Bfishback

I'm a member of the DC craft bartender's guild. http://www.dcbartendersguild.com/ .We have a few events during the year, contests, Repeal day ball, lots of cool tastings. Basically it's about networking and being able to meet like minded people and discuss things related to bartending and cocktails.

The biggest thing I see, as a bartender, are bartenders who don't pay attention to their customers. As long as you are not super weeded you should know who is going to need: a drink, their bill, you to stop them from committing various criminal acts etc. Also if you love cocktails and making good drinks then prepare to hate life if you find a job at a place that is not cocktail centric. I also agree that you should be giving people 10 in change with a five and five ones. I had a few old school bar customers set me start on that many years ago.

I had an excellent, pimms, vanilla infused Herradura tequila, and ginger beer at the Gibson in DC.

Didn't you just take the Barsmarts course? The video on tasting should be pretty helpful. I thought it was.

Completely OT but if it was Japanese sword making you are referring to it would be one single piece of steel folded over many times.

Sorry, the exact quote I heard from F. Paul Pacult was "Virtually all Calvados have a little bit of pear brandy". As far as pot or column still. Calvados labeled Calvados Pays d'Auge is the only Calvados that must be from a pot still and distilled twice .If it is labeled just Calvados it is from a column still and distilled once. Calvados Domfrontais is also from a column still and must contain at least 30% pears. I don't know for sure if for Calvados Domfrontais some distillers use a pot still but it doesn't seem likely from a quick google search. A page with some Calvados information: http://www.nicks.com.au/Index.aspx?link_id=76.1300

I wonder what kind of stills the US apple brandy makers are using? The better Calvados is from a pot still. Also all Calvados contains some amount of pear brandy. So add in those two factors and I think it accounts for the big differences Calvados and our apple brandy.

Uh just about everybody that hunts does this. I don't hunt but often I get game from an uncle who does on the condition that I come over and clean and butcher the animal. Plucking feathers from a goose is not fun but I do it because I want to cook the goose and I enjoy the end result. The author is over doing it. There are more fresh food and ingredient options then ever before.

I work at a free pouring bar but I would rather use jiggers. Sure I can free pour most cocktails but they are seriously not as good as the ones I make at home with jiggers. The pourers we use are unpredictable and as its been mentioned they pour at different rates for different liquors. I would rather use jiggers but a lot of people I work with see jiggers as the mark of an amateur. For those that use jiggers how many sets do you use and how do you clean them between drinks?