Bartending Basics - Drink Name Logic

Bartending Basics - Drink Name Logic One popular drink preparation that did not make our must-know-list is how to make it sour. And that’s because it’s asked for by name so you can’t miss. Let’s think of a few examples and you’ll see how easy it really is. If a customer orders a vodka sour, it simply means vodka with sour mix. The same holds true if it’s a Midori sour, Midori with sour mix or whisky sour, whisky with sour mix. Simply pour the requested liquor and add sour and there you have it. We highly recommend that you bring your drink recipe book with you to work and our must-know-list. It’s okay to look at the list. Many of us do. As you’ll see in the recipe book, although we provide you with the total of 100 recipes to experiment and have fun with, only 15 are on our must-know-list. So you don’t feel as if you need to memorize all the drinks, you don’t. Bartending is not about memorization, it’s about good service, building relationships and pouring beverages. Bartending is made with simple and creative specifically to bring the bar atmosphere to you. So that you can experience what’s happening behind the typical bar. Just like most professions, bartenders use there own lingo and have there own tricks for remembering drinks. We’re going to demonstrate a few tricks of the trade with you now. We’ve asked top notch bartenders to contribute there ideas to for this section. And of course, we can’t use all their examples, but we think they’ve come up with some pretty and interesting ideas to help them remember a popular drink. Here it goes, here’s a simple logic to drink names. Here are eight examples. Anything that has the name blue it in, like a blue margarita or a blue kamikaze has blue curacao in it. This simply means at a touch for coloring. It’s the only blue liquor. The second example is the fuzzy navel. The ingredients are peach schnapps and orange juice. A peach is fuzzy and a navel is an orange hence fuzzy navel. Slippery nipple, Baileys and Sambuca, Baileys-Booca. A B52, remember the letters KGB. They stand for Kahula, Grand Marnier, Baileys. Any drink with watermelon or melon flavoring is going to have Midori, its green so it’s easy to remember. Another very popular drink is a OO7. Its orange flavored Vodka, orange juice and 7-up, hence OO7. If it’s Hawaiian, guess what? It has pineapple in it. So Hawaiian Sea breeze would be a sea breeze first and then add pineapple-it’s that simple. You get the point. Once you start making drinks, you’ll have your own system for remembering. Maybe years will vary from the examples that we provided, but as long as you are comfortable with your own system, that’s fine. Before we end this final step, step five, the must- knows, let’s have a word about wine. You might be surprised, but honestly, we don’t consider wine a must-know. There are many wine experts out there, the good news is-that you don’t have to be a wine expert to become a professional bartender. As a matter of fact, all you really need to know are three types of wine. White wine, a common type of white wine is Chardonnay. It’s clear or buttery colored. White Zinfandel, its pinkish red in color, and third wine is Red wine. There are two types of Red wine most commonly used-Merlot and Cabernet. Cabernet is deep and red in color, simple right? The Red wine is the only wine of the three that is not served cold. It is displayed with the rest of the liquor. White wine and White Zinfandel are kept in the cooler. If you decide to work in an establishment where wine is an important focus of there business, like an upscale tie-in restaurant, you’ll be given on-the-job training. And in many cases, you’ll be asked to taste the wines for yourself along with food samples. That way, you have a first hand of experience of what food taste great with what wine. Now, you might be thinking they forgot all about frozen drinks and we can assure you, we didn’t. They’re simply not on our must-know list. If someone orders a frozen drink, like a piña colada or a frozen hurricane, the bar you’re working at will have a blender and usually a pre-made mix. Don’t be concern with memorizing these drinks. Your manager or another bar tender will train you in using the equipment and will specify which drinks they serve. Most of them are pre-made anyway. Many bars don’t even serve frozen drinks. In any case, politely tell the customer that you don’t serve frozen drinks but offer another suggestion as a replacement. Here are the three key components of drink names. Number one; learn the Vodka drinks first, 50% of all the mixed drinks use Vodka. Number two, there’s logic to drinks names. Think about the name, you’ll figure out the ingredients. If you’re in doubt ask the customer. And three, any drink with the flavor in it like a strawberry madras means you simply use flavored liquor and keep the basic recipe the same. Use the must- know section of the guide book to familiarize yourself with the 15 must-knows several times, you’ll have them done in no time. I have no idea how to make that. This happens to every bartender. When a customer orders a drink that you are not familiar with, there are four simple rules that you should always follow. Number one; if you’re working with another bartender, ask him or her. If she or he doesn’t know then, number two, look at up in your book. If you still do not know then, number three. Ask the customer and if they don’t know then ask them to describe the drink and then suggest something that you’re familiar with. Most of the time, the customer knows what is in their favorite drink and will describe to you to a tee how to prepare it. Even the most experienced bartenders get drink orders from time to time that they do not know or can’t remember how to make. It’s all part of the job. The important point here is that you should not get flustered. The goal is to make the customer happy. And nine times out of ten, they’ll love to share their knowledge with you. You’re working on a fun environment-smile and everything will be okay.