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A garnish has a two-fold purpose in alcoholic drinks. One is to enhance or compliment flavors, and the other is to enhance the visual look of the drink. When you get right down to it, it is wild to think that a floating piece of fruit skin can justify the price of an expensive drink, but […]

Shaken or Stirred? There are a few differences between shaking and stirring Martini’s. A stirred martini will achieve a temperature of about 40° F. That’s a pleasant temperature at which to drink a martini. The shaken martini however reaches a frosty 29° F, below the freezing point of water. Second, the bartender will not give

What’s the difference between a Bartender and a Mixologist? Jim Meehan of the New York bar PDT: “A mixologist serves drinks, a bartender serves people–many of my favorite bartenders can’t make a good drink, while some of the best mixologists in America can’t carry on a conversation.” Is it really that simple?  No… But it

Kölsch? Pilsner? Wheat? Stout? Porters? California Common? Are they different from Ales and Lagers? What you have to “beer” in mind here is that beer falls into just two fundamental categories. There are variations within the categories, but despite all claims to the contrary beers are either ale or lager. “Don’t be ridiculous! Something-or-other that

GET THE UPPERHAND. Choosing a bartending school? Bar owners and managers look for the advantage of having certified bartenders behind their bars. The real world training at American Bartenders School helps you to gain the confidence and skills necessary to handle a bar effectively. Bar managers are not interested in just hiring ‘servers’ to pour

The Chain that Binds The title was originally a reference to an old Platonic philosophy about chained prisoners in a cave that can only judge the world around them by shadows they see on the wall–and bartending can certainly seem surreal sometimes, but that isn’t what was meant. My intent was to reference a very

Who (in their right mind) would Want to Own a Bar? The Fantasy Lots of us have this fantasy of opening a bar somewhere. I mean how much is there to it really? All you have to do is buy a bunch of liquor (probably in bulk and save money, right?), get in a good

In this next video, I go into some important tips on pour spouts. I talk about standard pour spouts, fast pour spouts, and stopping pour spouts. I also go into the importance of free pouring and not relying on stopping pour spouts as well as which pour spouts to stay away from. The video below

While creating this online bartending school, I was bartending at a lounge in the adorable town of Pine Mountain Club, California.  The owner of Basecamp Cafe and Info Lounge reached out to me and thought it would be a great idea to do a 1 day recreational bartending workshop.  Because the cafe only had a

Setup for your Bartending Event A place for everything, and everything in its place! Bartenders live and die by this rule. If you set up your work space the same way, every time, your life will be so much easier. When you are busy you won’t have to look or read labels. If you stretch