig is pretty comfortably at 20%, but I'm wondering how that compares to elsewhere.
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Nov 20, 2012 17:46
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My apologies if I am re-posting a question, but of the 23 pages, I didn't find this hidden away. How do you feel when someone comes up to you and asks for a mixed drink with a base alcohol you know nothing about? For example, if you're used to making rum and cokes, do you get frustrated or confused (or surprised and excited) when someone asks for a Corpse Reviver #2?
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Nov 21, 2012 06:44
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irohol15 posted:My apologies if I am re-posting a question, but of the 23 pages, I didn't find this hidden away. How do you feel when someone comes up to you and asks for a mixed drink with a base alcohol you know nothing about? For example, if you're used to making rum and cokes, do you get frustrated or confused (or surprised and excited) when someone asks for a Corpse Reviver #2? Well a Corpse Reviver #2 isn't exacly a "mixed drink", and I'd be surprised if anyone didn't know anything about the base alcohol, gin, but this has sort of been covered in this thread, just as a customers perspective instead of a bartender's. So let me answer this question by addressing the place I think it spawned from instead of focussing on the question itself, exactly. As a customer, you don't go to a bar that's going to be making simple mixed drinks, (like rum and cokes etc,) ask for a classic cocktail (like a corpse reviver #2) and expect to even remotely enjoy whatever you get given. The bar won't be set up for it, and there's a good chance the bartender won't even know what it is. Not because he/she is a poo poo bartender, but more likely that they've never even been asked for this type of drink in this kind of bar before and this is the wrong place to even be asking for it. To elaborate a little, (ok a lot,) you've got to understand that just because you can get a Corpse Reviver #2 (or any kind of classic cocktail, or even some obscure shooter) in a bar, doesn't mean you can get one in any bar. Bars come in all different kind of varieties and if someone comes up to you in a packed college nightclub and orders a Corpse Reviver while you're slinging beers and jager bombs to a bar that's four deep, you're likely going to get a little frustrated, scratch your head and politely ask what is wrong with them. That is if you've even heard of a Corpse Reviver #2 before because if not, you just spring into improv mode, tell them to lean back and open their mouth while you freepour tequila into it and when they swallow and stand upright, you slap them across the mouth while they're making "the tequila face," and say, "There you go, that'd even raise the dead!" On the other hand, if someone comes into your little speakeasy on a quiet night and orders one, you're going to be stoked to make them a top quality drink because you not only have the ingredients to make one, but also have the time available to put the effort in to make it just right, ensuring that it's going to be a memorable and enjoyable experience for them that they're going to come back for. Certain bartenders are going to love this order, while certain bartenders are going to hate it and class you as a pretentious dumbass. The thing about drinking is that context is everything. For instance, you go to a wedding in a suit and get shitfaced on Martinis or Champagne and noone really looks twice at you. Shotgun cans of pabst all night long and drag the brides mother to the bar to do some Rocky Mountain Bearfuckers though, and you might find yourself left out of the family retreat to the Bahamas. Try and rock a martini at a frat house while everyone's doing keg stands and have 40's taped to their hands, and you'll probably get called gay. tl;dr: I love making a good drink, and I love drinking a good drink. You've got to pick your battles though.
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Nov 21, 2012 08:25
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nrr posted:Well a Corpse Reviver #2 isn't exacly a "mixed drink", and I'd be surprised if anyone didn't know anything about the base alcohol, gin, but this has sort of been covered in this thread, just as a customers perspective instead of a bartender's. So let me answer this question by addressing the place I think it spawned from instead of focussing on the question itself, exactly. As a customer, you don't go to a bar that's going to be making simple mixed drinks, (like rum and cokes etc,) ask for a classic cocktail (like a corpse reviver #2) and expect to even remotely enjoy whatever you get given. The bar won't be set up for it, and there's a good chance the bartender won't even know what it is. Not because he/she is a poo poo bartender, but more likely that they've never even been asked for this type of drink in this kind of bar before and this is the wrong place to even be asking for it. I've been to said speakeasy's and have received the "what the gently caress are you on" look before. That's one reason behind the question. I do understand that context is key, so thank you for covering all aspects of it.
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Nov 21, 2012 19:32
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irohol15 posted:I've been to said speakeasy's and have received the "what the gently caress are you on" look before. That's one reason behind the question. I do understand that context is key, so thank you for covering all aspects of it. As a guy who works in a speakeasy type bar, I'll try and field what might have happened to you. This seems to happen most in the kind of place that's known for their originals, where they maybe have one person who is responsible for house cocktails, and they make all the unique ingredients and probably batch the drinks every week. The servers and bartenders are trained to the menu, but they don't have to know much outside of it. Also, sometimes you get a person who is just unaware of some esoteric thing, and when it's cocktails, it's all esoteric. I've got poo poo for not knowing what a New Orleans French 75 was, in my opinion it was retconned variation of the retconned drink, and should probably contain bourbon (right?), but to the customer it was brandy. That makes just as much sense as a gin based French 75. Basically, you either got the new person, or the place isn't exactly a cocktail bar, but it is a bar that has a cocktail menu.
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Nov 21, 2012 23:11
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doginapot posted:As a guy who works in a speakeasy type bar, I'll try and field what might have happened to you. This seems to happen most in the kind of place that's known for their originals, where they maybe have one person who is responsible for house cocktails, and they make all the unique ingredients and probably batch the drinks every week. The servers and bartenders are trained to the menu, but they don't have to know much outside of it. It's starting to seem like the fact that I'm trying to learn as many drinks as possible (cocktail, mixed, what-have-you) seems to be a bit of an overkill.
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Nov 22, 2012 00:30
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irohol15 posted:It's starting to seem like the fact that I'm trying to learn as many drinks as possible (cocktail, mixed, what-have-you) seems to be a bit of an overkill. The problem is that there is no universal standard for the vast majority of drinks out there. Even very common drinks are made differently in different regions/bars - drinks as common as mojitos, cosmopolitans, and Long Island iced teas. Hell, even classics that have been around for decades such as Manhattans and margaritas have variation from one bar to the next. If you have a specific off menu cocktail request, rather than just ordering it, your best bet is probably to ask if the bartender knows how to make it, or better yet, ask them how they make it. You'll probably come across a number of bartenders who have no idea what you're asking for, but you might be pleasantly surprised a few times as well.
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Nov 22, 2012 01:07
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Come into my bar, the only cocktails you'll get are lager tops.
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Nov 22, 2012 02:06
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Shooting Blanks posted:If you have a specific off menu cocktail request, rather than just ordering it, your best bet is probably to ask if the bartender knows how to make it, or better yet, ask them how they make it. You'll probably come across a number of bartenders who have no idea what you're asking for, but you might be pleasantly surprised a few times as well. I was talking more about the concept of me bartending, but your information is still sound, just focused more on the bartender than the customer.
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Nov 22, 2012 05:10
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You might also want to tell a bartender what your desired cocktail is like. I've made a ton of drinks I didn't know with a description, but deciphering is a large part of that equation, and bar that can do that will know what a corpse reviver or a last word is.
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Nov 22, 2012 07:37
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Oh god I love Blackout Wednesday!!$450 in 3 hrs.
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Nov 22, 2012 10:54
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irohol15 posted:I was talking more about the concept of me bartending, but your information is still sound, just focused more on the bartender than the customer. Then take it in reverse - as an example, I've heard something like 7 different recipes for a Liquid Cocaine. If you get requests for drinks that you're either unfamiliar with, or that you make very infrequently, ask your customer what they're expecting.
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Nov 22, 2012 12:15
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That's my experience with an Espresso Martini in particular. Every single person that orders one wants it made differently, so I've just started asking them what they want in it. I've heard so many variations of Creme de Cacao and Frangelico and Kahlua and Vodka that I just know I'm going to make it "wrong" unless I ask what they're actually after.
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Nov 22, 2012 16:46
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So I was up till 7am this morning trying to turn a thousand tomatoes into little bloody mary's that you could pick off a vine for an event we're doing with Cirque du Soleil today. It better be the best damned thing that people have ever seen ever (it will be) because injecting a thousand tomatoes with a cocktail is not exactly a walk in the loving park, just in case any of you were wondering.
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Nov 24, 2012 01:03
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nrr posted:So I was up till 7am this morning trying to turn a thousand tomatoes into little bloody mary's that you could pick off a vine for an event we're doing with Cirque du Soleil today. It better be the best damned thing that people have ever seen ever (it will be) because injecting a thousand tomatoes with a cocktail is not exactly a walk in the loving park, just in case any of you were wondering.
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Nov 24, 2012 01:58
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nrr posted:So I was up till 7am this morning trying to turn a thousand tomatoes into little bloody mary's that you could pick off a vine for an event we're doing with Cirque du Soleil today. It better be the best damned thing that people have ever seen ever (it will be) because injecting a thousand tomatoes with a cocktail is not exactly a walk in the loving park, just in case any of you were wondering. So, uh, syringe full of vodka and what? Did you go in through the stem like a good plastic surgeon should?
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Nov 24, 2012 03:29
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Pretty slow night but we had some guy at our bar tonight that was pretty cool. He owns an advertising company in Los Angeles and he was out here in the burbs of Houston doing some promotion with converse and footaction. He drank a couple of beers and the other male bartender, Keaton, and I talked to him for a little while. Then he said he had to go across the street to the mall and set up and that he'd be back later. He promised to bring us some stuff when he came back. We were like "Yeah, that'd be cool man. See ya!" not really thinking much of it because people are always promising to give us stuff and it never happens. This guy definitely delivered though. He showed up a few hours later with 10 really cool tote bags, like 20 t-shirts, and about 60 pairs of shoelaces in every different color. Keaton and I took everything we wanted and doled out the rest among the managers. I don't really wear graphic shirts around but drat these things are soft and I'll be wearing them to chill around the house quite a bit. I ended up getting 4 shirts, 3 bags and a few pairs of shoelaces. I've had guests promise me Texans tickets, rodeo tickets, all kinds of stuff. I never actually get anything. The only other guy that's actually delivered on something like that got me into the crawfish festival for free but that was it. I didn't end up making much money but we shot the poo poo with this dude for a couple hours so it wasn't too bad.
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Nov 24, 2012 07:36
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Sheep-Goats posted:So, uh, syringe full of vodka and what? Did you go in through the stem like a good plastic surgeon should? We did a clarified tomato consume, mixed with a lemon and worchester consume then mixed that with vodka. Then a spice mix for the rim that we put around the base of the vines as if it was soil, to rim the glasses in front of the customers. Turns out that no, you can't just inject any kind of decent amount of stuff into a tomato because they're already pretty plump and firm and just split with even a small amount of extra liquid. We figured out a way to extract the insides of the tomatoes so that we could then replace it with booze. I think we were all pretty firm in our solidarity that we would never ever try and undertake something so stupid ever again.
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Nov 24, 2012 13:14
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nrr posted:I think we were all pretty firm in our solidarity that we would never ever try and undertake something so awesome ever again. There. Fixed that for you. As much as it sounds like a gently caress-ton of work, and fiddly as hell, it also sounds like one of the coolest nights ever.
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Nov 24, 2012 13:34
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nrr posted:We did a clarified tomato consume, mixed with a lemon and worchester consume then mixed that with vodka. Then a spice mix for the rim that we put around the base of the vines as if it was soil, to rim the glasses in front of the customers. Turns out that no, you can't just inject any kind of decent amount of stuff into a tomato because they're already pretty plump and firm and just split with even a small amount of extra liquid. We figured out a way to extract the insides of the tomatoes so that we could then replace it with booze. I think we were all pretty firm in our solidarity that we would never ever try and undertake something so stupid ever again. Fiddly, sure, but awesome doesn't have a price.
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Nov 24, 2012 14:48
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On the subject of ordering specialty cocktails at a bar, honestly one of my personal favorite things to do is check out their house specialty menu or ask the bartender what their favorite specialty is. Most of the time you'll get a perfectly made drink from a bartender that was happy to see you show interest in their opinion or at least took interest in the house cocktails.
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Nov 24, 2012 18:54
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Snappy Zings posted:On the subject of ordering specialty cocktails at a bar, honestly one of my personal favorite things to do is check out their house specialty menu or ask the bartender what their favorite specialty is. Most of the time you'll get a perfectly made drink from a bartender that was happy to see you show interest in their opinion or at least took interest in the house cocktails. Going one step further, if you're going to ask for a cocktail of the bartender's choice, it's not a bad idea to give them some idea of what you're looking for - maybe a base spirit (bourbon, gin), or something else you really like (citrus juices, fizzes made with egg whites), etc. Doing this at the right bar can open you up to some really cool stuff. There's at least one bartender who has posted in this thread that I have visited more than once and literally never ordered a specific drink from - I just let the guy make whatever seems interesting, and am always pleasantly surprised as a result.
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Nov 24, 2012 22:48
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I just moved to Brooklyn and am steadily employed, but I'd like to pick up a side gig for some extra spending money because this city is really expensive. That said, I have absolutely 0 bartending and or restaurant experience. I know that the general wisdom of the thread is "Just lie man!" and I have absolutely no problem with doing that. Assuming I know how to make basic drinks and am familiar with all the slang that gets thrown around this thread, is there anything I should know that relates specifically to bartending in NYC or just high-volume bars in general that would make me seem more legitimate during an interview/the first few nights of work?
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Nov 29, 2012 10:23
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For the record: gently caress everybody who has ever walked backwards through a bar to death. Behind the bar especially but I am constantly dumbfounded by the sheer number of patrons who will moonwalk through my (3 feet wide) venue clutching two cocktail glasses and still take umbrage to every person who bumps into them. Also tonight we solved a really pressing ontological problem. Is there a mispour so bad a bar-back wont drink it? Yes, apparently. drowned in pussy juice fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Nov 29, 2012 |
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Nov 29, 2012 13:38
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MC Eating Disorder posted:For the record: gently caress everybody who has ever walked backwards through a bar to death. Behind the bar especially but I am constantly dumbfounded by the sheer number of patrons who will moonwalk through my (3 feet wide) venue clutching two cocktail glasses and still take umbrage to every person who bumps into them. People walk backwards while holding cocktail glasses? ...Why? Frankly, if a bar is that crowded and I want to drink a cocktail (assuming it's that kind of bar in the first place), I generally ask them to pour the drinks into old fashioned glasses anyway to minimize the chance of a spill. It's not "correct" but I'd rather get to my table with full drinks, personally.
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Nov 29, 2012 16:00
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MC Eating Disorder posted:
What was it? I'm asking both to avoid myself and possibly use for evil inflicting it on colleagues. You know, for those times that Tabasco in their beer just won't cut it.
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Nov 29, 2012 16:57
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I told a new guy to make me 3 Royal Fucks. He didn't know the recipe so I told him, 1/3 of a shot of Peach schnapps, 1/3 shot of crown, 1/3 red bull. He poured a shot of each in all three.
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Nov 29, 2012 17:19
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Masonity posted:What was it? I'm asking both to avoid myself and possibly use for evil inflicting it on colleagues. You know, for those times that Tabasco in their beer just won't cut it. From the taste I would say cherry herring, creme de myrtille, lemon juice, cre de cacao and definitely some honey, plus a hefty dose of scotch drowned in pussy juice fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Nov 29, 2012 |
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Nov 29, 2012 17:57
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MC Eating Disorder posted:From the taste I would say cherry herring, creme de myrtille, lemon juice, cre de cacao and definitely some honey, plus a hefty dose of scotch This was a mispour? What was he trying to make, an Emetic?
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Nov 29, 2012 19:50
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MC Eating Disorder posted:Also tonight we solved a really pressing ontological problem. Is there a mispour so bad a bar-back wont drink it? Yes, apparently. Fire that barback 
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Nov 29, 2012 21:05
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RisqueBarber posted:I told a new guy to make me 3 Royal Fucks. He didn't know the recipe so I told him, 1/3 of a shot of Peach schnapps, 1/3 shot of crown, 1/3 red bull. I've had this but they called it a Vegas Car Bomb. Peach schnapps and crown in a shot dropped into the red bull. Not bad at all but I never feel it, good way to separate out a string of beers though.
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Nov 29, 2012 22:09
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Spaceman Future! posted:I've had this but they called it a Vegas Car Bomb. Peach schnapps and crown in a shot dropped into the red bull. Not bad at all but I never feel it, good way to separate out a string of beers though. Its delicious! Problem is the new guy made it 3oz instead of one. Someone had to drink them.... 
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Nov 29, 2012 22:11
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Sometimes I misspour a shot of tequila by not adding a lime or salt with it, and well gently caress, I guess someone has to drink it.
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Nov 29, 2012 22:25
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The shot is 1/3rd Schnapps, 1/3 whiskey and 1/3rd red bull? In one regular-sized shot glass? Doesn't really live up to a name like "Royal gently caress".
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Nov 30, 2012 00:02
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As in, I don't give a royal gently caress what I put in my body to get hosed up, maybe.
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Nov 30, 2012 00:05
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nrr posted:Fire that barback it was me, i couldn't drink it, i accept this shame. In my defense it was already a terrible night for mispours (as always, I blame the full moon) and customers ordering bottle beers and only telling me they didn't actually have the money for them after I'd already opened them, and after a G&T, a couple of beers and probably way too many safety meetings, even the smell of what was in this glass made me feel sick. Remember the episode of Venture Brothers where doc is making his patented mocha coolers out of kaluah and hershey syrup and a bunch of other gross poo poo? It reminded me of how that might possibly taste It was a weird hybrid where it looked like he started making one of the menu cocktails, a dessert style scotch thing, and then halfway through he flipped and switched to making another cocktail based on chivas with lemon juice and CdeMyrtille and only just realised after he'd gotten to the very end. For references sake I should say that the barbacks have been shotting a batch of falernum that came out wrong and really bitter just because its a whole bottle of alcohol we're never gonna use otherwise, we usually pride ourselves on our ability to drink anything with a smile on our face and a song in our heart, but this was just wayyyyyy too much. drowned in pussy juice fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Nov 30, 2012 |
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Nov 30, 2012 01:54
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Working the xmas party tomorrow for our club. Should be a bit crazy as the owner generally makes it open bar for domestics and wine for about an hour. It's nuts how entitled some people get about free booze. Here are some things people have actually said to me in years past: "I just bought a beer. Why didn't you tell me it would be free in five minutes!? Hey, can I get my money back?" "I don't like beer or wine so you should give me a free rum and coke. Make it a double." "I just got here. Why isn't it free all night? Who gets to a party at 9?" (Almost everyone else, pal. We're packed all night.)
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Nov 30, 2012 01:56
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Vegetable Melange posted:As in, I don't give a royal gently caress what I put in my body to get hosed up, maybe. I'm not sure why you'd waste your time on a mixed shot then
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Nov 30, 2012 02:11
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Masonity posted:What was it? I'm asking both to avoid myself and possibly use for evil inflicting it on colleagues. You know, for those times that Tabasco in their beer just won't cut it.
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Nov 30, 2012 02:21
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Tequila and midori was the way we used to break in newbies at the last bar I worked at, absolutely loving awful in every way. It has a kind of reverse synergy where they each bring out the worst in each other and it was not at all uncommon to throw up in a bin immediately afterwards
drowned in pussy juice fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Nov 30, 2012 |
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Nov 30, 2012 02:43
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