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Shooting Blanks posted:How are you going to chip a metal tin? Or am I misreading this? I think he's concerned about the shaker glass chipping against the tin, when used like this:  The idea being that the glass could chip against the tin and the shard makes it's way into the drink.
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May 10, 2013 01:55
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door Door door posted:Not scooping ice with glassware is obvious. But don't Boston shakers pose the same danger, even if the glass chipping is less likely? edit: LogisticEarth posted:I think he's concerned about the shaker glass chipping against the tin, when used like this: edit2: There also might be some physics reason behind it, like the seal is partially formed by the tin getting cold and contracting round the glass, so the force isn't "vertical" (in the direction of the base to the rim). That's just a guess though. Hoops fucked around with this message at 02:08 on May 10, 2013 |
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May 10, 2013 02:04
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Pretty sure he's talking about scooping ice out of the well with the glass half of the boston shaker (which you can also get as two metal halves - hence the confusion) which is a major no no as already stated. Also, the danger of the glass half of the shaker chipping into the tin with regular use is super minimal, but if you do manage to do it, all you need to burn is the drink you just made and not your entire ice well.
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May 10, 2013 02:15
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I was worried about the glass chipping when you 'set' it in the shaker. I'm looking at buying a shaker and I'm trying to decide between a boston shaker and one that has a metal top. Glad to hear it's basically impossible to gently caress up a glass when using a boston shaker.
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May 10, 2013 05:14
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Yeah, I've never seen that happen. Can't imagine it really, but bar glasses see a lot of stress from use and being heated and cooled over and over in the course of washing them, so I can't say it's impossible either. If you're worried you can use two slightly different sized tins but IMO the glass is showier and nicer.
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May 10, 2013 05:37
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Sheep-Goats posted:Yeah, I've never seen that happen. Can't imagine it really, but bar glasses see a lot of stress from use and being heated and cooled over and over in the course of washing them, so I can't say it's impossible either. If you're worried you can use two slightly different sized tins but IMO the glass is showier and nicer. I have absolutely seen (and performed myself) a shake with two differently sized tins when doing super high volume/where the gently caress is my barback I haven't seen a clean glass in a half hour style bartending. Nothing wrong with it in that atmosphere. Eschewing the glass is worth getting the drink to the patron more quickly in such situations anyway, imho.
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May 10, 2013 08:10
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I actually use the smaller tin instead of the glass nowadays. I hated it at first but the more I got used to it, the more I liked it and now when I have to use a glass, it feels big and cumbersome and just so much slower and clumsier. It probably makes zero difference in speed in reality, but I just feel like I'm faster with the tins.
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May 10, 2013 09:01
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I always preferred a cheater tin for single drinks or a couple shooters, and a normal tin & oversized tin for large batches of shooters. I've never seen a glass break or chip while shaking, but I have managed to break a glass when I got a little too exuberant breaking the seal betweein tin and glass. What a pain in the rear end.
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May 10, 2013 13:58
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door Door door posted:I was worried about the glass chipping when you 'set' it in the shaker. I'm looking at buying a shaker and I'm trying to decide between a boston shaker and one that has a metal top. Glad to hear it's basically impossible to gently caress up a glass when using a boston shaker. I've got a Boston where the glass has a rubber lip around the top to make a seal easier for us amatuers. I got it at Target, it's Chefmate, which I think is there house brand. If they still have it it would be in their bar area in the kitchen utensils area.
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May 10, 2013 14:44
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Shooting Blanks posted:I always preferred a cheater tin for single drinks or a couple shooters, and a normal tin & oversized tin for large batches of shooters. I've never seen a glass break or chip while shaking, but I have managed to break a glass when I got a little too exuberant breaking the seal betweein tin and glass. What a pain in the rear end. That's the best way to break a shaker glass. Just smashing it against the corner of the bar, and watching business stops as every patron stares at you wondering why you just tried to shove a martini through a bar top. Then having fun trying to cover yourself, saying, "I bet that martini isn't gonna talk poo poo anymore."
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May 10, 2013 16:15
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pokchu posted:That's the best way to break a shaker glass. Just smashing it against the corner of the bar, and watching business stops as every patron stares at you wondering why you just tried to shove a martini through a bar top. Then having fun trying to cover yourself, saying, "I bet that martini isn't gonna talk poo poo anymore." I've only ever used a glass with a shaker and I've never not been able to break the seal with my palm. But I see other bartenders using the edge of the bar constantly. I can never decide if it's because they're using ingredients that create pressure that I don't use, or if they're shaking it with far, far more ferocity than I do, or if they were just improperly trained and love having to burn a well because of broken glass.
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May 13, 2013 11:24
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I finally found this thread. In addition to my regular bar and my other occasional bar job I've been taking jobs from a big hospitality agency. As fun as wearing a dickie bow tie is, I spent the start of my first shift frantically filling a table with ~90 Bellinis and that's pretty much where the hell started. Cheater tins are probably a little faster. I like the smaller base and having less weight but I also don't like the idea of building drinks in anything other than a glass so I stick with the glass. Hoops posted:edit2: There also might be some physics reason behind it, like the seal is partially formed by the tin getting cold and contracting round the glass, so the force isn't "vertical" (in the direction of the base to the rim). That's just a guess though. You set my curiosity off so I just did an experiment at home with warm tap water. It still formed a vacuum fine and was pretty much just as stiff when I set it down to separate. The contraction is probably a factor but I didn't find it made too much difference. Using the edge of the bar is terrible practice. No excuse to not separate properly unless you're inexperienced and you just need to get the damned thing off to serve the drink. Breaking a mixing glass is something I don't think I've ever seen before, and I've seen everything from somebody having a full mixer/glass fly out of their hands and hit the wall so hard it left a dent in the plaster to flat out bouncing on the ground upon being dropped. Edit for extra content. I'm in the UK and have been playing with the idea of moving to America for a few years. I graduate with an Art History degree in two years and want to land somewhere with a strong gallery scene. NY being the dream. Will a few years of bar experience and an accent be enough to assume that I can land and be earning enough money to pay rent and feed myself within a few weeks? I've got strong cocktail knowledge which is relatively rare in the UK. rorty fucked around with this message at 08:58 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 07:48
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The only time I've had any real issues with glass breaking is when I overload the Boston, 2 drinks for a cocktail glass is usually ok but if I try to put two long drinks in a glass, it becomes impossible to get off and I have about a 33% chance of the glass shattering in the tin. The other bartenders don't seem to have as much trouble as I do, but it happens to them occasionally as well, and since this has never happened to me anywhere else, I'm assuming its crap boston glasses. It's even happened on a single drink before when I was too aggressive with it, and that's how I got into the habit of cracking shakers WELL away from the station if I can at this place
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May 15, 2013 09:29
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rorty posted:I finally found this thread. In addition to my regular bar and my other occasional bar job I've been taking jobs from a big hospitality agency. As fun as wearing a dickie bow tie is, I spent the start of my first shift frantically filling a table with ~90 Bellinis and that's pretty much where the hell started. Having an accent will absolutely help you land a job, especially if you concentrate on applying at British/Irish pubs. I can't say it'll happen within a few weeks, but getting a bar job in the US is quite difficult for guys in general, and very competitive.
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May 15, 2013 10:35
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rorty posted:I'm in the UK and have been playing with the idea of moving to America for a few years. I graduate with an Art History degree in two years and want to land somewhere with a strong gallery scene. NY being the dream. Will a few years of bar experience and an accent be enough to assume that I can land and be earning enough money to pay rent and feed myself within a few weeks? I've got strong cocktail knowledge which is relatively rare in the UK.
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May 15, 2013 11:40
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Just wondering how often you all wash the speed pourers/spouts/whatevers in your alcohol bottles, and how you go about that? Today, after giving the bar an incredibly thorough clean after it's been abused and neglected while I've been on holiday, it dawned on me that I'm the only person I know who actually cleans them in any way. Generally every bottle in my bar has a plastic pourer with a plastic 1oz cap on it. When I use the bottle I then keep the cap off it, so that at the end of the night I can see that any bottle without the cap has been used, and is therefore dirty. All the caps and pourers just get soaked in soda water for a bit and then thrown through the glass washer as the last cycle of the night. Not a single person I've ever worked with does anything like this though, so I'm wondering whether I'm being silly, or everyone else is just a grot? I work with one girl who will use the cap to measure a shot, then put the cap back on the bottle without rinsing it. That includes Baileys, Midori etc., so you can imagine the bar and all the bottles dripping with sticky poo poo at the end of the night, and that's made me doubly vigilant about cleaning.
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May 15, 2013 17:02
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rorty posted:I finally found this thread. In addition to my regular bar and my other occasional bar job I've been taking jobs from a big hospitality agency. As fun as wearing a dickie bow tie is, I spent the start of my first shift frantically filling a table with ~90 Bellinis and that's pretty much where the hell started. How old are you? How do you look? What are you doing for a visa (overstaying? student? -- both of these options do not allow for legal work but they are the most common two for overseas bar staff in the US, overstaying can get you banned for ten years when you finally do leave)? Also I assume you don't know anybody in the bars here already? Bar jobs are very competitive in the US compared to the UK. Even more so in big cities with galleries and more so again in cocktail oriented places. The accent is helpful but not in that scene, it's helpful in the Irish bar scene which has two problems for you. The first is that many of these bars are run by Irish expats and while most Americans won't differentiate between the two accents the owners may take a pass on your orange rear end. The second is that turnover at the good Irish pubs is minimal and work at the bad ones can leave you a bit hungry. You would also probably look for a job in the arty farty parts of Brooklyn where the turnover issue is still there but where the bars are run by Americans and your "oh boy an accent" appeal may still have appeal. I used to bartend in NYC but switched careers at 30 because I saw the writing on the wall. User Vegetable Melange is currently a bartender at cocktail type places here, I remember him saying (fairly recently?) that he got his contacts initially through signing up with a bartending union or organization or something here, but you should probably seek him out for advice. You can also try contacting user Tofu Infection (check in the NYC DWI thread in goon meets) -- I wouldn't put much stock in the opinions of the second guy honestly but he is currently working at some pub in NYC so maybe he has some perspective for you as well. There's a NYC lady bar tender around too but I can't remember her name, don't think she's as active, and the female experience varies radically from the male when seeing bar work in NYC (before I switched I conned my way into interviews at three nice big name night clubs here where I would have made a fortune behind the bar, charmed the poo poo out of my interviewers, and was told candidly on the way out that they'd ask the owners for me but they were currently supposed to only be hiring women). Look into the visa thing first though, you'll find in general that there are basically no legal ways for you to work here (getting married to an American is the only way really) and there are serious problems with working here illegally long term, despite the nightlife industry being one of the few that makes that possible. It's the same deal for us when we try to find work in the EU now, if that makes you feel any better. There was a recent bit of noise on the internet from that remix guy Pogo along these same lines: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobil..._n_2906418.html ubermarcus posted:I work with one girl who will use the cap to measure a shot, then put the cap back on the bottle without rinsing it. That includes Baileys, Midori etc. 
raton fucked around with this message at 18:49 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 17:29
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ubermarcus posted:Just wondering how often you all wash the speed pourers/spouts/whatevers in your alcohol bottles, and how you go about that? quote:Bar jobs are very competitive in the US compared to the UK. Even more so in big cities with galleries and more so again in cocktail oriented places. The accent is helpful.
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May 15, 2013 17:58
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Outside of the major nightlife capitols here you don't have a consistent answer. In some college towns (like where I'm from in Montana) getting a job at a happening bar is one of the very best jobs someone could have there and you're absolutely not getting in unless you're already close friends with current staff or the owner. You might be able to get a job at that one old man bar (particularly if you have tits as now that bar will finally have one pair in there at least) where they still think tipping quarters is generous. In other places that are less cool the competition is a bit easier but a large amount of the jobs will be at chain restaurants and the like where you also can't get work illegally. Also, in general, the whole off the books tips for takehome only kind of system that allows illegal foreign labor the foothold it has in the US nightlife industry is not really a thing outside of major markets. BTW the bar that Cheers is based on is in a nice location in Boston and would be a hard place to get a job at. raton fucked around with this message at 18:10 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 18:07
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ubermarcus posted:Just wondering how often you all wash the speed pourers/spouts/whatevers in your alcohol bottles, and how you go about that? I tend to soak spouts in boiling water and plastic wrap them (or just leave them off and put the caps back on the bottles) at the end of the night. Keep on cleaning those spouts, fruit flies suck, and they suck worse when they get in the bottles.
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May 15, 2013 18:36
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JawKnee posted:I tend to soak spouts in boiling water and plastic wrap them (or just leave them off and put the caps back on the bottles) at the end of the night. Keep on cleaning those spouts, fruit flies suck, and they suck worse when they get in the bottles.
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May 15, 2013 18:42
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We had the chrome spouts with rubber flanges and they had the annoying habit of rusting after about a week. Ideally I guess it would have been good to remove the rubber from the metal pieces and wash/dry separately but people just ended up soaking them in warm water and leaving them in a tin to dry overnight. It was great when someone didn't rinse them properly, the morning guy would pick up the tin and have a cloud of flies rise from inside.
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May 15, 2013 19:09
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Hoops posted:I totally get that in Vegas, New York, Miami etc bartending is a really prized job and you have to work your way up. I don't know about "working your way up" but yes, it is like that everywhere in the USA.
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May 15, 2013 20:59
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Can you guys help me convince my friend he's throwing his money away? He has two kids, is 22, and has another on the way. He's taken to selling his possessions to pay his apartment rent. Now he's got this idealistic view about bartenders making 500 a night in tips, since his girlfriend told him that two bartenders at her work told her about this place where you pay 1,000 loving bucks to learn how to bartend. And then they magically sign you on for 5 day a week shifts at bars in high class high traffic city areas in Philadelphia. Whoa, your life's cut out for you! Basically just please tell me what to say to get him on the right track, because that's the biggest load of poo poo I've ever heard and I'm 20. I told him he's gonna have to bar back at a lovely bar for a while then gradually take on shifts because they never hire fresh bartenders because its about experience like every other job, and he just keeps refuting me saying "but nobodys hiring bar backs!!" Without even trying.
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May 15, 2013 21:23
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I'd try to sell him on wearing rubbers and just give up on the other part.
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May 15, 2013 22:02
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Cromlech posted:Can you guys help me convince my friend he's throwing his money away? He has two kids, is 22, and has another on the way. He's taken to selling his possessions to pay his apartment rent. Now he's got this idealistic view about bartenders making 500 a night in tips, since his girlfriend told him that two bartenders at her work told her about this place where you pay 1,000 loving bucks to learn how to bartend. And then they magically sign you on for 5 day a week shifts at bars in high class high traffic city areas in Philadelphia. Whoa, your life's cut out for you! Your friend is going to waste 1000 bucks on a bartending course and not get hired with it. That isn't strictly speaking a rule (I got hired on nothing but a bartending course 5 years ago at a local dive bar) but it may as well be. There is also no way in hell he is going to get a gig that pays that much per night without loads of experience, and some contacts, and finding just the right place that inexplicably has a position that fabulous open up, because I guarantee no loving bartender is ever going to walk away from a gig that pays that much.
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May 15, 2013 22:06
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Cromlech posted:Can you guys help me convince my friend he's throwing his money away? He has two kids, is 22, and has another on the way. He's taken to selling his possessions to pay his apartment rent. Now he's got this idealistic view about bartenders making 500 a night in tips, since his girlfriend told him that two bartenders at her work told her about this place where you pay 1,000 loving bucks to learn how to bartend. And then they magically sign you on for 5 day a week shifts at bars in high class high traffic city areas in Philadelphia. Whoa, your life's cut out for you! He sounds like a guy who doesn't listen so if you will please just tell him to mail me 500 bucks in cash while he's at it and I'll "guarantee" him a "bartending" job I'd be grateful. Bartending school has never gotten a single bartender hired ever. EVER. Go be a waiter or a barback at a chain restaurant and wait for your shot to move to the bar, do that for six months, then try getting a job at a lovely bar. Do that for six months while making friends with other bartenders. Then apply to to their better-than-yours bars when spots open up. That's as fast as you can do it unless you have tits (and even then...) or your dad owns a bar.
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May 15, 2013 23:57
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Sheep-Goats posted:How old are you? How do you look? What are you doing for a visa (overstaying? student? -- both of these options do not allow for legal work but they are the most common two for overseas bar staff in the US, overstaying can get you banned for ten years when you finally do leave)? Also I assume you don't know anybody in the bars here already? Currently 22, will be 24 when I intend on embarking. Relatively handsome, well dressed, slight facial hair, excessive fringe. Equally comfortable smart and casual. I was intending on using the student visa to get over as I'm chasing a masters (art historians do not get off lightly) but I wasn't aware how strict they are about working. That policy is dumb as bricks. My institution has a good relationship with two big NY galleries and I'm currently competing for a summer internship at the Guggenheim (who have sponsored visa applications from students at my institution before) so that might be a way to get started. Not sure where I'm going to fit in a year or two of bartending in that. My masters plan just sank. I'm totally aware of the UK/US bartending differences, before I started I got all my information from US sources and my knowledge and skill is US standard at least. I've been serious for about two years, and once the staff I like at my current gig start moving on I'll be chasing up the arty farty cocktail/'mixology' places. Have worked for one of the cocktail-inventing award-winning types and loved it. I'm definitely in a weird one because I know exactly where I want to end up, I just want to put it off for a few years so I can experience the film Cocktail for myself. I've played with doing seasons in Europe and Australia bartending but I don't have anywhere near as much desire.
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May 16, 2013 01:40
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If you have the student visa you'll probably be able to find somewhere to work under the table and probably will never get caught doing it. Age is about right. You might be able to do it. Of course, if you somehow get caught working on your student visa they will probably kick you out and ban you for ten years (no they won't let you stay and finish your degree). There may be an allowance for a certain number of working hours as a student but there may also be restrictions about what kind of jobs you can do (IE: maybe just work study type jobs at your school?) -- I don't really know the details about that.
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May 16, 2013 07:13
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Sheep-Goats posted:He sounds like a guy who doesn't listen so if you will please just tell him to mail me 500 bucks in cash while he's at it and I'll "guarantee" him a "bartending" job I'd be grateful. I am the very rare exception to this rule - I went from barback to bar manager in a high volume nightclub in under a year, and that was only because I caught the opening bar manager stealing tips, and because none of the owners had ever owned a bar before. It was a really...strange place, but holy poo poo did the money roll in. It is not something anyone should ever expect to happen, frankly.
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May 16, 2013 14:09
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Cromlech, tell your buddy to go into a bunch of really cool, exclusive nightclubs/bars (or even just call them up) and ask the managers there if they would hire him as a bartender without any experience. After that, get him to say, "well ok, what if I've got 5 days worth of experience then?" and if the responses don't convince him that this course is some bullshit scam, then tell him for the right price, I can get him an application at Space in Ibiza were he can send half of the money back to his family and spend the rest having the time of his life on Spanish beaches with hot European women.
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May 16, 2013 21:18
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I feel sick every time I have to make an AMF.
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May 16, 2013 21:53
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Shooting Blanks posted:I am the very rare exception to this rule - I went from barback to bar manager in a high volume nightclub in under a year, and that was only because I caught the opening bar manager stealing tips, and because none of the owners had ever owned a bar before. It was a really...strange place, but holy poo poo did the money roll in. Poorly managed bars are my favourite. My first proper bar job was a place I used to DJ at, they transitioned me to half-DJ half-barman and paid me both wages. Then they realised they were selling pretty much all of their beers at a loss.
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May 16, 2013 23:34
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I once had a dream I moved to the US and began bartending there. People flocked from far and wide to hear me explain in thick Doric why 80 Shilling is way better than Export and you can gently caress off and do one if you want a cocktail, here's a lager tops ya fanny. Whisky coke? Straight or soda, nothing else. Shut up, fitbaw's on, listen to me explain why John Terry's such a prick. It was a nice dream.
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May 17, 2013 15:30
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Coohoolin posted:I once had a dream I moved to the US and began bartending there. People flocked from far and wide to hear me explain in thick Doric why 80 Shilling is way better than Export and you can gently caress off and do one if you want a cocktail, here's a lager tops ya fanny. Whisky coke? Straight or soda, nothing else. Shut up, fitbaw's on, listen to me explain why John Terry's such a prick. YO I JUST WANT A JAGER BOMB
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May 17, 2013 16:52
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Speed Rack finals last night. Everything hurts and why did melodie draw a heart on my chest and oh god there are photos...
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May 17, 2013 18:37
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Coohoolin posted:I once had a dream I moved to the US and began bartending there. People flocked from far and wide to hear me explain in thick Doric why 80 Shilling is way better than Export and you can gently caress off and do one if you want a cocktail, here's a lager tops ya fanny. Whisky coke? Straight or soda, nothing else. Shut up, fitbaw's on, listen to me explain why John Terry's such a prick. Gimme something fun! I don't know, I don't like whiskey or strong things!
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May 17, 2013 19:59
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FaceEater posted:Gimme something fun! I don't know, I don't like whiskey or strong things! A tall glass of milk with creme de menthe no ice E: Also I would enjoy the poo poo out of that kind of bar Coohoolin. Got a bunch of expat Scots and Irish regulars at my current gig who are in every day - they aren't fussy, they tip well, and they're a blast to talk to.
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May 17, 2013 20:41
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If we could move the Australians back to England and then fill up Australia with Scots, Irish, and Thais that would be a good island for me. I would have to run the nightclub, the cocktail bar, and the space program though because honestly... E: oh and we need exactly one German to run the car factory. And the S&M shop. FaceEater posted:Gimme something fun! I don't know, I don't like whiskey or strong things! Cocaine raton fucked around with this message at 21:28 on May 17, 2013 |
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May 17, 2013 21:17
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Sheep-Goats posted:Cocaine Well since you're just making it up, if I don't like it, that means it's free, right?
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May 17, 2013 23:22
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