Bartender Journey - Cocktails. Spirits. Bartending Culture. Libations for your Ears.

Bar Insitute, USBG & Dad's Hat Rye

This week on the Bartender Journey Podcast we have not one, but two guests -- plus two road trips!

It's the Bartender Journey Podcast # 213!  Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes, Android or Stitcher Radio.

• At Bar Institute in Brooklyn, we spoke to Mr. Josh Davis. He’s a Bartender, and a fine Gentleman from Chicago who also recently started working with Bar Institute.
• We also talk to Mr. James Menite who is a Bartender at the iconic Plaza Hotel. Another fine Gentleman from NYC, who also is the vice president of the local USBG Chapter. We talk to James on a USBG day trip to the Dad’s Hat Rye
• Book of the Week:
  Cocktails: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks by Klaus St. Rainer. Mr. Rainer is owner and bartender at The Golden Bar in Munich Germany. This is a nice book with lots of great cocktail recipes and some good advice too.
• Cocktail of the Week:
  Smooth Criminal(Bartender Journey variation)
  From our Book of the Week
  • 1 Large Chunk Fresh Pineapple - Grilled
  • 1 ¾ oz Rye
  • 2 tsp Orange Curacao
  • 1 tsp Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
  • 1 tsp Simple Syrup
  • 1 Dash Angostura Bitters
• Muddle the Pineapple. Add remaining ingredients. Shake with ice. Double strain into a Highball glass filled with Fresh Ice. Grarnish with a piece of grilled Pineapple and a sprig of mint.
• How do you take care of your mint behind the bar? If you have a good method, please let us know! Post your ideas on the Bartender Journey FB page!
• USBG NY had a great time spending the day with the very small team of great people that produce the delicious Dad’s Hat Pennsylvania Rye. As mentioned, we spoke to John Cooper from Dad’s Hat Rye on Bartender Journey #102
• You can get more information about the USBG at org
• Bartender Journey really wants to get you involved and get to know more about you. PLEASE visit net/survey. You can record the answers to the questions with a voice recorder app on your phone and email the file to brian@bartenderjourney.net. Alternatively, on that same page, there is a link to a google form where you can just enter your answers. We’d really appreciate it!
• Toast of the Week:

The Lord gives us our relatives,

Thank God we can choose our own friends!
-From the book: Toasts: Over 1,500 of the Best Toasts, Sentiments, Blessings, and Graces Compiled by Paul Dickson

 

Bartender Spotlight Series - Craig Schiedlo

Today we’ll be talking to Craig Schiedlo. He’s a Bartender and good friend from our USBG NY chapter.

• Next time on the Bartender Journey Podcast a lot more about the United States Bartender’s Guild James Menite, who is the vice president of our local USBG NY chapter. We’ll talk about some of the great benefits of joining and also about his job – bartending at the the iconic Plaza Hotel.

Cocktail of the Week - from our guest on the show this week – Craig Schiedlo
The Wind Tunnel:

• 2oz Cedar Ridge Rye
• 1/2 oz Marie Brizzard Anissete
• 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
• 3/4 oz Simple Syrup
• Orange Flower Water.
  Strain over a Collins glass garnished with a lemon wheel anise star and a spray of orange flower water.

Book of the Week:
The World of Spirits and Cocktails: The Ultimate Bar Book 2011
by André Dominé

Amazon Review:
“This book thought me more than I imagined it would. It got me through some of those Customer interactions that I knew we're coming my way. It filled my brain up with facts and information that I would not have found elsewhere.

Unfortunately, this book is out of print and its about $85 on Amazon! But maybe try The Bar Book, or The Complete Cocktail Manual: 285 Tips, Tricks, and Recipes

Bar Institue:

One Fair Wage Campaign

• According to com:
  “The restaurant industry is America’s fastest growing economic sector; it's also among it’s lowest paying. Tipped workers are paid a separate, lower minimum wage that starts at $2.13 an hour at the federal level — a rate that hasn’t changed since 1991.”
• “Although employers are legally required to “top off” a tipped worker’s pay when tips don’t add up to at least the minimum wage, enforcement is so lax and disorganized that wage theft has reached epidemic levels.”

 

One point that was brought up at Bar Institute was that many consumers are now interested in where their food (and beverage) was grown - was it organic, local, even how were the farm workers treated & paid enough? Maybe the conversation about “how are the restaurant workers treated and are they paid enough?” will open up.

There is a well known shortage of good bartenders, so just please make sure you are getting paid what you are worth…obviously being a real asset to the establishment puts you in a good spot. Find out more onefairwage.com.

Apparently its World Gin Day on Saturday June 10, 2017. On the next show we’ll talk all about gin with Tristan Stephenson, who has a new book called Gin Palace.

 

We have a special 20% discount on VIP tickets to the Whisky X in NYC! Join Hazel on June 8th  for whiskies, food trucks, live music and more! Use offer code WHXHAZEL to get these perks:

• Meet and greet 60+ whisky ambassadors and distillers and enjoy premium pours
• Chocolate Whiskey truffles  from Louisville’s Art Eatables
• Complimentary cigar at the Club Macanudo onsite lounge
• Swag from Hudson Made personal care products
• Free cocktail and a haircut from Blind Barber
• Access to the Food Truck caravan
• Access to the onsite US Barrels Cooperage pop up
• VIP area access to Grammy winner Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys live concert

Free shuttle bus from local train stations and the first 500 attendees get a $25 Uber Voucher.

Buy your tickets at www.thewhiskyx.com and use offer code WHXHAZEL to get your $60 VIP ticket.

Hazel hopes to see you there!

• Which best describes you?
  • Working Bartender
  • Working Bar Back
  • Aspiring Bartender
  • Cocktail Enthusiast
  • Spirits Enthusiast
  • Other?
• If you are working Bartender, how many years experience? 
• How did you discover Bartender Journey?
• Where in the world are you? 
• Do you have any suggestions for the Bartender Journey Podcast, subjects you'd like covered, or questions you'd like answered on the show? 

Go to bartenderjourney.net/survey for the list of questions, then record the answers on your phone with a voice recorder app. Email it to me at brian@bartenderjourney.net and you will probably hear yourself on the show! And don’t worry if you mess up…just start over or keep going…we’ll edit it to make you sound good.

 

 

 

Social Media for Bartenders with Nico Martini

• This week on the Podcast we speak with Nico Martini. His company Hypeworthy does digital marketing…mostly for the Hospitality and Spirits industries.
• Johnnie Walker Benders' Batch
  Triple Grain American Oak Blended Scotch Whisky
  Aged 10 years in American Oak Casks.
  This is the first U.S. release in the new experimental Blenders' Batch series, with limited availability.
  It is extremely rare to see the words "Grain Whiskies" on a bottle of Scotch.  Also to see the word "Blended" displayed so prominently.  Consumers (often blindly), flock to Single Malt Scotch, and automatically assume they are far better quality than Blended Whiskies.  Johnnie Walker has, of course built their entire business on Blended Whiskies and produces excellent products.  This is a good tasting Whisky at a very reasonable price point.  You can see Brian’s tasting notes here.
• Cocktail of the Week:
  Blood and Sand
  • 1 oz Blended Scotch Whisky
  • ¾ oz Sweet Vermouth
  • ¾ oz Cherry Herring
  • 1 oz (Blood) Orange Juice
  • Shake and strain into a chilled Coup. Orange twist
• Book of the Week:
  The Bar Book – Elements of Cocktail Technique by Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Whenever someone asks me, “what book would you recommend?” I immediate say “Bar Book”. This book has everything you need as far as technique goes.
• Let’s get you involved with Bartender Journey!  Here are the questions:

• Which best describes you?
  • Working Bartender
  • Working Bar Back
  • Aspiring Bartender
  • Cocktail Enthusiast
  • Spirits Enthusiast
  • Other?
• If you are working Bartender, how many years experience? 
• How did you discover Bartender Journey?
• Where in the world are you? 
• Do you have any suggestions for the Bartender Journey Podcast, subjects you'd like covered, or questions you'd like answered on the show?  

Go to bartenderjourney.net/survey for the list of questions, then record the answers on your phone with a voice recorder app. Email it to brian@bartenderjourney.net

• Toast: To Days of Ease and Nights of Pleasure!

Derby, Bourbon & Juleps with Woodford Reserve

This week we talk about how to taste Whiskey with Woodford Reserve Bourbon Brand Ambassador Walter Easterbrook.

Lawman Plans To Retire and Bartend Full Time

• This week we talk with George Bressler. Mr. Bressler has worked in Law Enforcement for many years, and now plans to retire and work as a Bartender.
• It's the Bartender Journey Podcast # 209!  Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes, Android or Stitcher Radio.
• This week on the podcast we talk to a really interesting guy named George Bressler. He has worked part time in Hospitality, but full time for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. After a long and distinguished career in Law Enforcement, he plans to retire and take up Bartending full time.
• George wrote a fascinating Guest Blog Post for Bartender Journey. Read it on our Blog Page.

• Cocktail of the Week:
  George Bressler enjoys Jack Daniels on the rocks, (Jack Daniels Master Distiller Jeff Arnett was our guest on Bartender Journey # 204).
  Technically Jack Daniels on the rocks is not a “cocktail”. The original definition for “cocktail” was “sugar, bitters and spirits of any kind”, but we’ll go a little off the deep end this week and enjoy some Jack Daniels on the rocks as our cocktail of the week!
• Book of the Week:
  Toasts, Over 1500 of the Best Toasts, Sentiments, Blessings, and Graces compiled by Paul Dickson.
  Dickson quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson in the introduction to this book: “Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it”. Mr. Dickson goes on to say says in the introduction: “There are a number of old thinks that we are well rid of – child labor, the Berlin wall, scurvy, glass shampoo bottles and too many others to mention, but there are still others that we are foolish to let slop away. Toasting is one of the latter”.
• Toast of the Week:
  “I would rather be with the people in this room, than with the finest people in the world”.
  -Steve Martin as Cyrano in Roxanne

Black Bottle Scotch with Mal Spense

• This week we talk with Mal Spense from Black Bottle Scotch. I meet Mal through my friend Hal Wolin, who I know from the USBG.
• Its the Bartender Journey Podcast # 208!  Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes, Android or Stitcher Radio.
• If you are new to the show, the USBG is the United States Bartender’s Guild and there are chapters throughout the US. It’s a great organization. If you are outside the US you can look into the IBA.
• Cocktail of the Week:
  
  

1886’s Mamie Taylor Cocktail
The Raymond 1886 is a Bar & Restaurant in Pasadena CA

The cocktail is basically a Scotch Buck:

• 2 oz Blended Scotch Whisky Black Bottle
• ½ oz Lime Juice
• Angostura Aromatic Bitters
• Top with Ginger Beer
• Candied Ginger Garnish
  You could build it in a glass, but I think its best to put the Whisky, lime juice and Bitters in a shaker, give it a quick shake, add the Ginger Beer to the Shaker, and stain that into a glass filled with fresh ice.
• Book of the Week:

The Curious Bartender: An Odyssey of Malt, Bourbon & Rye Whiskies by Tristan Stephenson

Tristan’s books are so well researched and well laid out. There is so much valuable information in these books…he talks about the different classifications of whiskey, processes of how its made, has specific brand recommendations and then cocktail recipes. The Curious Bartender is a series of books by Tristan Stephenson … he has a new one about Gin, which we will talk about on an upcoming episode and maybe even get him back on the show again. He was on episode 122 of Bartender Journey.

Don’t forget about our TipCup Page – its time to pay the folks who host out Podcast audio files again! Thanks!

We are pursuing new Sponsorship deals - please get in touch. You can email me personally at brian@bartenderjourney.net

 

• CORE supports the children of food and beverage employees who are navigating life-altering circumstances or conditions.  Find them at org. You can also reach them on the phone at 404-655-4690
• You can also donate to CORE on their site or sign up to be a CORE Ambassador, and do some good! A Bartener Journey listener heard about CORE through the podcast and signed up to be an Ambassador the other day!
• Bar Institute is on tour this spring. They are touring to a bunch of Cities in the U.S. – hopefully one near you! Its only $5 to attend classes, which is donated to charity. There is also a pop up event in the evening, where cocktails are only $5. See the tour dates here.

Toast of the Week:

May our faults

be written on the seashore,

and every good action prove a

wave to wash them out.

 

Drambuie with Vance Henderson

207

• This week we talk with Vance Henderson - National Brand Ambassador for Drambuie.
• Its the Bartender Journey Podcast # 207!  Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes, Android or Stitcher Radio.
• Cocktail of the Week #1:
  Drambuie Honey Sour
  • 5 oz Drambuie
  • ¾ oz Scotch (not too peaty)
  • ¾ oz Lemon Juice
  • 1 egg white
  • 3 slices ginger
  • Muddle ginger with Drambuie. Add remaining ingredients. Dry Shake. Wet Shake. Fine Strain. Garnish with a few drops of Angostura Bitters.
• Cocktail of the Week #2:
  Drambuie Collins
  1 Part Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
  2 Parts Drambuie
  4 Parts Seltzer
  Build in a Collins glass.  Stir well, (or toss).  Lemon garnish.
• Book of the Week:
  Contraband Cocktails – How America Drank When It Wasn’t Supposed To by Paul Dickson

Mr. Dickson’s was recognized by the Guinness Book of World’s Records for collecting the "Most Synonyms" for any term in the English language. He compiled a list of 2,231 terms meaning "drunk"–beating out no less than Benjamin Franklin, who published his own list called The Drinker's Dictionary. Mr. Dickson’s then beat his own record and published a book called Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary containing 2,964 terms for tipsy, blitzed, roasted. The Native People of Alaska had 1000 worlds for snow…Bartenders have 2231 words for Drunk, and we’ve seen them all right?

• “Things I’ve picked up along the way”:
  It is important to change the way you shake every so often to avoid damaging joints and ligaments – what’s known as repetitive stress syndrome. Also, please keep in mind that shaking near your ear can damage your hearing!
• PSA:
  CORE - Children Of Restaurant Employees.  CORE supports the children of food and beverage employees who are navigating life-altering circumstances or conditions. We just want you to be aware of CORE in case you ever need them.  Find them at coregives.org You can also reach them on the at 404-655-4690
• Toast of the Week:
  To wine-those plump grapes' immortal juice

  That does this happiness produce.

The Complete Cocktail Manual with Lou Bustamante

This week we talk to Lou Bustamante. He is the author of The Complete Cocktail Manual: 285 Tips, Tricks, and Recipes. This is a great book and is sanctioned by the United State Bartender's Guild.

It is Bartender Journey Podcast # 206! 
Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes, Android or Stitcher Radio.

Cocktail of the Week – El Presidente

1½ oz. rich white rum


1½ oz. Dolin Vermouth Blanc

1 barspoon orange Curaçao or Grand Marnier


½ barspoon real grenadine
*

• Stir ingredients well with cracked ice and strain into a chilled glass. Express oils from an orange twist over the top and drop in or discard. Garnish, if desired, with a cherry.

• *Real Grenadine
:

  2 cups fresh pomegranate juice or POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice

  
2 cups unbleached sugar

  
2 oz pomegranate molasses


  1 tsp orange blossom water

  Warm juice just enough to dissolve sugar.  Add pomegranate molasses and orange blossom water.  Keep chilled.

  Morgenthaler Article on grenadine

• This drink was was apparently named in honor of Mario García Menocal, president of Cuba from 1913 to 1921. Of course in 1920 when Prohibition took effect in the US, many people would fly down to Cuba for the weekend to get some legal booze and live it up a little. The cocktail spread around, and was soon found in some of the illegal US Speakeasies during Prohibition.

 

Sam Ross & Monkey Shoulder

On this week’s episode, we chat with two awesome gentlemen: Sebastien Derbomez, U.S. Monkey Shoulder Ambassador and Sam Ross of the newly opened Diamond Reef in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

It is Bartender Journey Podcast # 205! 
Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes, Android or Stitcher Radio.

Sam Ross who was one of original bartenders at Milk and Honey who worked under Sasha Petraske, (Sasha’s name has been coming up so often on the show lately, and as you probably know, he left us way too early, but his inspiration lives on through the industry. )

Monkey Shoulder invited us to a press event at Diamond Reef while it was in pre-opening phase. (Official opening: March 1, 2017)  Diamond Reef is a project from the Attaboy team, owners Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy and bartender Dan Greembaum and the first of three new spots scheduled to open this year.

If you don’ t know aobut Attaboy..Sasha Petraske opened its predecessor, the original Milk & Honey bar on Eldrich Street in the Lower East side neighborhood of Manhattan on December 31, 1999.  It was an iconic bar, inspiriting an entire industry.

Cocktail of the Week:
Monkey Jam Sour
2 oz Monkey Shoulder Scotch Whiskey
1 oz Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juiceo
½ oz Simple Syrup
2 Bar Spoons
Jam
Dash Orange Bitters
Shake well with ice.  Double strain into a Collins Glass filled with fresh ice.  Top with a little club soda.  Stir.  Express oils from orange twist into glass.  Add twist to glass.

Book of the Week:
This week's book and review comes to us from Hazel Alvarado (who helps me out so much on the show.) 
Malt Whisky Yearbook 2017: The Facts, the People, the News, the Stories by Ingvar Ronde
The Malt Whisky Yearbook is published annually and contains current information on 400+ whisky distilleries around the world, whisky shops, whisky websites and new bottlings. Part reference guide, part Industry commentary, this 12th edition includes chapter such as “Watch Out! The Millenials Are Coming”, “Global Giant – Diageo, the First20 Years” and “Whisky Pricing – the Elephant in the Room”. Its paperback format featuring concise distillery summaries, tasting notes on choice expressions and current industry statistics makes it a  perfect addition to your spirited reading library!

Toast of the Week:
May you live all the days of your life. Cheers

Get Involved!
Share a suggested book or Cocktail of the Week
Write a guest blog post.  It could be about your local cocktail scene, or your bar, or a trip you’ve been on.
Reach us on our Contact Us page!
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Leave  us a review on iTunes and give stars!  (5 Stars is the most!)

You can leave ratings and reviews right from your iPhone...just go into the podcast app and use the search function on the bottom to find Bartender Journey.  Click on the purple Bartender Journey icon, then/ "Reviews"/ "Write a Review"

Shout out:  Thank you Barback Jedi for the 5 star review: "Excellent focus on cocktail and spirit education Hey Brian. Big fan of the show! Loved seeing it evolve over the last couple of years. It was a huge help to me when I got started. Thanks for doing it. "

Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller - Jeff Arnett

This week on the Bartender Journey Podcast we talk with Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Jeff Arnett. I spoke with Jeff at San Antonio Cocktail Conference.

Its the Bartender Journey Podcast # 204!  Listen with the audio player on this page, or subscribe on iTunes, Android or Stitcher Radio.

Jack Daniel’s is such an iconic brand with so much history. Jeff shared some great information with us, including facts about why Jack Daniel’s is not called “Bourbon”. He said, in fact it legally could be classified as Bourbon.

But when the man who started the brand, Mr. Jack Daniel in the mid 1800’s he decided that he wanted to differentiate his whiskey and embraced the classification of Tennessee Whiskey.   Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 whiskey follows all the requirements of Bourbon, with the addition of a charcoal filtering process. This filtering is legally called the "Lincoln County Process,” by the state of Tennessee. It is also known as “charcoal mellowing,” and occurs before Barreling.

 

Cocktail of the Week:

I was trying to come up with interesing & sophisticated cocktails for St Patrick’s Day and came up with this one. I first called it the Emerald Sour, but after hanging out with my friend Hazel and describing the drink to an Bartender Carl at Swift Hyberian Lounge, it was decided that the name would be changed to “Man in the High Castle” which the name of a book that Carl had just finished. There is also a TV show on Amazon Prime Video by the same name. The two appear not to be related.

“Man in the High Castle” Cockail:

• 2 oz Knappogue Castle 12 year old Irish Whiskey
• 1 oz Myers Lemon Juice, (freshly squeezed – peel lemons before juicing to make Oleo Sacrum and Twists).
• ¾ oz of Myers Lemon Oleo Sacrum syrup*
• Dash of Salt

Shake with ice. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass containing fresh ice.

Garnish with Myers Lemon Twist and a Sprig of Fresh Thyme, (slapped to release aromatics).

(If you don’t have Myers Lemons you can use regular ones).

 

*Myers Lemon Oleo Sacrum Syrup

• Peel 2 lemons before juicing them: Use a Y-peeler and try to get only the yellow zest – as little of the white pith as possible.
• Put them in a sealable container, or better yet use a if you have a vacuum sealer, place in a vacuum sealer bag. Cover with ½ cup sugar. If using the vacuum sealer…seal it. Otherwise cover tightly.
• Let sit for at least 4 hours at room temperature, or overnight.
• Add ½ cup warm water and stir to dissolve.
• Use a fine strainer and discard all the solids.

 

Book of the Week is
A Spot at the Bar: Welcome to the Everleigh: The Art of Good Drinking in Three Hundred Recipes
By Michael Madrusan & Zara Young

Michael’s Bar The Everleigh is in Melbourne Australia. He studied under Sasha Patraski and worked at the original Milk and Honey. His goal with Everleigh was to bring the Milk and Honey concept to Australia, and in fact Sasha was his business partner on this venture. As you may know Sasha left this world way too early in August 2015. But Sasha inspired a generation of Bartenders, not only those who were trained by him, but many, like myself that never had the opportunity to work with him. This Book, A Spot at the Bar is another wonderful offshoot of Sasha’s Legacy.

There are many great recipes and photos in here, but a lot of other useful stuff as well. There is an entire section on Bartender’s Choice. This can be challenging for a Bartender. In the book Michael talks about how to do it best. There is a series of questions to ask - in a certain sequence - to figure out what this guest would enjoy.

 

Michael said in the book that Sasha taught his students that “working hard behind the scenes allows you to look effortless in front of your guests”. Wise words from a wise man.        

 

Cocktails in the Country is a great experience, which I was honored to attend in the Summer of 2016. It is run by the man I call the Yoda of Bartending Gary (gaz) Regan.

It normally costs $250, but I’m going to tell you how to get it for only $100.

Its 2 days of education, learning the gaz approach to “Mindful Bartending”. Plus, practical skills making original cocktails behind the bar. It takes place in the Hudson Valley, just over an hour north of Manhattan.

 

Included in the cost is transportation from Manhattan, lodging for the evening, most meals, classes with gaz and cocktail making with your 9 new best friends.

 

Here’s how to get your discount

• Email gaz at gazregan@gmail.com
• Put the code BUY-BACK in the subject box.
• Please mention to gaz you heard about it from me, Brian Weber of the Bartender Journey Podcast!
• Please cc me on the email so I know you are going! My email is brian@bartenderjourney.net

 

To participate in CITC you have to be a working Bartender and have worked in the Hospitality Industry for at least 3 years.

 

Bar Institute Econo

• Bar Institute is hitting the road for a six week tour stopping in 25 cities in the US and Canada this Spring. In each city, they will be hosting a one day Bar Institute session featuring 3-5 classes and a popup event, which will incorporate the information from the classes into service each night. They’ll be asking for only a $5 donation for admission to the classes and the drinks in the evening. All proceeds will benefit charity. 
• Along the way, they've identified social justice issues that will serve as the centerpiece of the weekly focus for each region. This is so awesome! They will be in a bunch of mid size cities – many of which (I’m guessing) don’t have cocktail conferences very often.
• CONTEST! Win some swag:
  Go to bartenderjourney.net/bi for details on the swag give away.
• Toast of the Week:
  In Beer there is strength
  In Wine there is wisdom
  In Water there is bacteria