April 28, 2007
Someone sent their drink back tonight. Scott and I put a lot of care into our cocktails: we use all fresh ingredients, we measure absolutely everything, and we’re passionate about every drink we put out. We’re proud of the fact that our drinks rarely get sent back, so when one of our servers came back | Read More
April 23, 2007
The thing about bartenders is that we’re all attention whores and egomaniacs and couldn’t care less about much else than ourselves. Sure, some of us will tell you that the craft of the cocktail is the most rewarding thing about being a bartender. Others will tell you that putting on a show and giving people | Read More
April 19, 2007
I was interviewed by the Monterey County Herald earlier this week for an article on recent trends in mixology and bartending that appears today. This was pretty exciting for me, as the reporter originally had no idea I had grown up there, he just happened to find me online as a sort of “expert” (yeah, | Read More
April 16, 2007
I received this in my inbox last week: TO: All Participants WHAT: Tales of the Cocktail, the annual culinary and cocktail festival, features a Cocktail Competition to determine the “official cocktail” of the event. Bartenders local and nation-wide submitted recipes for the competition. Moët & Chandon White Star Champagne was a required ingredient for the | Read More
April 11, 2007
For the past year and a half, one of my favorite sites to read on the internet has been D.C. Drinks. Authors Isaac Washington and Lonnie Bruner brought some great writing and a huge dose of sarcasm to the cocktail blogosphere (I hate that word) On Saturday, sadly, they posted their last article ever: “I | Read More
April 7, 2007
The links section of my website is the area that I spend the least amount of time concerning myself with. Sometimes it’s hard enough, between managing a busy bar and working four nine-hour shifts a week, to even try to think up a mildly entertaining article to write. However, I’m an avid reader, and typically | Read More
April 2, 2007
Hey Bartender, Ever since I started making my own drinks at home I’ve been eyeing all my bartenders like a hawk. I’ve noticed a lot of them use the crack-open-the-boston-shaker straining technique. What are your thoughts on this? I’m not a huge fan of it because it allows bits of ice to get into the | Read More
March 30, 2007
I finally released a new cocktail menu that I’ve been working on since just before I left for Las Vegas. It’s not completely finished yet, but I really wanted to get something new out there, and it’s pretty close. I’ve spent weeks testing and refining these drinks, and I think it’s my best menu yet. | Read More
March 29, 2007
Why is it that drinks these days have to taste like some sort of junk food in order to be understood by the average person? Take this little story: We were at our local dive bar, playing some video golf and having a beer. The bartender, who had obviously been behind the stick for a | Read More
March 27, 2007
Our friend Darcy over at Art of the Drink adds to the “50 Signs…” madness with 50 Signs You Are a Bad Bartender, all but one of which I think is right on the money: 48. The solution to every problem is: just add bitters What!? That’s not true? And in the comments, someone sends | Read More
March 6, 2007
Stopped by the Extreme Bartending booth and hung out with founder and president Scott Young for a few minutes. He’s a super nice guy, very much into bartending, and bartending toys, and flair bartending. He always had a smile on his face and loved to talk to everyone about bartending. He even seemed to like | Read More
March 6, 2007
After waiting for the initial line to die down… oh, wait. We didn’t wait in line. Some people thought they’d just go to the end of the line, two blocks away, and wait to be let into the show. My associates and I? We just weasled our way up in front and were among the | Read More
March 6, 2007
I’m waiting for them to open the doors to the show, as hundreds upon hundreds of people line up outside in the lobby. Coming up next, I’ve got tons of product reviews from inside the show, and a mixology competition with our friends Sean Bigley, Darren West and Zoltan Andahazy.
March 6, 2007
9:30 in the morning is a cruel time to try to get 500 bartenders together in the same room, especially in Las Vegas. But the turnout was great nonetheless for two of mixology’s living legends, Dale DeGroff and Tony Abou-Ganim. They started out with a short video presentation hosted by Tony about the bar chef | Read More
March 6, 2007
My night tonight was the best so far. No strip clubs, no chicken wings, just a big group of real cocktail enthusiasts and three amazing locations. I started my night at the Wynn hotel in a private suite fifty floors above the city, drinking Sagatiba Pura. It’s a brand-new cachaça here in the States, and | Read More
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