Intelligent Bartender

What makes a Negroni stand out above all other cocktails for me is the variety of flavors that hit your tastebuds as soon as the liquid enters your mouth. The sweet sensation that jolts you back to reality after that first sip is the sweet vermouth which is also present in that manly martini named the ‘Manhattan’.

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Not all freestyle mixology sessions need to start with a trip to the liquor store! Local markets packed with farm fresh produce, meats, cheeses, and fantastic finds can be your first destination for inspiration.

Here in Toronto we are particularly blessed with access to several excellent open and indoor markets. St. Lawrence Market and the Kensington District both offer fantastic selections of fresh produce, bulk goods, and specialty shops with every imaginable ingredient under the sun. You can almost always track down specific spices and preserves, thanks especially to the diversity of background in our city. However, at least half the fun of a trip to the market is the item you didn’t expect to see! Preserved Marasca Cherries, anyone? A hidden find at one of these well stocked purveyors could spark your next great cocktail idea!

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The Toronto Flair League’s first season was incredibly successful. The promoters were overwhelmed with the interest and passion shared not only by the competitors, but with the fans as well. In the past six months, the interest in the sport of flair bartending has risen faster than ever in the city of Toronto.

Season 2 promised to be bigger and better. One of the most notable changes was the addition of a third division. Instead of having advanced and amateur divisions, the TFL now is comprised of A, B and C divisions.

This change opened the doors for the jam packed B division (formerly the advanced division) competitors because the top 6 bartenders from season 1 were moved into the A division.

With the talent spread very evenly throughout the B division, the competition level is higher than ever before.

February 23 2011 marked the start of season 2.

There were three new competitors joining the C division including Yuki Yamazaki, Terri Lee, and Louis Brosas who were competing for the very first time.

As usual, the Loose Moose was close to capacity to witness the biggest showcase of flair bartending skills that Toronto has ever seen.

Heading into the show, odds makers had Dustin “Flair Bear” Costain as the favorite for the B division, followed closely by Jeremy Janes, Mauro Pento, Jeremy Browes, and Shay Court.

The TFL’s first 5 minute A division round kicked off with Alejandro Giraldo throwing down a near flawless routine.

At the end of the night, the crowd was eager with anticipation to find out the results for all 3 divisions.

In the C division, taking home third place was newcomer Louis Brosas. Second place went to Yann, and taking home the C division championship was Pierre Gadouas of Montreal.

In the B division, coming in third place and the $40 prize was the Loose Moose’s own Jay Myers. Second place and the $60 prize went to Jeremy Browes, and taking home the $100 prize and the first season 2 championship was “Flair Bear” Dustin Costain.

The A Division saw Kris Perez take third place. Season 1 champion David Jennings took home second place, and the first ever Division A champion was Alejandro Giraldo who claimed the $150 prize.

Another successful competition by the Toronto Flair League is proof of the rising interest in flair bartending in the city of Toronto.

There are few bartending schools in Toronto that promote and properly train bartenders in the art of flair. BartenderOne is responsible for training over 80% of the competitors in the TFL, and Flair Studios Canada has also done a great job preparing bartenders for competition.

Moving forward, the Toronto Flair League will be incorporating themes into their competitions to make the guest experience that much better.

Watch out for TFL 80’s night in late March.

Until then, keep flipping.

I’ve been told that the face a bartender makes when he/she is shaking a drink is the same face they make when they are having sex.  You might want to practice making these three cool cocktails in front of a mirror…

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In the 1500s, lead cups were commonly used to drink ale.The combination of alcoholic beverage and lead vessel would sometimes knock drinkers out for a couple of days, and these unfortunate souls would be taken for dead and prepared for burial!  A body  would be laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if the body would wake up – hence the custom of holding a wake.

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Spring is just around the corner, and it’s time to shake things up – or stir things up, depending on the drink!  Here are some completely random recipes that have crossed my lips this month.  If you or your staff have recipes you think might be of interest to Behind Bars readers, please drop me a line!
 
The Montgomery
Named by Ernest Hemingway in honour of the British general who, he claimed, would fight the enemy only if he had 15 soldiers to their one – that was also the proportion of gin to dry vermouth in the martinis Hemingway ordered.
(Source: The Harry’s Bar Cookbook, Arrigo Cipriani)
Adapted recipe for a 60ml “Montgomery” martini

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With public health awareness at an all time high, and a recovering economy that is shifting focus back on the environmental movement, more and more bars are making an effort to go green with their daily business practices for a handful of reasons. Organic ingredients are popping up at every turn, in fact more than 75 different types of Organic Spirits, Liqueurs, Wines and Beers are available in most provinces.

First of all, it’s important to identify the difference between a green cocktail and the absurdity of the healthy cocktail. Ordering up a beverage made with green tea liqueur is not going to earn you any points in the antioxidant cup. Organic Spirits, Wines and Beers are becoming more and more popular, new companies are jumping on the organic bandwagon, others have been quietly producing organic and sustainable products for decades. Do organic ingredients in a cocktail really make a difference? Are they any healthier for you? Aren’t cocktails are supposed to be a little bit naughty anyways?

To answer this question, we made three cocktails, one completely organic, one made with non-organic spirits, citrus and sweeteners, and one in the fashion commonly employed by most bars in operation in Canada today.

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2011 is going to be an amazing year. The economy is coming out of a recession, people are opening their wallets again, and sales outlooks are all positive for the next 12 months. 2011 will also be a banner year in terms of opportunities to invest in your business. At times like these, traditional service industry staff turnover rates of 50%-65% plummet; and the employees in your bar are more loyal than ever before.

This column will be a four part directive for making your bar more profitable through systems and training. I’ll give you techniques and numbers that will make your bar more profitable… Guaranteed. In this issue, I’ll be discussing commonly overlooked areas where your bar is bleeding money. In the next issue I’ll tackle the importance of training your staff to stay ahead of industry trends so you’re offering beverage products and service that will make your guests come back for more with cash in hand… read on!

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Social Networking has a lot in common with the operation of restaurants and bars every day. In fact, before Facebook and Twitter came along, most social networking happened in bars… but it was done verbally instead of through text comments and posts. Everywhere you look, you see Facebook and Twitter. Have you dismissed it as “something that the young people do?” Running a successful social networking campaign is tricky, there are lots of ways to waste your time and money, but if you work it properly it can add value to your business and bring people through your doors. I hope this piece will provide some clarity and direction for what you and your staff should and shouldn’t be doing with social networks like Facebook, Twitter and youTube.

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Vodka sodas and Gin and tonics are fine, but as Canada starts making a move to catch up with the cocktail epicentres of the world, it’s time to take a serious look at your cocktail offering. Many restaurants are still stuck in the late 1990’s Martini cocktail phase, where drinks full of liqueurs and postmix juices, served in oversized martini glasses. Those days are gone, and the cocktails that are replacing those juicy martinis are elegant, sophisticated drinks, full of flavour and ripe with profitability.

We have all heard of suggestive selling, but few servers practice, many simply fall into the rut of being an order taker. It’s worth noting over 50% of drinkers are unaware of price at the time that they place the order, and that over 60% of guests will take the advice or recommendation of a server or bartender. so taking your guests from a Vodka and Cranberry to a Cosmopolitan should really be a piece of cake. The ingredients hardly differ at all, simply decrease the amount of Cranberry and add a splash of orange liqueur. The cost differential is minimal but your opportunity to sell the end product for a premium is tremendous.

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