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

Understanding Vodka with Joe McCanta

Joe McCanta, Grey Goose global ambassador joins us on the show.  This interview was recorded at Tales of the Cocktail 2019 -- we get a great understanding of Vodka.

Bartender Journey has a special project in the works!  Please click here to sign up to be the first to know about it!  Yes, I'd like to be in the loop.

 

Santa Teresa Rum and My Freind Duke

We talk with Alberto Vollmer CEO of Santa Teresa 1796 Rum, made in Venezuela.

Also a chat with Attaboy alum Zachary Pease at his new bar in Manhattan called My Friend Duke.

Live From Tales Of The Cocktail 2019

Listen in to the Toast to Tales, hear about the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s grant recipients for 2019 and hear about the Grey Goose Great Bar Race. Also, we talk to Jonathan Pogash about his edition of Mr. Boston’s Official Bartender’s Guide.

Live from Bar Convent Brooklyn

We speak with Raymond Edwards, Chief Mixologist for House of Angostura during Bar Convent Brooklyn.

Fruit Flies and Other Unpleasantries in the Bar

Don't let those darn Fruit Flies take over you bar!  Give them an inch and they will take a mile!  There is a lot you can do to prevent them from flourishing.  Here's some things you can do:

• No standing water, anywhere!
• All drains including floor - sanitizer
• Plug beer taps
• Clean and plug beer drip tray
• Rinse and store empty beer bottles
• Cover liquor bottles
• Wipe down bottles
• Clean soda gun
• Bar mats must be clean
• Keep garnishes covered and cold.  Wash fruit before cutting.
• Don’t be surprised if fruit flies feed on the residue remaining on damp mops, moist cleaning rags and sponges, or near buckets of wastewater.
• Bottom of trash cans?
• Last resort - traps
  
  

Orange County California Bartender Amin Benny

We speak with friend of the podcast & founder and president of the Orange County, CA chapter of the United States Bartender's Guild Amin Benny.

Sustainability in the Bar Industry

On this week's Episode No. 277, Brian chats with Chad Arnholt and Claire Sprouse of ​Tin Roof Drink Community about green practices for sustainability in the cocktail industry in honor of Earth Day, April 22nd.

In 2016, Chad and Claire's efforts were recognized at Tales of the Cocktail with the first Sustainable Spirit Sward and hosted the first Sustainability Summit at Tales in 2017.

For past outtakes on sustainability in the cocktail industry on the Bartender Journey Podcast,, listen to 
Bartender Journey Episode No. 166  featuring a sample from a Sustainability Seminar from Tales 2015 with Mr. Lyan  (Ryan Chetiyawardana), who opened the first cocktail bar in 2013 to use nor perishables (i.e. no fruit, no ice), White Lyan in London and
Bartender Journey Episode No. 219, You are Throwing Away Money!.

Author Kurt Maitland

Hazel Alvardo handles the interviewing duties on this episode. She talks to Kurt Maitland who is Deputy Editor of the Whiskey Reviewer website and the curator of the Manhattan Whiskey Club. He just wrote a book called Drink - The Ultimate Cocktail Book.

Happy Gin and Tonic Day!

On this week's episode, Brian chats with Keli Rivers of Sipsmith Gin in honor of National Gin & Tonic Day, which is April 9, 2019.

 

Does The Shape of the Glass Really Matter?

I recently attended a huge wine show at the Javitz Center in Manhattan called VinExpo.

There were 1000’s of wines to try, plus a few sprits – I had some wonderful whiskey from France called Half Moon.

There were also classes and seminars. I attended a seminar sponsored by the Riedel company who makes beautiful glassware – mostly wine glasses.

In fact we use Riedel wine glasses at the Private Club where I work. The purpose of this seminar was to show that the glass has a substantial influence on your experience drinking the wine. Of course these glasses look beautiful, so that’s a great start. They feel great when you pick them up and are perfectly balanced…we all know to hold a wine glass by the stem yes? In fact it was said in the seminar “if a glass has a stem, use it!” This is of course so that you do not warm up your wine or whatever beverage with your body heat.

I caught up with Anne Koziara, who gave the seminar, on the exhibition floor after … we’ll talk to her in just a moment.

Our sponsor this week is CAKE POS from Sysco.

CAKE is the Point of Sale system that lets bar & restaurant owners focus on the guest experience. Stop worrying about tracking every sale  - CAKE does that for you.

CAKE is the Point of Sale system that lets bar & restaurant owners focus on the guest experience. Stop worrying about tracking every sale  - CAKE does that for you. You can automatically save information and review it later, from anywhere. That means maybe as the manager or owner can maybe actually take days off, which can be pretty rare in the restaurant business.

No matter where you are, you can check in on daily reports and know they’ll be up to date.

To get started with CAKE, check out trycake.com/bartender. For our Bartender Journey listeners, you can get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount. Go to trycake.com/bartender and request a demo!

Please feel free to get in touch for any reason. You can email me directly at brian@bartenderjourney.net. If you have an interesting story to tell, please get in touch. I’m looking to line up guests for the next few weeks.

Don’t forget about our sponsor CAKE POS.

Find our special link for our Bartender Journey listeners at trycake.com/bartender. You can get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount. Go to trycake.com/bartender and request a demo! Or just go take a look. It’s a big help if you just go to that URL so that our sponsors to see the Bartender Journey listeners are at least clicking through to check it out. trycake.com/bartender.

Toast:

May we always part with great regret
and meet again with pleasure.