Mattmvb

Couldn't agree more, it's one of the reasons why rum is my favourite mixing spirit. An excercise I carry out with new staff is to make a few daiquiris using different styles of rum to demonstrate that there's serious thought required when making a recipe that doesn't call for a specific rum. I also do the same thing using different syrups/sugars (eg simple/demerara/muscovado etc) to show the effect that different sugars can have on a drink - both for flavour and appearance. Cheers, Matt

I'm currently somewhat snowed under with work at the moment - we're converting our small upstairs bar into a Tiki themed offering, opening next weekend. Having a simple swizzle on the menu was important for me. It obviously matches the ethos, I'm also hoping it will help the staff to understand the suddenly massively increased range of rums they have at their disposal. The house swizzle will be: 50ml English Harbour 5 25ml Lemon Juice 12.5ml Passionfruit syrup dash Angostura bitters (+ some simple if the customer's pallette requirs it) I want to encourage the guys to stick to that general formula but play with it - use different rums, different flavoured syrups/falernum/liqueurs/bitters/citrus etc. They're all good enough to make sure that a quality drink will be the outcome, and will hopefully get a better understanding of how different rums (or bitters etc) change the profile of a drink before they start changing less forgiving specs. I should add that this would be done with the customer's knowledge and approval. WRT the white rum vs demerara thing that was mentioned earlier, I feel it really does depend on how you're classifying a demerara rum. We tend to think of them as heavier than your average rum and at least golden in colour, often more towards navy rums. Surely though, a demerara rum is just a rum that comes from the demerara region of Guyana - or at least made in the same style. At this moment I'm actually drinking a daiquiri made with a white demerara rum. (El Dorado 3yo. As an irrelevant bit of trivia, I'm told that it's made at the only distillery that still has wooden pot and wooden column stills). Bloody good it is too! I couldn't agree more with that - as the old cliché says, you taste first with your eyes. Of course the quality of the drink is the most important thing, but if I had two identical drinks where one was presented beautifully with a bit of theatre and the other just chucked in a glass, I know which one I'm going to choose. I've just had a thought about swizzle sticks - you could make them out of sticks of liquorice root. This should gently change the flavour profile of the drink as it's being consumed, which is a technique I've used to good effect in the past with green chillis. I'll try this out early next week, it's one of those things which seems like a good idea but may well not work at all. If anyone has any thoughts or experience on this I'd love to hear about it! Cheers, Matt

Well, if you can find a sponsor to pay for a few believers in freepouring to come over to the US I'm sure we'll all be well up for it! Not the bar brawling though, although we'd have the advantage since we won't have a jigger tying up one hand ;-) Being serious though, there does seem to be a cultural difference here. It certainly appears to me that freepouring is considered more highly on this side of the Atlantic. I'll reply to Mr Kinsey's points above in the next couple of days when I have the time to write a fully considered reply, rather than trying to type on my d€&@ phone... Cheers Matt Ps I'm worried that my use of "Mr Kinsey" rather than his user name may seem a bit aloof, but it is meant as a mark of respect for someone who's opinion I value and usually agree with - albeit maybe not in this case...

The customer get a bargain? The customer gets a crappy cocktail. ← Sorry, I should have phrased that a bit better. It would be with a spirit and mixer like a G&T - 27ml of gin rather than the specified 25ml is not going to make a huge amount of difference in that case. One of the key points for me is many drinks are going to have to be straw tested and often adjusted before service whether you've freepoured or jiggered. Going gack to the sidecar as an example, the flavour profile of the lemon juice is going to vary from drink to drink which will have just as big an effect on the end flavour as a slight error in measurement of the spirits. The age of the ice will also make the cocktail deviate from its intended end flavour and texture. The important thing is knowing exactly how the ideal drink should taste and knowing how to tweak it to acheive this. It may need more Cointreau, or lemon, or cognac or a combination of two of these regadless of how the ingredients were poured. I should admit though that in my earlier post I was probably a bit too enthusiastic in defence of freepouring - I will happily concede that there are certainly many examples where jiggering is the only way forward. I had just got in from a rather messy staff outing and was in that "I'm right about everything!" mood, I'm rather surprised I could still type to be honest! Cheers, Matt

I'm thinking about the things mentioned upthread about substituting Brugal Anejo for a Cuban(esque) rum. It's really not going to work, Brugal is as dry as a hay stack. The rums mentioned are a LOT sweeter. Personally I feel that the drink will be a lot better for using Bacardi Oro in it (as a cheap option), I've not tried it so I'll probably be wrong... Obviously those 2 paragraphs contradict themselves... I feel that the drink is crying out for a sweeter rum. But if it works best with Brugal then I guess I'm wrong. But you can't substitute something dry for something sweet and expect it to be the same drink. Personally I'm not a big fan of Havana Club 7, I've always felt it promises a lot at the front but then never delivers. Their 15 is fantastic, except that it costs £120 a bottle and there are a lot of better spirits that I can get for that price!!! Cheers, Matt ps you should really try the Brugal EV instead of the Anejo

It's freepouring all the way for me. (with a few exceptions) Making a good cocktail is about ratios, not specific measures. The spec for a particular drink maybe 75ml of liquid, but it doesn't matter if that's 70 or 80 as long as everything is in the right proportion. Training staff to freepour proprerly is hard work but it shows definite dividends. "Why are you holding a jigger in that hand when you could be holding another bottle instead?" It makes a big difference when you're 3 or 4 deep at the bar. I'll make you a Sidecar - I'm going to start pouring the cognac and Cointreau at the same time. In this example I'm counting to six in my head to get the right amount of brandy. However, when I hit three the Cointreau comes off and my hand goes straight to the lemon juice. Which ultimately works out that I've made the same drink, to the same standard, as another bartender whos been jiggering but it's taken me half the time. I should add that all the staff get tested at the start of every shift, and I advocate frequent self testing mid shift - i.e. if you're puring a 25ml measure you freepour it then pour it from glass to jigger to see if you're right. If it's under it's topped up, if it's over then the customer gets a bargain - it's deliberately worked out so it's regulars who get the 'test' drinks Cheers, Matt

Yep, and there was me thinking that Camitz had plumbed a new depth for ludicrous vodka ideas. I really did think that I'd seen it all when I saw that, but now we have alcohol free vodka. However, I think I've recently found a new contender - Oval Vodka - as vodkas go it's OK, but the marketing that goes with it is on a completely different planet... edited to remove gratutious use of exclamation marks!!!!!!!!

I just spotted this on The Whisky Exchange blog: TWE Blog The Whiskey Exchange is an English supplier of speciality spirits, especially (unsurprisingly) whisk(e)ys. They also have a very useful and interesting blog. It seems someone's offering them alcohol free whiskey and vodka. I agree with the author, I can just about get my head around the notion of alcohol free whisky, not that I could ever see myself touching it with a bargepole, but zero proof vodka??? I really hope it is an elaborate joke! Cheers, Matt

Once upon a time I was making a sour for an extremely attractive lady customer, I can't remember what the base was. Whilst I was engrossed in taking my time explaining how important it is to get the sweet sour balance right one of my staff decided to swap the gomme for a bottle of Wray and Nephew. Needless to say I was too involved in looking good to actually notice I had the wrong bottle in my hand. Cue a rapid trip to the toilet and much laghter... Pride cometh before a fall... ETA: I was freepouring, it seems that in the time it takes to pour 10ml of gimme you can pour a good 30ml of overproof rum...

WRT the Montgomery martini I've always heard the story the other way round, that it's a tribute to Monty - Rommel would need 15 men to defeat one of Monty's Back to the subject in hand, you could always try something based on lassi... *gets coat* Seriously, I can see a good Bajan rum like Doorly's 5 working well with a mango lassi. I think I'll have to try it soon Cheers Matt ETA: He's a very good looking fellow, I'm jealous!

A slight twist on the Ramos Fizz works wonderfully. Just swap the orange flower water for rose water and use Hendricks for the gin. Cheers, Matt

Ahh yes, that would help! I never really measured it properly, I was going with experience on that ingredient instead. I reckon I'd have grated through maybe around 1/4" of an average diameter piece of ginger, maybe a bit less. Sorry that doesn't help that much! Cheers, Matt

Most of the major European liqueur producers (eg Brizzard, Bols, Giffard etc.) produce strawberry liqueurs to varying levels of quality. They are usually 'Creme de Fraise' or 'Creme a la Fraise des bois' (wild strawberry), the cheaper ones often just 'Fraise'. They are readily available over here, I'm not sure what their distribution is like in the US. If you happen to find it, I personally think Gabriel Boudier's Creme a la Fraise des Bois is the best. On a slightly different topic, their Creme de Cassis is streets ahead of any other I've tried (Boudier's website). Edmund Briottet would be the other brand I'd recommend, most of their products are very good (Briottet's website) Cheers, Matt

One I made for a Buffalo Trace competition - the idea was to make seasonal variations (loosely!) based upon the mint julep, this was for the spring round. Spring Forward 1 ½ Fresh apricots (stoned) - ETA as in one and a half 8 x Mint leaves Grated fresh Ginger 50ml Buffalo Trace 12.5ml Apricot Brandy Muddle apricot and mint, add other ingredients, shake and fine strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with an apricot slice - cut the slice from the center around the stone so you are left with a ring of fruit. Cut a slit in it and slide onto the rim of the glass. Use the left over fruit as the 1/2 apricot in the cocktail.

I find grating it to be quick and effective. If you use quite a fine grater (the sort of size you'd use for nutmeg) nearly all the fibrous flesh will stick to the grater leaving you with just the juice - I don't seem to lose any flavour doing it this way.

On a slightly different subject, if you have an ISI charger with CO2 cartridges you can also use it to carbonate fruit which can make for interesting garnishes - grapes work particularly well. Just add a handfull of whole grapes to the charger, charge with CO2, leave to stand for a few minutes, vent the gas off through the nozzle and unscrew the cap. They don't hold their carbonation for very long, but it's long enough to last the duration of the cocktail - I'd always serve them on the side rather than in the drink so they can easily be consumed along with it. Cheers, Matt

Just tried one using Blackwoods (2007) with the 4:1:1 ratio, Grand Marnier and angostura orange for the orange bitters. A wonderful complexity and depth of flavours including a surprisingly strong cardomon edge. Slight problem though, it just doesn't taste remotely 'ginny'. So, for attempt No. 2, I've split the gin 50:50 Blackwoods and Tanqueray. Absolutely stunning! The complexity is still there and the juniper is back again. Happy days. My next attempt will be with only Tanqueray Ten, I have a suspicion the grapefruit notes will marry perfectly with the other flavours. I'd try it right now but I've got some tills to count and a third cocktail is not a good idea right now... (although I hasten to add I've not consumed them all myself, they've been passed around the staff I have working tonight for their opinions, but it may be fair to say I've had more than them ) Cheers, Matt

I was thinking about adding a lengthy "in defense of vodka" post but it's been a long hard shift so I'll leave that for another day. Plus the fact that I'm not really a vodka drinker and would be playing devils advocate, although I have been known to enjoy a straight Ciroc or Luksusowa after work. However... What are your thought's on flavoured vodkas? I don't mean the likes of Absolut Citron or Stoli Razberi etc. I'm talking about stuff like the Hangar 1 or 42 Below ranges, or things like Zubrowka that have a different flavour profile to anything else. Take 42 Below Feijoa as an example. It has a definite strong and unique flavour profile and it's a product I very much enjoy working with - it's challenging. It wouldn't surprise me if this has been done before, but one of my bartenders came up with a fantastic drink recently that went straight on the menu - it's basically a mojito but swap the rum for 42 Feijoa and the mint for basil. It has a wonderful depth of flavour that will keep a cocktail aficionado interested whilst at the same time won't put off someone who's new to drinking 'serious' cocktails. Whatever that actually means - like many things it's difficult to define but I know it when I see it... Alternatively, Zubrowka and apple is, for me at least, one of the best flavour combinations there is. Which is a problem for the folks at Zubrowka as it's hard to look beyond apple, but that's something for another topic. I do worry a bit about the snobbery amongst bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts that leans against anything vodka based. For example, I wonder if Zubrowka would be embraced more by mixologists if it were marketed as a spirit in its own right rather than as a type of vodka...? I would have to agree that there is little space for 'straight' vodka on a serious cocktail list, although commercial realities can often dictate that there must be. I just worry that there are some unique and great products that get overlooked because they contain the 'V' word. Cheers, Matt ps please forgive any typo's - just at the end of a 15hr shift and waiting for my computer to finish its end of day stuff.

A slightly twisted margarita: (these are rough quantities as it was freepoured and then tweeked in the tin before pouring) 50ml Ocho 8 reposado 15ml Licor 43 10ml MB Apricot 30ml freshly squeezed lime juice 1 barspoon medium agave nectar That small amount of agave nectar gives the drink an incredibly silky mouth feel. Highly recommended. Cheers, Matt

I think you're describing professionalism - your server should not only have the professional skills to do the job well, they should also have the professional pride to keep it up all day every day. Well when on shift anyway! An important skill, and one that for me really separates the wheat from the chaff, is the ability to read customers and tailor the service style appropriately. A couple of black and white examples: A small table having a business lunch would often, but not always, want little more than for there orders to be taken and food and drinks delivered efficiently. Whereas a couple of old ladies may well want to know a little about you, to have a little chat. A group on a stag night will want to have have a laugh and a joke with you. Gross stereotypes I know, but hopefully you get the point. The art is of course a lot more subtle than this! Cheers, Matt

A recent acquisition, and probably my favourite... It still works too, just had to clean out the contacts in the battery compartment which is under the cap. It only has the power to stir with upto 3-4 good sized ice cubes though. It's nice to have the original box as well, even if it is a bit shabby. We've recently taken over a victorian pub and whilst clearing out the cellar found this traditional English pewter tankard (1 pint (UK)): The inscription reads "JON Best Wishes From All At The RAC 20.6.80" - a nice bit of history, I'd really like to know who "JON" is/was, but I doubt I ever will. This is a cocktail creation from a staff outing we had to Bombay Sapphire's training suite in Vinopolis in London: They set up a just for fun competion for the guys which was a quick run around Borough market for ingredients to use with Bombay Sapphire. This was mine, which was initially declared the winner, but then I was stripped of the victory because the boss is not allowed to win! I'm not usually a fan of big garnishes but that one seems to work pretty well. The drink was something like this (it was a few months ago and I'm a bit sketchy on the details) Unnamed 50ml Bombay Sapphire a few sage leaves (about the same quantity as of mint you'd put in a mojito) 25ml lemon juice 12.5ml simple syrup juice of 1.5 small oranges (I think it was clementines IIRC) Shake and strain (don't muddle sage) The sage plays really well with the Bombay Sapphire, overall a nice summery refreshing drink, quick and easy to make and approachable for the cocktail newbies. Cheers, Matt

I wonder if the freshness of the egg will also play a part? On a commercial level it probably wouldn't make much of a difference, for me we'd never have eggs for more than a day or so before they're all used up. I'd imagine that may be different for those making drinks at home. I sense another experiment coming up - just bought eggs vs ones closer to their use by date, with the quantity of white being strictly measured. (easiest way to do that, IME, is to put egg white into a small squeezy bottle (something like this) with a small nozzle then squeeze into measure) Cheers, Matt

Coincidently, this is something that's been on my mind for the last few days. I guess it's possible, I find better results with fresh ice rather than ice thats been out on the bar for a bit. But it doesn't seem to make sense logically. Surely the extra water added is a very small percentage of the total water content in the drink. Then again, we're all aware that even the tiniest amount of extra dilution can radically alter the taste of certain cocktails, so maybe it could also affect the reactions that make the 'foaminess'. I was wondering if it may have more to do with temperature, but your example would seem to rule that out. i.e. in my example I'm adding more water because the ice has slightly melted and won't be quite as cold, but by shaking longer and/or harder you'd be making it colder, or at least no warmer. It may be down to the egg white itself. The results seem to be more consistent when using bought in egg white that is measured out than when using (e.g.) 1 egg white from a fresh egg. Presumably for 2 reasons: no 2 eggs are going to contain the same amount of white, and the (for want of a better word) quality of the white will surely vary - just as no 2 limes have exactly the same sourness. When I get the time (hopefully in the next couple of weeks) I'm planning some expeeriments where certain ingredients are left out of the dry shake and only added to the ice shake. Hopefully this will show whether or not certain aspects weaken the foam - eg high citrus content, high sugar content, high alcohol etc. I'll report back when I've done this. Also, I always use the 'hawthorn spring in the dry shake' technique, it seems to give better results, presumably due to increased aeration. The fact that I'm using words like "seems" and "presumably" a lot indicates that it's a lot of guess work at the moment! Cheers, Matt

Fascinating discussion Bar tending has always been my "thing", but like many people in this business I've also spent a lot of time on the restaurant floor. When working as a waiter I would never have dreamt of taking an order by memory. Reading this thread has just made me realise that's a bit odd. Behind the bar I would more than happily take orders for very large rounds in one, hopefully quick, order then make them all and tot up the total price in my head whilst doing so. Or alternatively 4 or 5 different small orders simultaneously and have no problems remembering who ordered what. Plus remembering what everyone had earlier so you can offer "the same again?" It takes a bit of time to learn, but it's as much an essential skill as knowing how to make a good martini. Surely that's not much different to remembering the orders from a smallish table? Is the only real difference that one is expected and the other frowned upon? Cheers, Matt

There is no restaurant I have worked in where the entree would be charged for, and the same goes for a few friends I have discussed this with. There will be some occasions where complimentary dessert(s) or a round of drinks would be offered as well depending on the 'severity' of the incindent. Also, I've always made it policy that, when a dish is sent back and a different replacement ordered, the lower priced of the two is the one charged for. In the position of the diner I'm not sure if I would have said anything at the time (I'm British and we're notoriously bad at complaining - or so I'm told, some of the idiots I've had to deal with over the years would tend to say otherwise!) I would certainly write to the restaurant about the issue though. You'll be able to tell a lot about the place by their reply (or lack of it...) Hopefully, the management will be equally annoyed by the incident and will be gratefull that you pointed it out. Otherwise their not worth any more of your money. There is something that was taught to me at the very beginning of my first supervisory role - a well handled complaint can be almost as good for business as a flawless experience. Fortunately *most* customers are rational people and realise that things can go wrong from time to time - how this is dealt with speaks a lot about the calibre of the restaurant. At the restaurant where I held my first GM postion we had a regular couple who had been dining with us at least twice a month for over two years. However, on their first visit everything went wrong which prompted them to write a lengthy letter of complaint. The then manager sent an apologetic but honest reply with an offer of a complimetary dinner so we could show them our usual standards. They took him up, had a fantastic time and the rest is history. Cheers, Matt