Intelligent Bartender

Bitters; the salt and pepper of the drink world!

I’ve been bartending for longer than I can remember and, to be honest, it was years before I ever opened a bottle of bitters.

While working in Australia I was introduced to bitters as one of the ingredients in the hangover cure trifecta — lemon, lime and bitters. Made with lemonade (or 7Up to those of us who live in North America), lime cordial and the magic “bitters,” this elixir is used to settle the stomach.

By definition, a bitters is an alcoholic beverage similar to a spirit but principally derived from herbs and citrus dissolved in alcohol.

Bitters generally have a bitter or bittersweet flavour profile. They also commonly have an alcoholic strength of up to 45 per cent. But because they are so rich and full of flavour, bitters are normally consumed in small amounts (1/64 of an ounce to 1/32 of an ounce.)

Bitter liqueurs like Jagermeister were originally consumed for their medicinal qualities as much as their intoxicating properties, however, those mentioned here are considered digestif.

There are hundreds of brands of bitters but the worldwide bestseller and most readily available one in Canada is Angostura.

In addition to its original bitters, Angostura has an orange bitters that works well in cosmopolitans, negronis and margaritas as well as most cocktails containing Campari, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, triple sec or blue curacao. Other exceptional orange bitters include Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6, Stirrings’ Blood Orange Bitters and Fee Brothers’ West Indian Orange Bitters, which also produces grapefruit, peach, lemon and mint-flavoured bitters. And then there’s Peychaud’s Bitters. While similar to Angostura, Peychaud’s has a big, bold red fruit flavour.

Over the years, the widespread use of bitters has dwindled due to the lack of education about this alcoholic liquor and bartender ambition. However, a couple of dashes of bitters can make an enormous difference in the depth of flavour in your drinks. They are also the best value for money investment a bar can make.

Take a traditional balanced cocktail like the Cuba Libre (rum and coke). Four elements are used to balance this drink and make it a bestseller: rum (strong); ice or water (weak), which balances the strength of the rum; cola (sweet); and lime (sour), which balances the sweetness of the cola.

When balancing a cocktail based on these two axes, (strong versus weak, sweet versus sour), you end up with a drink that hits both sweet and sour taste receptors. Because the Cuba Libre hits two of the four taste sensors on the tongue — the others being salty and bitter — it is given a rank of two.

Then there’s the whisky sour, another cocktail classic. This drink has all the makings of a great balanced cocktail. Even though its namesake is ‘sour,’ the addition of sugar or simple syrup balances this drink and makes it palatable. Most bartenders use rye or bourbon, simple syrup and fresh lime juice to make this cocktail. However, if you look at the classic and sometimes forgotten recipe, it calls for two dashes of Angostura bitters. The addition of bitters to a whisky sour hits sweet, sour and bitter notes on the tongue, giving this drink a rank of three.

Drinks like the margarita naturally hit three of the four taste receptors — sweet (orange liqueur) balanced by sour (lime juice) and salty (salted glass rim). Adding a few dashes of orange bitters can create a cocktail that hits all four taste receptors, providing the drinker with an unparalleled taste experience.

It's like sending someone to race a car who doesn't know how to drive.... Lacking bartender training is absolutely detrimental to a business !

Do you have unexplained losses in liquor or wine, in draught beer… in all three? If your restaurant is like most hospitality concepts, chances are your current bartender training is based on generations of bartenders who may not have been fully trained themselves. Most restaurants open with meticulous operational guidelines for how drinks are prepared, with detailed recipe lists that must be strictly adhered to along with opening and closing procedures, weekly checklists for cleanliness and follow up procedures. Does this sound familiar? Maybe it’s a distant memory…

What usually follows can be likened to a game of broken telephone, where each generation of bartenders passes on an adapted interpretation of your original training message. In the hospitality industry where employee turnover rates are commonly 50%-66% per year, it doesn’t take long before your original training standards are barely recognizable.

Perhaps your restaurant is okay and you have a good idea of how you can control the margins in the kitchen. Most managers have a good handle on food cost in the kitchen because many kitchens have portion-controlled menus. Use of a scale to measure consistency in portion size is common especially in prep areas, but there is no parallel on the bar side of the spectrum. Most bartenders freepour, although few have been properly trained to freepour accurately. You ask them to use a shot glass, which is slow and really offers no guarantee of accuracy during busy periods.

In the hospitality industry, there is a fine line between profit and loss. So fine in fact that after tax, profit margins in F&B often average less than 3% according to recent figures.

With margins like that, it’s hard to justify spending money on the business; however, it’s been said that you have to spend it to make it. There are a smorgasbord of liquor control systems available… at a price, and keep in mind you get what you pay for. Some bars that choose the ball bearing style pour spouts, which apparently stop automatically, may save money up front but you’ll pay in the long term. Most of these spouts will only pour accurately about 65% of the time. At the opposite end of the spectrum you could spend $100,000 or more on a high-tech liquor control system, however it may take years to see the return on your investment. Both of these systems, no matter how elaborate the programming, will limit your bartenders’ ability to create drinks that will truly satisfy your guests’ unique tastes and preferences.

At the very least you should make sure that all of your pour spouts are the same, and that you don’t have a mishmash of different colours, styles and pour rates. Not only does it look better, but if you find your liquor costs are out of line at least there is one less variable, and you can let your bartenders know that they’re pouring heavy.

The cost of not training your bartenders properly is astronomical. All licensed establishments have bartenders but few have truly mastered the craft. But when was the last time your bartenders had any real training? Are they accurate and efficient or are they pouring away your profits?

The bottom line is that your ability to manage your costs is directly linked to the degree to which you empower your staff to help you manage those costs. We’ve all heard that the best defense is a good offense… consider this. Keep things simple: Based on $10,000 in sales: Your current liquor cost is 25% = $2500 Your budget liquor cost is 23% = $2300 Simple math says that you’re running 2% above cost or at a 2% surplus. Your target liquor cost is 22% = $2200

This could be as a result of carelessness, spillage, spoilage, etc. As an incentive to keep costs in line, share these numbers with your staff regularly, and offer your bar team a quarterly party, or pay out a cash bonus to your bartenders if they hit a target 1% below your targeted liquor cost, in this case 22%. (Goals have to be within reason, and shouldn’t promote short changing the guest.)

Each year, based on these numbers, you are rewarded with $1200 in teambuilding and staff incentives. Your staff retention and job satisfaction goes up, turnover goes down and you empower a team of people to work toward meeting your budget goals. Win, Win.

Until next time, keep “Raising the Bar” in your establishment because if you don’t someone else will. Cheers!

Cocktails with colour draw your guests' attention, making them more likely to try something new!

From the classic long island iced tea to start off your evening, to a warm and comforting blueberry tea after a good meal, tea flavoured cocktails have been around for forever. The recent surge in popularity of green tea, coupled with the fact that teas are included on more and more cocktail menus, is a great indication that we’re all about to get a healthy dose of antioxidants. In North America, high quality tea products are now more accessible than ever. With its highly publicized health benefits, wholesale tea sales have grown more than 600 per cent in the last 15 years. Trailblazing restauranteurs are noticing the trends from the Far East and incorporating what was once considered a very ceremonial ingredient into today’s cocktail revolution. Matcha is one of the latest types of tea to hit the Canadian marketplace. Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of it, few people, or bartenders for that matter, have. With both Starbucks and Booster Juice recently adding matcha to their menus, it won’t be long before it’s a household name. Just know that matcha is the new chai, and it’s a buzzword that may just turn the industry on its ear.

Most will agree that few things are more refined than relaxing after a meal with a digestif or specialty coffee warmer. While Spanish coffees and monte cristos have long been staples on the after dinner coffee list, the one and only after dinner tea cocktail on the vast majority of our menus is the quintessential blueberry tea. The classic recipe calls for a curious mix of the orange flavoured Grand Marnier, and almond flavoured amaretto (the jury’s still out on where the blueberry reference comes from). Sadly, that seems to be the end of our creativity when it comes to tea cocktails.

The recent rise in popularity of green tea martinis or “greenteanis” has opened a floodgate of opportunity in Asian inspired cocktails. While Central and Eastern Canada seem to be a bit behind the times, British Columbia has had a long love affair with a myriad of green tinted Japanese culinary delights. From the almost fluorescent coloured wasabi, (try a little mixed into your next caesar) to the light green textured aloe vera juice, to the deep green nori (seaweed) to the brightly coloured edamame (soybean), it seems like it’s easier than ever to be green. The latest addition to the family of popular green ingredients is matcha. Although there are some subtle differences between matcha and green tea, (types of leaves used and the method of harvest) quite simply, matcha is powdered green tea in a concentrated form.

Restauranteurs have been using this brilliant green ingredient in culinary applications for quite some time. Matcha ice cream, matcha cream cheese, matcha chocolate and energy bars, parfaits and cheesecakes… the list goes on. Chefs like Toronto’s John Lee of OMI Sushi suggests matcha’s slightly bitter flavour balances well with sweet or chocolaty desserts, which is why it works so well in sweeter cocktails. He adds that it’s not only matcha’s unique taste, but its many health benefits that are making it an increasingly popular ingredient to work with. With as many as eight times the antioxidant properties of regular green tea, a little dose of matcha can go a long way.

Powdered Matcha is available in a few different varieties. For cocktail applications look for sweetened matcha, which often comes in the form of a matcha latté mix. The unsweetened powder is fine, but I find it too bitter to be used without the addition of simple syrup. Mixology Canada Inc. offers powdered matcha in both varieties along with an extensive line of Tea Fuzions concentrates created specifically for cocktails.

This month, I’m offering up two suggestions, one for before the meal and one for after. First, the emerald matcha martini, made with premium Vodka, lychee liqueur, aloe vera juice (another unique ingredient available in most Asian grocery stores) and matcha tea. You’ll find it best to dissolve your matcha in hot water before adding it to your beverages. Try 1 tsp. of matcha powder to 1oz. of hot water. The second is the lychee matcha latté. With both soothing and digestive qualities; it’s made just like it sounds, with lychee liqueur, a shot of matcha and steamed milk, and it’s the perfect way to end a meal.

One thing is certain, Asian inspired cocktails including tea-based creations are here to stay. With a curious consumer base thirsty for a healthy excuse to have a cocktail, and extensive bartender training, these drinks could just be the way to raise your bar!

Emerald Matcha Martini
1 oz. premium vodka
3/4 oz. lychee liqueur
1 tsp. Tea Fuzions matcha latté powder (dissolved in 1 oz. hot water)
2 oz. aloe vera juice

Lychee Matcha Latté
1 oz. lychee liqueur
1 tsp. Tea Fuzions matcha latté powder (dissolved in 1 oz. hot water)
6 oz. steamed milk

Bahama Mama no. 7

I was recently lucky enough to vacation to the Bahamas, and as always I make a point of seeking great bartenders in great bars that make great cocktails.  Paradise Island, should have been no different, especially considering the price tag for food and drink while on the island, and their commitment to haute cuisine.

At Nobu in Atlantis, I had a surprisingly good mojito for $17USD, (although at that price you’d expect a good drink)  No trip to the Bahamas would be complete without trying the signature Bahamian cocktail, the Bahama Mama.  I ordered one at each bar/restaurant I went to, and sadly there were no consistent recipes or drinks that tasted remotely alike (they were however all red in colour) Atlantis is no slouch of a resort in culinary terms, however the bar service was lacklustre at best.  Generally the bartenders were order takers without much in the way of motivation to take mixology seriously.

It seems like such a shame that so much money is spent on facilities, decor, food, chefs, ambiance, etc., and yet it has become completely satisfactory to do little or nothing when it comes to training the bar staff, which inherently results in less than exciting cocktails.  In an environment where setting yourself apart from the competition is paramount to the success of any restaurant / hotel / nightclub, even a small amount of effort could produce extraordinary results.

When considering bartending as a career there are a few things that one should keep in mind.  It’s not all glitz and glamour, and although you can make gobs of cash doing it, the real money, as in most businesses goes to the ones who are truly committed to practising and perfecting the craft.

Are you a bartender?  Is bartending for you? Are you a member of the mixology camp or is flair your thing?

The reality is that there are few careers that give you the opportunity to network, make money and develop your own personal clientele with no upfront investment other than your knowledge of a well built cocktail.

Whether you chose to engage your guests with conversation, cutting edge cocktails or flair, creating a buzz is a surefire way to leverage viral marketing and have your guests coming back for more.  Here’s an example of a Melbourne bar called Der Raum, that entertains not only in cocktail theatre and molecular mixology but also by pure design ingenuity.