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What Rambo learned at Bartending School today - Page 3

post #31 of 75
7/15/11 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by whodini View Post

That fucking crazy video aside, that high number can be a bit misleading. Not every cocktail is going to require a combination of 6+ different ingredients.

In fact, many cocktails are different only by the addition or subtraction of an ingredient. A Fuzzy Navel is peach schnapps and oj, add vodka and you have a Hairy Navel, add cranberry and you have Sex on the Beach, etc.

Is this the kind of shit they teach at SC these days?
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post #32 of 75
7/15/11 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post


Is this the kind of shit they teach at SC these days?

No, as my major wasn't Theater Performance. Like most undergrad Trojans, I learned that "SC" actually stood for Southern Comfort.

One of the best/biggest/drunkest parties I've ever thrown was about a month after I got my bartender's "license." Rambo, if you've got a lot of friends by you, I highly recommend you try this. Basically, I made up a list of 30 or so of my friends and randomly assigned them a bottle of liquor to bring to the party and I supplied the ice, cups, soda, juices, and tending skills. Everyone was given a menu of about 30 drinks/shooters. This meant that in exchange for a bottle of booze, my friends were given an open bar, or far cheaper and more fun option than going to some dive bar. Everyone got laid. The end.
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post #33 of 75
7/15/11 at 11:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post


Can you find out when people started hating vermouth? I don't get it, a martini tastes awful without a significant percentage of the stuff.

Have you ever tried a reverse martini (mostly vermouth with a little gin)? Never appealed to me, but Julia Child liked them. I've also meant to buy some Vya vermouth but haven't gotten around to it.
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post #34 of 75
7/16/11 at 12:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KJT View Post


This is so cool! So Japanese too. Do they do that every time you order a drink?

That iceball looked like it was too big for a glass though.

yeah they do. If you're not that good a customer they might have the iceballs pre-made and dump them in there for you, but for us they cut them on the spot. Drinks are about $12 and no tip, if you stay off the old Scotch.

That size ice ball fits in a Baccarat tumbler, which they use at this bar. Drinks in Baccarat tumblers, old-fashioneds, highballs, and then Riedel sherry digestifs and Glencairns. I would do the same if I had a bar myself. Very nice and pleasurable. And they charge you $200 if you break a glass.
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post #35 of 75
7/16/11 at 5:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by impolyt_one View Post


yeah they do. If you're not that good a customer they might have the iceballs pre-made and dump them in there for you, but for us they cut them on the spot. Drinks are about $12 and no tip, if you stay off the old Scotch.

That size ice ball fits in a Baccarat tumbler, which they use at this bar. Drinks in Baccarat tumblers, old-fashioneds, highballs, and then Riedel sherry digestifs and Glencairns. I would do the same if I had a bar myself. Very nice and pleasurable. And they charge you $200 if you break a glass.

wtf. never heard of such a thing, but I guess I've never been to a bar with $200 crystal glasses.
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post #36 of 75
7/16/11 at 1:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manton View Post

i don't think i've ever had a martini

Try one. Do it properly. I usually do 4:1, with a twist or as a Gibson (onions).
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post #37 of 75
7/16/11 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 
I'll answer some more of the questions later but I've got to get to the gym and wanted to get this down. Thanks for the kind words though guys. I appreciate it.

So, back to Wednesday's lesson - Highball drinks. As we learned before, they are all "and" drinks. If someone asks for a gin and tonic or a vodka and cranberry, those are served in a highball glass.

A couple of pro tips before I go over some of the recipes:

-Any time a drink has "screw" in the name - it means the drink contains orange juice

-Any time a drink has "wall" in the name - it means the drink contains Galliano.

-If the liquor is vodka, and there is anything red in the drink - it gets cranberry juice

-If the liquor is anything else, and there is anything red in the drink - it gets grenadine

On to the recipes (I'll skip the obvious like G&T and Scotch and soda.) In all recipes, fill the highball glass with ice to the brim. Unless otherwise stated, the drink contains 1oz of liquor and is filled with the liquid of choice.

-Cuba Libre - now, according to the instructor, here in south Florida, this is always served with Bacardi, the reason being that Bacardi was originally a Cuban rum and the old timer Cubans prefer it in their drinks. 1oz Bacardi, fill with coke, lime squeeze or wedge.

-Screw Driver - 1oz vodka, fill with oj

-Harvey Wallbanger - 1oz vodka, fill with oj, float 1/2oz of Galliano, orange slice garnish

-Sloe Comfortable Screw - 1/2oz vodka, 1/2oz Southern Comfort, fill with oj, cherry garnish. To make it a Sloe Comfortable Screw against the Wall - add a float of Galliano.

-Tequila Sunrise - 1oz tequilla, fill with oj, 1/2oz Grenadine float, cherry garnish. If made with grapefruit juice, this drink is called a Tequila Sunset.

-Greyhound - 1oz vodka, fill with grapefruit juice. A Greyhound with a salted rim is called a Salty Dog.

-Cape Cod - 1oz vodka, fill with cranberry juice, lime wedge.

-Madras - 1oz vodka, fill 1/2 with oj, 1/2 with cranberry juice

-Sea Breeze - 1oz vodka, fill 1/2 with grapefruit juice, 1/2 with cranberry juice

-Bay Breeze - 1oz vodka, fill 1/2 with pineapple juice, 1/2 with cranberry juice

Pro tip - to remember these think of the types of water in the name. The sea is rough. Grapefruit juice is rough. The bay is calm. Pineapple juice is calm.

-Sex on the Beach - 1/2oz vodka, 1/2 peach schnapps, fill 1/2 with oj, 1/2 with cranberry juice. Acronym to remember this by - VCOP - Very Crazy Old People - Very (vodka) Crazy (cranberry) Old (orange juice) People (peach schnapps)

-Fuzzy Navel - 1oz peach schnapps, fill with oj

-Hairy Navel - 1/2oz vodka, 1/2oz peach schnapps, fill with oj
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post #38 of 75
7/16/11 at 2:26pm
It's interesting that you're only putting 1oz in everything. To me, that's a short pour. I would expect a full shot in any highball. 2 oz if I'm making it myself and feel like a tad more liquor.
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post #39 of 75
7/16/11 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post

-Cuba Libre - now, according to the instructor, here in south Florida, this is always served with Bacardi, the reason being that Bacardi was originally a Cuban rum and the old timer Cubans prefer it in their drinks. 1oz Bacardi, fill with coke, lime squeeze or wedge.
Srsly? Bacardi? Cuba Libre? Well, maybe Bacardi was a fine rum back in the beginning of the 1900s...

What do you guys think of the IBA recipes? They should be pretty good. http://www.iba-world.org/english/cocktails/

Edit: Yeah, A agree that 1oz isn't much. Cuba Libre I mix with 2:1 Cola Rum. So about 12cl Cola 6cl Rum.
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post #40 of 75
7/16/11 at 4:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by b1os View Post

Srsly? Bacardi? Cuba Libre? Well, maybe Bacardi was a fine rum back in the beginning of the 1900s...

What do you guys think of the IBA recipes? They should be pretty good. http://www.iba-world.org/english/cocktails/

Edit: Yeah, A agree that 1oz isn't much. Cuba Libre I mix with 2:1 Cola Rum. So about 12cl Cola 6cl Rum.

Yeah, there was actually considerable litigation ivolved in Bacardi's move/evacuation to the States.
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post #41 of 75
7/16/11 at 4:27pm
Just read in the German wikipedia that Bacardi is allowed to sell an own "Havana Club" (called Havana Club - Puerto Rican rum.. what a stupid fake) due to the "Section 211" (which was enforced through massive lobbyism by Bacardi). Is this true? If so, one more reason not to buy Bacardi...
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post #42 of 75
7/16/11 at 4:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cptjeff View Post

It's interesting that you're only putting 1oz in everything. To me, that's a short pour. I would expect a full shot in any highball. 2 oz if I'm making it myself and feel like a tad more liquor.

Believe me, I already protested this. But, that's the way they're having us do it. Apparently, 1oz is a full shot. I've always used at least 2oz in my drinks.
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post #43 of 75
7/16/11 at 5:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser View Post

It sounds like this school is more geared toward preparing students to work behind a standard bar (i.e., a bar that is neither specializing in cocktails nor part of a nice restaurant) than toward learning how to make cool cocktails. My wholly unsupported speculation is that 90% of cocktails served at such a bar are really simple along the lines of vodka cranberry, G&T, Jack & Coke, etc., so I doubt the school will teach students how to make a Sidecar, much less an Aviation. In any event, cocktail recipes are really easy to come by in books or on the internet. Still a cool thread to learn about the workings of a bar.

This is the what I've come to understand the focus of the course is. This isn't fancy mixology 101. This is "bang out 15 drinks in 5 minutes and make sure they're all done properly" 101. And, no, neither Sidecar or Aviation is in the manual. Luckily, I already know how to make both of those. Thanks Huntsman!
Quote:
Originally Posted by whodini View Post


This is sort of true, but I was taught to make a sidecar.

I took tending school while I was in college and a few of my observations were:

-From a manual of 50+ drinks, maybe 35 of them I've never seen or heard of again.
-From a manual of 50+ drinks, maybe 35 or more will have their own variations. For example, if you ordered a .357 at a bar and DIDN'T get a confused look, you'd probably not get what you had in mind. You could argue with the staff and they'd either tell you: a) that's how they learned how to make it, b) that's what's in their bar manual, or c) "Well, you fucking idiot, if you want a complicated cocktail just tell us how to make it."
-If you try to order something special at a bar, 95% of bartenders won't know it or will have forgotten it. The good ones will be upfront and ask you what's in it, the rest will invent their own concoction and then pull the "that's how I learned it" routine.
-There's a reason why those bottles in the bar collect dust. Who the fuck has ever ordered Benedictine or know what Sloe Gin is?

This seems to be similar to what I'm hearing so far. Although, instead of 50, we've got 200 in this manual to learn.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Piobaire View Post

A Martini is supposedly descended from the Martinez. The Martini became popular during prohibition since gin was the most commonly made "bathtub" spirits. When prohibition ended, and quality gin was available again, it had to be made with more gin to stand up to the coarsened tastes of the drinking public who were used to bathtub gin.

Btw, Huntsman is the hands down master on this stuff. He turned me on to a few things, one of which would be: http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/video/300/ssn_raising_the_bar_martini_service_640x360/

Huntsman is a god amongst men. Any of you who are interested in this bar stuff should definitely go all In Stitches on his posting history in this subsection.

That Japanese ice thing was NUTS. And only $12 for all that work. I don't think I spend that much time making sure my own balls are that smooth.
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post #44 of 75
7/17/11 at 10:21am
Am I the only one who thought that a custom mold for an ice the ball that size could be made and then simply run it unter cool water to smooth it. It seems like it would accomplish the same thing in considerably less work.

Yes I know the showmanship and ect would be lost, but for someone wanting the same at home this seems like it would make sense.
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post #45 of 75
7/17/11 at 10:29am
They already have those, I<3Bacon has one I believe. There are many methods to getting round ice, but hand-carved is obviously the sexiest way....
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