Bartending Blog

Bartending Basics: 3 Areas Every Bartender Needs to Know About

admin — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:34:02 +0000

As someone who is interested in becoming a bartender, it pays to know about the bartending basics that come along with the job. Being a bartender includes a lot more than simply pouring drinks for customers as they request them. Like any other profession, there are a lot of things that you need to know about your worker area, your day to day tasks, the tools of the trade, and how to prepare for your day before you even see your first customer. Beyond that, it pays to know the basic techniques for drink mixing and serving. So, what are some of the most important bartending basics that you should be aware of before you start looking at ways to get the certification you need to work behind a bar? Let’s take a look at what one of the top bartending schools in Pittsburgh, PA have to say.

1. The Tools

It all starts here. No matter what kind of job you work, chances are there are tools you need to get the work done. Just as a carpenter needs a hammer and a chef needs a knife, you need your own set of tools in order to make drinks for your customers. Among the many implements that you’ll be using as a bartender, you will need:

A Can Opener – For opening cans of fruit and syrup
Cloths and Bar Mops – To keep an area clean and free of spills
A Cocktail Shaker and a Blender – For mixing cocktails
An Ice Bucket – To keep your ice cold and clean
Measuring Cups – To measure ingredients used in making mixed drinks
A Strainer – To remove ice, pulp, and other objects from mixes when you blend ingredients together

This is just a small sample of the many tools you’ll be using as a bartender, but it also pays to remember that there are different styles of drinking glasses meant for certain kinds of drinks. Wine has its own type of glass, as do highballs, shots, cocktails, and many of the types of drinks that you’ll be serving over your bartending career. Even though the tools are important to your success, bartending basics go beyond what you use to do your job. You also need to know about…

2. Preparing Your Area

What you use in your line of work is just as important as how prepared you are to serve your customers once they take a seat and begin ordering their drinks. In the case of being a bartender, organization is everything! You want to make sure that you have access to everything you need throughout the night, which means that you want your tools and drinks as close to as possible. That can be achieved through these helpful tips

Keep your main (most popular) liquors and your ice right in front of you. In all likelihood, you’ll be going back to these dozens of times throughout the day.
Safety is just as important as efficiency. As you handle drinks while you work, you may spill some. Keep a mat under your feet in the work area so that you don’t run the risk of slipping and falling.
You may also want to consider preparing your garnishes beforehand, so that you will have plenty to go around as people begin ordering the drinks that garnishes typically go with.

If you only take away one lesson from bartending basics, it should be that appearance counts for a lot. By having a neatly organized work area, you can be sure to keep pace with the demands that working behind a bar can bring and that will mean more money your pocket at the end of the night.

3. Basics Techniques

Finally, when it comes to bartending basics, it helps to know all about the various techniques that you’ll be using once you start working. Some of those techniques include things like:

Shaking – When a drink requires that it be mixed and chilled at the same time, you put the ingredients into a shaker in order to accomplish that.
Blending – When you need to mix ingredients that can’t be broken apart by shaking, use a blender to ensure that the drink is made properly. Sometimes, you may need ice. When that is the case, use a fair amount of crushed ice to get the job done.
Building – Unique among techniques that are considered bartending basics, building means that you put the ingredients into the glass from which the drink will be served.
Straining – This technique ensures that large portions of ingredients are kept out of the drink as you pour it from shaker to glass

These three areas are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to running a bar but, by being well versed in these aspects of bartending basics, you’ll be well on your way to earning the certification you need in order to work in places that have bars. By attending a professional bartending school that will provide you with the kind of training that restaurant and bar owners look for, you’ll be in a fun, exciting new career in no time!

Have Another Shot To Cure A Hangover?

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:06:03 +0000

Hangover Joe's Get Up & Go hails itself as The Morning After Hangover Recovery Shot. "I have seen it all" said the director, "companies saying to take pills, before you drink after, to take it as the last drink of the night etc. We know people are not going to be doing all this while their drinking. Most people do not decide 'I am going to have a hangover'. People don't set out to basically get hungover, it just happens and when it does they have there old friend Hangover Joe' to turn to in the morning, The product is designed to relieve symptoms associated with a hangover. The website states they "had the product scientifically developed for just that, it works plain and simple and if you use the product the morning after drinking you will for sure see the results of our new hangover recovery shot!" According to the company, everyone from working guys to professionals to soccer moms is using the product . Hangover Joe's is a lifestyle product and it has a big following online on Twitter, Facebook , Myspace and Digg!

How does Hangover Joe's - Hangover Recovery Shot Work?

Alcohol-induced hangover, defined by a series of symptoms, is the most commonly reported consequence of excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol hangovers contribute to workplace absenteeism, impaired job performance, reduced productivity, poor academic achievement, and may compromise potentially dangerous daily activities such as driving a car or operating heavy machinery. These socioeconomic consequences and health risks of alcohol hangover are much higher when compared to various common diseases and other health risk factors. Nevertheless, unlike alcohol intoxication the hangover has received very little scientific attention and studies have often yielded inconclusive results. Systematic research is important to increase our knowledge on alcohol hangover and its consequences. This discusses methodological issues that should be taken into account when performing future alcohol hangover research. Future research should aim to:

Further determine the pathology of alcohol hangover
Examine the role of genetics
Determine the economic costs of alcohol hangover
Examine sex and age differences
Develop common research tools and methodologies to study hangover effects
Focus on factor that aggravate hangover severity (e.g., congeners)
Develop effective hangover remedies.

Hangover Joe's is a patent pending, revolutionary new product that is totally unique from all other hangover products on the market today. Hangover Joe's claims to be the only morning after hangover recovery shot on the market that is a recovery shot to counteract the awful symptoms of a hangover. Hangover Joe's was formulated by a laboratory chemist who is an expert in the field. The company boasts that The hangover recovery shot is 100% all natural where only the freshest, most pure ingredients are used. Hangover Joe's is easy to use and convenient to carry around or to travel with and is very inexpensive. For more information view thier website at http://www.hangoverjoes.com/

Mixology Now a Recognized Science!

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:09:14 +0000

Often times, we hear people refer to mixology as a science, but the Japanese have brought that claim to a new level with their testing hot alcoholic beverages for superconductivity. According to an article the Institute Of Physics website, Japanese researchers have been immersing iron-based compounds in hot alcoholic beverages such as red wine, sake and shochu to induce superconductivity. Red wine was shown to induce the best superconducting properties; however beverages with the same alcohol concentration showed a significant difference. This suggests that it may not be the alcohol contributing to the creation of superconductivity but instead another component present in the beverages. Professor Yoshihiko Takano, Nano Frontier Materials Group at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, said, "The iron compound becomes superconductive by air exposure but the sample needs to be exposed to air for a few months to show superconductivity. This is a very, very long time. "However, the sample immersed in the red wine becomes superconductive only in one day, much faster than air-exposure." Chip, one of the PBSA staffers in Cincinnati brought this article to our attention last week when it was "Colder than a ________" (You can fill in the blank) and we saw him out in the parking lot trying to jump-start his car with an Irish Coffee by pouring it in the cells of his battery. Needless to say, the experiment did not go so well and Chip was last heard muttering something about "Junk Science"! We at PBSA admire the efforts of the Japanese scientists in their effort to learn a new skill, but we remind scientists everywhere that while Mixology can be a science in the right hands, a scientist can't make a great cocktail unless he goes to bartending school!

Coca Cola Secret Recipe Exposed?

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:48:56 +0000

Not even Wikileaks, the watchdog of all secrets published the "secret recipe" for Coca Cola, but The Public Radio show ThisAmericanLife.org did. The Coca Cola Company has always kept the recipe under 24 hour guard, but somehow back on February 8, 1979 a photo was published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which is reportedly is an exact duplicate of the redipe Created by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886 The photo shows a person holding open a book with a recipe, which is said to contain the precise amount of all the different oils needed to create ‘Merchandise 7X’, Coca-Cola’s secret ingredient. Merchandise 7X makes up only 1% of the drink’s formula, but the key ingredient is believed to give one of the world’s most popular soft drink its unique taste. So for all of you purists out there that would like to make their own version of coca cola, here is the recipe:

Fluid extract of Coca 3 drams USP
Citric acid 3oz
Caffeine 1oz
Sugar 30 (it’s unclear from the markings what quantity is required)
Water 2.5gal
Lime juice 2 pints 1 qrt
Vanilla 1oz
Caramel 1.5oz or more to colour
7X flavour (use 2oz of flavour to 5 gals syrup)
Alcohol 8oz
Orange oil 20 drops
Lemon oil 30 drops
Nutmeg oil 10 drops
Coriander 5 drops
Neroli 10 drops
Cinnamon 10 drops.

We still do not know what 7X Flavor is.... The search continues!

PBSA Rolls Out New Tool for Learning Mixology

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:05:05 +0000

It has been three years in the making, but it has been worth the effort! The late nights mixing drinks until they are perfect and photographing them (and then disposing properly - by consumption) has led to this new tool Called the Cocktail Challenge. The cocktail challenge was originally developed as an interactive study tool for our students in our PBSA schools, but due to the overwhelming acceptance of the tool, it was ported over to a fully functional program and now we are releasing it to the public. The PBSA Cocktail Challenge is not just a tool for students, it is something that anyone can use at home when having a party so your guests get the drink they are expecting. All of the recipes are standards in the bar industry, just as we teach in the schools. Buy using the time tested method of Flashcards, (with a twist) you can use it in three different modes:

Study Mode
Learning Mode
Challenge Mode

The Study Mode lets you view the recipes for the first time at your leisure at your own pace. Once you get a familiarization, you can go into Learning Mode and self test as you go so you can learn the drinks frontwards and backwards. When you believe you are up to snuff, the Challenge Mode is timed and automatically graded. You can keep track of your progress as you polish your skills. You can find the PBSA Cocktail Challenge at PBSACocktailChallenge.com Once you are there, you can play a live demo and see for yourself how valuable of a tool this is

TOLEDO BARTENDING SCHOOL BLOG – Bartending can make you a believer.

Will Cobbin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:05:50 +0000

The job market being what it is, I’m talking to people all the time now: recent college grads, furloughed office workers, retirees looking for extra income and excitement, or construction workers in the off-season. And I tell them, bartending is truly one of those rare ventures that can ‘stir up’ your career without a huge time and money investment. Seriously. Where else do you get to make new friends—or meet old ones, every single night? Where else are you paid well ($100-$200 a day) to create good times for yourself and everyone around you? Where else can you grab the spotlight in some of the most happening places in town? Here at Toledo Bartending Schools, we’ve placed people at spots like Bretz, Metropolis, Murphy’s Place, The Village Idiot, and clubs throughout the Warehouse District. And they always come back saying they can’t believe they get paid to do this. Bartending also offers flexible hours you can fit around school, as well as a full- or part-time day job. All that with just some very simple, affordable training. Okay. So, as founder and director of Toledo Bartending Schools—one who’s seen hundreds of success stories, I can’t help but make this pitch. If you’re ready for a change, and even thinking about bartending, give it a whirl. It costs little to learn, but pays off big-time in terms of income and job satisfaction. Plus, with the summer months approaching things are really heating up for this recession-proof profession. Now how cool is that? Call us and see for yourself.

CLEVELAND BARTENDING SCHOOL BLOG – Making drinks? Or making history?

Will Cobbin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:01:53 +0000

I recently returned from the Professional Bartending Schools of America (PBSA) Leadership Conference in Baltimore’s exciting and historical Inner Harbor area, where I got a chance to soak up some of the local color and their amazing bar scene—one of the best on the east coast. Honestly, my mind is just exploding right now with ideas on how I can share that experience with my students here at Cleveland Bartending School. I don’t think I’ve ever been so fired up. But before I go into more on that, I have to say that yours truly, Will Cobbin, came back with more than just inspiration. I shared a first place win for this year’s PBSA Knowledge Test. (Ask me how to make the weirdest drink you know. I dare you!) Plus, I also received a Quest for Excellence Award, a three-peat for me. Not to brag, but it’s good to know that when you come to Cleveland Bartending School you’ll be working with a director and staff who are experts in the field. Back to my trip. Every restaurant and hotspot I visited was living proof of the fun, variety and travel opportunities that a bartending career offers. Sitting in O’Brickey’s, munching on their famous blue crab, it was impossible not to get caught up in the vibe. And I couldn’t help but notice how much fun the bartenders were having behind the counter. At Woodberry Kitchen, I and many others enjoyed sipping their famous barn burner drinks, served by professional mixologists who were not only skilled at making cocktails, but working a little magic with the crowd. That’s what good bartending is, really: part science; part psychology; part Hollywood. One last thing. In Baltimore I also got a chance to see Fort McHenry, Revolutionary War site and birthplace of our national anthem. Talk about stirring! Right there I started imagining rockets exploding, fireworks going off, history changing course, and I said to myself, “What a perfect analogy for becoming a bartender!”

CLEVELAND BARTENDING SCHOOL BLOG – Bartending can be your shortcut to success.

Will Cobbin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:47:44 +0000

The saying goes, there’s no easy road to success. But bartending just may be the exception. Provided you find the right training, in about a week you can be earning as much as most entry-level college grads, while enjoying something many never do: the ability to have fun while you earn, practice the art of making people feel at home, and working in some of the hottest venues Cleveland has to offer. The View, East 4th Street, Tremont and West 6th. These are just a few of the places our people are now making $100-$200 a night to basically be the life of the party. It’s true. I’m talking recent college grads, furloughed office workers, retirees looking for extra income and excitement, or construction workers in the off-season, working full- or part-time, and sometimes around school or day jobs. Straight up: if you want that kind of flexibility, freedom and serious earning potential in a short period of time, you can’t beat bartending. All right, as founder and director of Toledo Bartending Schools, how can I NOT put on my sales hat and reach out? If you’re the type who not only believes in themselves, but believes there truly is a better way to make a living—even in this crazy job market, we have classes that can make it happen for you. Forget about the recession. The busy summer months are approaching fast, and Cleveland needs bartenders. Don’t you deserve the coolest job in town? You know you do. So call us—and let’s get busy.

Casting Call- On The Rocks 3rd Season -The Search for America’s Top Bartender

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:25:02 +0000

Grab your shakers and get ready because On The Rocks is back for another round of drinks and drama as the most promising mixologists in the industry face off for the title of America's Top Bartender and a $100,000 grand prize. Season 3 of On The Rocks: The Search for America's Top Bartender, featuring Absolut Vodka will return for a new season this fall on select NBC stations across the country. We'll follow eight of the country's most talented bartenders as they battle it out for their chance to take the crown.

Casting will take place this summer in New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas

Casting will take place this summer in New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas. Do you think you have what it takes to pour your way to the top?

Locations of Tryouts

New Orleans

Thursday, July 22-Saturday, July 24, 2010 12pm-5pm daily Location: Hotel Monteleone, Truman Capote Suite Address: 214 Royal Street Website: hotelmonteleone.com

Los Angeles

Thursday, July 29, 2010 12pm-5pm Location: Elixir Address: 3200 16th Street Website: elixirsf.com

New York

Monday, August 9, 2010 12pm-5pm Location: NBC Experience Store Address: Corner of Rockefeller Plaza and West 49th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) Website: nbcuniversalstore.com

Callbacks will sonn after the open casting call. go to the website below for full details including a download of the application.
Chicago

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 12pm-5pm Location: NBC 5 Chicago, WMAQ TV Address: 454 North Columbus Drive Website: nbcchicago.com/station

Philadelphia

Sunday, August 15, 2010 12pm-5pm Location: WCAU NBC 10 Address: 10 Monument Road, Bala Cynwyd (Use StudioTEN entrance located at rear of complex) Website: nbcphiladelphia.com/station

Miami, Florida

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 12pm-5pm Location: Segafredo Española Way Address: 500 Española Way Website: sze-espanolaway.com

Dallas

Thursday, August 19, 2010 12pm-5pm Location: J. Blacks Address: 2409 North Henderson Avenue Website: jblacks.com

Las Vegas

Sunday, August 22, 2010 11am-4pm Location: Herbs & Rye Address: 3713 West Sahara Avenue Website: herbsandrye.com

Boston

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 12pm-5pm Location: The Estate Address: 1 Boylston Place (The Alley) Website: theestateboston.com

For More Information

Check out the website at lxtv.com/ontherocks/ and maybe you can walk away with the 100 Grand and the title of America's Top Bartender

Great News For Job seekers

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:36:36 +0000

According to an article published on the industry website FastCasual.com, restaurants are expected to add 428,000 jobs this summer season, a 4.6 percent increase over the March 2010 employment level. "In these tough economic times, restaurants are playing an ever more important role in their communities, creating jobs and economic opportunity for our nation," said NRA president & CEO Dawn Sweeney in a news release. "Every dollar spent in restaurants generates an additional $2.05 spent in the overall economy." The restaurant industry is usually the nation's second-largest creator of summer jobs – ranking behind only the construction industry. Last year, eating and drinking places added 422,100 jobs (a 4.6 percent increase), and 352,900 jobs (3.7 percent increase) during the 2008 summer season. Last year, however, the construction sector only added 259,300 jobs during the 2009 summer season, well below hiring in the restaurant industry. This is great news for people that want to break into the bartending industry. To find a local bartending school near you, check out this comprehensive listing at the Best Bartending Schools website or check out some of the bartending schools featured on this site including schools located in San Francisco, Nashville, and Cleveland. See the complete article HERE