Bartender Journey - Cocktails. Spirits. Bartending Culture. Libations For Your Ears.

Bartender Journey Episode #263 The Old Fashioned. I was at a sitting at a bar the other day and there was a bartender, training a young lady who was obviously brand new to bartending. The younger one asked the one who was doing the training “how long have you been bartending”. She answers “nearly 15 years”. A ticket comes in for an Old Fashioned. Here’s a learning opportunity for the newbie, right? She explains how to make it: “Get a rocks glass Get an orange slice and a luxardo cherry and muddle it in the glass. Add ¼ to ½ oz of simple syrup and about the same amount of sweet vermouth. Add ice and then fill nearly to the top with whiskey, (usually you should ask what type of whiskey they would like). Top with club soda. Put 3 or 4 dashes of bitters on top” There are a lot of problems here. Lets take them one by one. The muddled “fruit salad” Old Fashioned was an unfortunate variation on the classic recipe. Some people like them and even expect them that way, which is fine…the best cocktail for s

Dave Pickerell was a huge force in American whiskey over that last several decades. Unfortunately Dave passed away at age 62 on November 1 of this year, 2018 in San Francisco. He was there attending WhiskeyFest. He was a big proponent of Rye Whiskey and played a huge roll in the resurgence of American Rye Whiskey. Rest in Peace Mr. Dave Pickerell. You’ll be sorely missed.

We talk to Sother Teague about his new book I'm Just Here for the Drinks. Sother Teague's first book is informative, entertaining and filled with cocktail recipes. We catch up with him at his book release party at Boilermaker Bar at 1st Avenue and 1st Street. Brian also attended a seminar presented by Marie Brizard and at Employees Only NY and competed in a cocktail competition. Cocktail of the Week: Martini The Classic Martini is made with 1 part dry vermouth and 2 parts Gin.  It is stirred, not shaken.  The classic garnish is olives.  Superstition says it should be an ODD number of olives - an even number is bad luck.  James Bond orders a "Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred", because that is the exception to the rule.  If he just ordered a "Martini" it would be made with Gin and stirred, because that is the classic recipe. Try a great variation on a Martini - 1 part Dry Vermouth, 2 parts Gin a dash of Orange Bitters.  Garnish with an Orange Twist. Be sure to use fresh vermouth.  Vermouth is aromitized

We chat with GEM & BOLT Mezcal founders Adrin Adrina and Elliott Coon during Tales of the Cocktail 2018. Plus we talk to Calvin Peña and Doug Brickle at the CORE pop-up at Mase GEM&BOLT is the only mezcal on the market to bottle the mythical powers of damiana, a traditional herb that thrives in the same regions as agave. The innovative, herbaceous spirit utilizes fair-trade and sustainable agave that’s converted into mezcal by fourth-generation master distillers in Oaxaca, Mexico. A strong team of women make up the team behind the spirit: Partner Jody Levy (co-founder WTRMLN WTR), President/CEO Lisa Derman (former Stoli COO), and at the helm are its founder’s alchemist-artist duo Adrin Adrina and Elliott Coon. CORE grants support to children of food and beverage service navigating life-altering circumstances. In times of extreme strain brought on by family death, injury or diagnosed medical condition, loss of home, or other sudden or extreme circumstances, food and beverage families can become over

After my shift the other night, I went to a dive bar that I had never been to before. I asked for a Tanqueray and Tonic. It came in a pint glass and was very strong. For a 16 oz drink to taste very strong... well there must have been a lot of booze in there. We talk about that on the podcast this week. Please let us know what you think about this on the Batender Journey Facebook Page!

Listen in to "Toast to Tales", the official kickoff to Tales of the Cocktail. Plus we speak with friend and Bartender Kyle McElfresh.

Tales of the Cocktail 2018 was a great sucess! Here's a quick run down of what went on.  More from #TOTC18 on future episodes. Cheers y'all!

Bar Convent Brooklyn Part 2!

We are live from the Bar Convent Brooklyn conference!  Adventures and a talk with our freind Vance Henderson from Monkey Shoulder!

The Martini “Martini, shake or stir”. Here’s my take on that. James Bond ordered his Martini’s Shaken not Stirred because that is the EXCEPTION to the rule. If he had ordered just a “Martini”, it would have been stirred because that is the classic recipe. If the guest requests it there is nothing wrong with shaking this drink, but you will never see a decent cocktail book that suggests you to shake a Martini. The general rule is, if it has only spirits in it, you stir. If it has any type of juice in it, it is shaken. When stirring a drink you are trying to chill it and also add water to it, or “dilute” it as we say. Try taking some gin and vermouth, put it in a bottle and put it in the freezer. Don’t stir (or shake) it with ice. That’s not a Martini. It will be too strong and it will not taste very good. When stirring a drink with ice we are looking for a silky texture, which is desirable in a Martini or Manhattan style cocktail. When shaking a drink, like say a Margarita, you are looking to make a brig

Listen to the Bartender Journey Podcast # 253 with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts,  Android or Stitcher Radio. This week on the show we talk with Walter Easterbrook who runs the Bowery Collective and is NY Brand Ambassador for Woodford Reserve. This show is also generously sponsored by The Bowery Collective. The Bowery Collective's yearly Arte Agave festival is coming up on June 29, 2018 at the Bowery Hotel in Manhattan. Arte Agave is a unique celebración of fine agave spirits + arts + entertainment inspired by the richness of Latino culture. Click for tickets. Walter has been also running the Beyond the Bar series which helps Bartenders to advance their careers and move on to other opportunities if they wish.  If you'd like to get involved with future Beyond the Bar events, contact the Bowery Collective. Every year at Tales of the Cocktail there is a big awards ceremony called the Spirited Awards.  This year they have added a new category for Best Video, Broadcast or Podc

Listen to the Bartender Journey Podcast # 251 with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts,  Android or Stitcher Radio. This time on the podcast we talk with Bacardi Legacy Global Finalist Moe Isaza. Bacardi Legacy is one of top 2 or 3 most prestigious cocktail competitions in the world. Also, coming up is Bar Convent Brooklyn. This is an industry conference and is the first time it is being held in The U.S. It is an offspring of Bar Convent Berlin. We speak with Paula November who tells us all about it. We also want to let you know about an amazing educational opportunity. Bar Methods is run by friends Chris Bidmead and Suzanne Freedman - they do an amazing job.  Its held at the Park South Hotel in Manhattan this year the dates are August 26-29, 2018.   Applications are now open. You can register at barmethods.com Book of the Week: Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft by Shanna Farrell. It’s an interesting read about the rebirth of Cocktail Culture. Obvious

This week on the show we talk to Natalie from Beautiful Booze. She travels the world taking amazing photos of her boozy adventures.   She talks to us from Italy. We’ll talk about cocktail photography and also hear about how she travels full time. Listen to the Bartender Journey Podcast # 251 with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts,  Android or Stitcher Radio. Check out Beautiful Booze on all social media and the web site: BeautifulBooze.com Cocktail of the Week: I was inspired by a post on Natalie’s Beautiful Booze web site. She did a Burnt Citrus Margarita. I had a bag of Mandarin Oranges so I thought I’d grill a couple of those and juice them. I just cut them in half and sprinkled a little turbinado sugar and grilled them on the BBQ for a few minutes. I also made some Mandarin Orange round slices for garnish and grilled them as well. Grilled Mandarin Margarita: 2 oz Reposado Tequila 1/2 oz Grand Marnier 1 oz Grilled Mandarin Orange Juice 1 oz of freshly squeezed lime ju

On Bartender Journey Podcast episode #250 we are honored to welcome back former co-host of the show: Vano!

Micah LaMon is our guest this week.

Today on the show we talk to Michael DelRosso. Owner/Creative Director of Union Square Advertising which does Advertising, marketing, printing and social media strictly for the hospitality industry. He has some great insights for us about Social Media for Bars and Restaurants.  You’ll definitely want to hear what he has to say.   We have TWO original cocktails for you this time, which were so generously given to us by fellow USBG (United Bartender’s Guild NYC members). For the two orginal cocktail recipes, plus lots more info see the show notes for this episode here. (http://www.bartenderjourney.net/podcast/marketing)     Book of the Week: Social Media: Marketing Strategies for Rapid Growth Using: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube This book teaches you the strategies of using the social media to improve the income of your business, with clear concepts.  It covers the major Social Networks and can help you if you are trying to do social media for your business yourself. If t

247 Today on the show we talk Ilias Mastroganis, who makes Mastroganis Ouzo and Grappa out in Washington State.   Book of the Week: Road Soda Recipes and Techniques for Making Great Drinks Anywhere by our friend Kara Newman. This is a fun little book about making drinks in Planes, Trains and Hotel Rooms, or wherever you might be. Every year TOTC runs a competition to determine the official drink of the year for Tales. There is a cash price. They award the prize at the yearly Toast to Tales which is the official kick off of the event. This year the theme is the French 75. Enter here. Our sponsor this week is Shaker and Spoon cocktail club. They’ll send you a box of great ingredients every month – enough to make 4 portions each of 3 great craft cocktails. You just need to pick up one bottle of whatever spirit is called for that month. These are all original recipes sourced from awesome bartenders all around the US like our friend Cocktail Guru Jonathan Pogash, Souther Teige, Pam Wiz and lots more. Th

Today we talk with Adam Seger, Chef Bartender/Corporate Sommelier at iPic Theaters and TUCK Hospitality Group.  Upstairs from the iPic Theater at South Street Seaport is the Tuck Room. Adam invited Hazel and myself in to the secret room behind the sliding bookshelf.     Among other things, Adam and I will talk talk about cocktails on draft.  Also, a little bit about wine knowledge for Bartenders.   Book of the Week: Adam Seger recommends Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course.  You’ll hear him talk about it in the interview, so we’ll make that our book of the week.     Please visit our Patreon page and consider supporting Bartender Journey with a small monthly pledge.   I went to an interesting seminar this week.  Dale DeGroff gave the talk called I’ll Take Manhattan.  It was sponsored by Woodford Reserve. Dale used the Woodford Reserve Rye to make a batch of Manhattan’s, but without bitters.  We each had 5 small portions of the Manhattan in front of us, and 5 small cups of 5 differe

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  St Patty’s on a Saturday! Double trouble.  If you are working, please keep your guests in line and encourage good choices!  Consider taking the T.I.P.S. course.  It’s about responsible serving.  There are live classes around the country, but you can do it online at tipsalcohol.com  Its only $40. Let’s talk Irish Whiskey!  The first thing to know about Irish Whisky is that it is spelled with the “e”, as is generally done for American whiskeys.  One way to remember which have the “e” and which don’t is: Countries that have E's in their names (UnitEd StatEs and IrEland) tend to spell it whiskEy (plural whiskeys) Countries without E's in their names (Canada, Scotland, and Japan) spell it whisky (plural whiskies) We talk Irish Whiskey this week with Teeling Irish Whiskey. Cocktail of the Week: Irish Coffee 1 ½ oz Irish Whiskey 4 oz Strong Black Coffee Lightly Whipped Heavy Cream Grated Nutmeg Our Sponsor this week is Shaker and Spoon Cocktail Club.  They’ll send you

We talk with Eric Kozlik from the Modern Bar Cart Podcast and Embitterment Bitters. Eric’s podcast is interesting and well researched. We discuss bitters and the effect that hobbyist Bartenders are having on the cocktail industry as a whole. It's the Bartender Journey Podcast #244!  Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Android or Stitcher Radio. Hazel is doing a FB live cocktail party using the Shaker and Spoon Cocktail Club’s “Kiss Me, I’m Whiskey” box.  So I hope you’ll tune in for the fun and check out the live event on our FB page. It’s Sunday March 11, 2018 at 5pm Eastern, please join in and make yourself a drink and help support the show! The bigger the numbers, the better when we go pitch this to potential sponsors! More details on our Facebook page. Cocktail of the Week: Snow Globe Mandarin Margarita 2 oz Patron Silver ¾ oz Grand Marnier ¾ oz Lime Juice ½ oz Mandarin Orange Juice ½ - ¾ oz Simple Syrup 4 drops Orange Bitters 8 drops Sea Salt Saline Solu