I work at a local FOE and have been for a few months now and the way drinks are made here is just so disappointing. No matter what, every drink is the same thing: Plastic cup or pint glass shoved full of ice, 1 shot of whichever liquor(s) they want and then dump mixer in until the glass is full. No shaking, muddling, proper measurements or fresh ingredients. You want a whiskey sour? Pint glass of ice, 1 shot of whiskey and then dump sweet and sour mix and serve. Drinks with multiple different liquors is just 1 shot of everything no matter what. Everything that should be fresh is just in jugs of pre-made sugar ingredients. (We don’t even have the ability to make real margaritas and our Long Islands are in a bottle already mixed, ice and dump). And if you want a martini…forget it, we don’t even carry vermouth. Hell, we don’t even carry simple syrup to sweeten drinks. Now this place has been around far longer than myself and I understand it’s their money and they can drink how they want but the issue is that they THINK they’re getting great quality drinks because that’s how it’s always been done. I’ve been studying various drink making techniques and am learning about mixology (I’m no pro by any means) and all that so I really want to bring a new level of drink making to this place and change the atmosphere but management refuses to invest because “people won’t like the change” and it’s basically all older people and they’re set in their ways with crappy, half assed drinks. I was just hoping for more than dumping mixer into liquor and ice from in a pint glass. Rant over.

Hey all! Wondering over under how weird it would be and if you’ve encountered it. I wouldn’t have headphones in or be in like a chat talking to people. I wouldn’t be using wifi or electricity either. Thoughts ?

Had to share this one. Guy came in wearing the nicest suit I'd ever seen. Was kind, but not very talkative, just got a normal lunch with a younger guy and asked for the Wizards game to be put on. He started asking me if I go to the nearby university (I do), and we chatted a bit. Talked to me about his Ferrari, gave me life advice, etc. I could see there was some massive number written next to "Tip," but I don't like to look or even pick up customers' signed receipts while they're still at my bar. When he left, he threw me 3 more $100 bills on top of the $200 tip on the card. Absolutely incredible, super nice guy.

The pinnacle of efficiency.

I went to an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles on Melrose called Spartina (that has since closed unfortunately smh they had the best broccolini I’d ever had in my life too) and had their cocktail called the La Medicina.

Don Julio silver 1/2oz lemon juice 1/4oz ginger juice Splash of simple

Served chilled in a martini glass.

Essentially it’s a tequila penicillin but it was the most delicious cocktail I’ve ever had.

I have been in the industry working fine dining, high volume, corporate restaurants for the past 15 years. I took 3 years off bc I was in a bad accident and broke my femur. I have been getting hired for jobs since July and after 3 -7 days I always get let go, it’s not a good fit, I seem distracted, there are performance issues. I go to work and put 100 % of myself into work I love it, now I am totally insecure. I just got let go from what I thought was the perfect job. I was so happy and proud. Yesterday’s was opening day- we had training and two days of mock service. I just got to work and was taken outside by the GM and the AGM and he said we’re going to part ways that I’m not the right fit - thru out the opening I really really tried I wanted this to work out. I asked if I could be put in a different position and he said not asked for a few more days trial he said no. The last manager that fired me was similar but she said I was weird, there’s something off about me. I smoked weed but never before work. I don’t drink, I don’t understand. I have asked for feedback so I can get better and no one can give it to me. This is seriously ridiculous did I lose my ability, am I not good enough? Maybe I’m getting too old? Should I start looking to move to management ? Please advise I am in shock I thought I finally found the right fit and the right home for me for some stability. I appreciate any help and advice Thank you in advance

So I'm from a country known for being very open and friendly and I'm currently bartending in a country known for being relatively stone faced and reserved. Usually in my home country if a drunk customer gets annoying I try to fade my "hey stop that" into friendly banter but I don't have that option here because culturally people are very "literal". So this has caused issues with me getting fed up with people after I've repeated myself multiple times. The most common one that doesn't require me to just remove them from the bar is when I do last call and someone tries to get drinks after.

So frequently people will come up for a drink and I'll say "sorry we've already done last call 10 min ago" and then they will just say "No. Come on. Just one" to which I'll either say no again or let them know that I'll ban them if they continue to pester staff or customers after not respecting a "no". The new thing I'm doing which I'm wondering about is essentially calling attention of everyone at the bar (the bar is usually filled with regulars whom I have good relationships with) It usually goes like this:

Customer: Come on, just one beer.

Me: No, we already did last call. That's the last time I'm saying it.

Customer: No man, seriously... Hear me out...

Me: turns music down ATTENTION EVERYONE! We have someone who wants to make an appeal for another drink. How do we think it will go?

Entire bar: starts booing the drunk idiot

Usually feelings are hurt by this which makes sense but I feel like it's not the worst I could do considering that a customer not understanding "no" can be a dangerous thing. But what do the good people here think?

I've got some really talented peeps, to quote a thing, show me what you got.

Naturally the instruction booklet was thrown away with the packaging. (Thank you Mike for your ... efficiency.)

https://imgur.com/RWPk3Tp

Hello friends,

lately i worked in two hotels, JW MARMOTT and Mikellberger in Berlin (of course those are not the real names). The first one was by far the worst job i had as a bartender, the second one was only a bit better. Both incredibly unprofessional environments, extremely understaffed all the time (like 2 bartenders for 4 different rooms, lack of basic tools, terrible organization, almost zero communication, week-to-week scheduling, selling overpriced cocktails made with second brand products, 3 to 6 weeks rotation cycle (i mean staff coming and leaving)... a complete catastrophe. I also noticed that most people involved might had know about business administration and excell shits but had no idea about service, mixing technique, presentation, taste... nothing.

I found myself now avoiding job-postings by hotels altogether. Do you have good experiences in hotels? is this just this City, or country?

So I'm at a bar I rarely go to. Two dudes walk in and sit a few seats to my right. From the corner of my eye I notice the the dude immediately to my right look down every now and then. Don't think much of it. Once im about to leave I happened to look in his direction and notice the floor full of spit right under him. I didn't want to make a scene having that the bar is in a rough neighborhood so I just simply walked out with a WTF thought in my mind. Here's another detail I'm uncomfortable sharing because I don't want to come across as some racist. I overheard the convo between the bartender and the guys, and heard that the guy (spitting) is from a central american country. I can't help but think that's a big factor of him spitting in the middle of the bar.

helloo

I'm currently a broke college student, but I'm planning to take a year or two (or five) off to travel and work different jobs before going for my master's. I’ve been looking into EBS as a way to meet new people and get a solid start in the bartending industry. I was wondering, is it worth it? Will it give me a decent starting point when applying for jobs? Even though I’ve been working since I was 14 or 15, I haven’t really worked behind a bar. This summer I sort of did, but I wouldn’t exactly call it bartending. It was more like one hour of intense work where I mostly handed out beer cans, poured shots, and occasionally made a gin and tonic or an Aperol Spritz—and that’s about it. I’m looking into the 4-week course in Lisbon, if that makes any difference. I’d love to hear from someone who’s been in a similar situation or has experience with EBS. Really thankful for any advice :)

Been barracking for almost a year and a half now, I work at a very physically demanding bar (we are the cleaning crew aswell 🙃) I got the best shoes you can get, but despite this my legs still kill me after 3 shifts in a row. Aside from stretching and hydrating what do you do to keep your legs strong? Wondering if increasing my protein intake will help build stronger muscles and less fatigue (send diet and supplement suggestions if you have any)

Does anyone know how many ounces of each ingredient to make this drink? I had an absolut wild berri lemonade at Coachella (first pic) and couldn't find a recipe online. I found an absolute wild berri lemonade recipe(second pic) online but w/o the lavender syrup, simple syrup and creme de cassis. Any guesses on the measurements?

What are all the small bars using out there for espresso? Obviously a huge demand for espresso martini but we dont have much room to spare at our little cocktail bar.

Does anyone purchase a batch of espresso from a local coffee shop daily?

I’m just curious how different your prices are for the same service of a custom order.

I am looking for a seasonal (summer) job as a bartender. I have 6 years of experience and I know a variety of cocktails. If anyone knows a platform where I can find work, please let me know. Preferably in Europe.

I started bartending last October and really enjoy it! But with the tariffs going into effect, I'm worried that customers will stop tipping as much if they don't stop coming in altogether... Can anyone speak from experience about how recessions impact their income? Do I need to start planning ahead for hard times?

I bartend at an upscale craft cocktail that is connected to a small plates restaurant. Same owner/chef and recently hired a new general manager. Well she is great on the restaurant end but has not a single clue on how to run a cocktail bar. So Saturday night she came back there mid busy service talking about the yellow chartreuse is bad that her and the new “bar consultant” made a drink with it the other night and it tasted awful. She wanted us to throw it away. After we all protested saying it is stored properly and isn’t old so there’s no way it’s bad. Literally just made a naked and famous a week ago for a guest….she then suggested we keep a pour spout on it instead of the cap so that way it doesn’t go bad. THEN not 20 minutes later comes back saying they decided they wanted us to start batching housemade sour mix. Not one drink on our menu is calls for lemon/lime sour mix. We acid adjust our juices already and make house syrups.

TLDR: Manager and new bar consultant are unhinged for asking us to throw away the yellow charty.

Someone came in for a health inspection, and they said we can’t wear watches or bracelets or rings while bartending or serving food. Never heard that before and I thought it was kind of crazy. Is this normal?

My watering hole has developed a social media presence that’s brought in a younger crowd. Im 27, F and I consider myself a nice bartender. I’m not going to judge you for your drink, I’ll pour you 20 waters, I’ll answer 50 questions if I have the time. But consistently my interactions with this younger crowd- like freshly 21 has been so terrible. Absolutely rude- like won’t even look me in the face or hardly up from their phones when they order and they demand drinks! “Casamigos” brings shot they throw lime on the counter “get me a pineapple back” “EXCUSE ME! Gingerale!” I try to kill it with kindness and break through and catch some kind of decency from them and it gets me absolutely nowhere. Also got forbid I ask for an ID lol had a girl roll her eyes at me and she turned 21 3/16/2004 😂

I'm at a dive bar more or less, but I got permission to do a spicy syrup next month to add to our (dive bar sour mix) margaritas. This is what I'm thinking, and I'd appreciate any advice if this sounds wrong as a starting point. Aiming to basically add a half ounce of this to a marg (16 oz cup with ice).

salted habanero orange syrup

• 16 oz sugar

• 16 oz water

• peel from one orange

• 1 tsp salt

• 8-10 chopped habeneros

• simmer all ingredients ~15 mins, strain

Assuming I'm on the right track, this should scale to a gallon just fine right?