New Frontier

I am about to start a new chapter in my bartending career. I officially started training to bartend at a gentleman's club this week. I am really excited for the opportunity. I have bartended in all sorts of bar: live music venues, restaurants, nightclubs, lounges, dive bars and even a few private parties, but never a gentleman's club.

I can't imagine working in a bar like this would be much more different than working behind any other bar. Customers and servers order drinks, you make the drinks. You accept payment, ring payment into the register and thank the customers. Show up on time, do your J-O-B and its easy-breezy.

Each bar has its own special lure to get customers through the door like specialty cocktails, live music, amazing food or topless ladies. In the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter what type of bar I work in because wherever I go, I always bring my hardworking, bubbly personality, tasty cocktail making and superb customer skills with me. For this particular experience, it doesn't look like the focus will be so much on my award winning cocktails as it will be on my charming personality and also perhaps the low cut shirt I am wearing during my shift. Hey, its a gentleman's club. You have to play the part.

Wish me luck!

Hot Toddy Weather

It's been really cold over the last couple of weeks here in San Francisco. So it's no surprise that there has been a surge in the amount of Hot Toddy's ordered at the bar lately. Due to the drink's recent rise in popularity at my bar, I give you my own Hot Toddy recipe and a small variation for those feeling a little under the weather:

My Traditional Hot Toddy Recipe:

2 oz bourbon
1 sugar cube
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
hot water

In a heat-resistant glass, add bourbon, sugar cube, lemon juice and fill the remainder of the glass with hot water. Stir until the sugar cube is fully dissolved. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Feeling-Under-The-Weather Hot Toddy Recipe:

2 oz bourbon
1 sugar cube
1/2 fresh lemon juice
a pinch of fresh ginger
hot water

In a heat-resistant glass, add ginger and muddle. Add bourbon, sugar cube, lemon juice and fill the remainder of the glass with hot water. Stir until the sugar cube is fully dissolved. Let the drink sit for a minute or two so that the ginger can infuse itself into the drink. Before serving, be sure to strain out the ginger. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Stay warm!

"You're cutting me off?"

It's never easy cutting off a drunk person. No matter how calm or rational you are, the rationality is always wasted on the drunk person you are cutting off.

Case in point: a woman walked into the bar the other night and made it really obvious that she was loaded. It's one thing to get drunk at an establishment. It's another thing to come into a establishment already tanked and act like a fool. Looking back on the incident, we should have just asked her to leave from the beginning. But in fear of making a poor, customer service call, we gave her the benefit of doubt.

This chick was all over the place. Everywhere she went, she stumbled and slurred. She was loud and obnoxious. She even shattered a martini glass at her table just because it was in front of her. Her friends were so embarrassed by her public drunken stupor. They individually came up to the bar and asked the entire staff to not serve her because she was so drunk. Fortunately, all of us at the bar already had our eyes on her and had established amongst one another that none of us were going to serve her any alcohol.

At one point, the boyfriend of the drunk girl had ordered a beer for himself. Ten minutes later, drunk girl realized that her boyfriend had a drink and she didn't. She then stumbled up to the bar and demanded to know why she didn't have a drink. I watched the commotion unfold. As the bartender calmly explained to drunk girl that she wouldn't be served any alcoholic drinks, the drunk girl's voice got noticeably louder. People sitting at the bar were starting to look over to see what all of the commotion was about.

After the third time of hearing drunk girl asking the calm bartender why she wasn't getting served alcohol, I walked over to where the loud conversation had been taking place. As I stood there next to the bartender, drunk girl demanded to know who was responsible for cutting her off. I quickly piped in, "Me. I'm the one who cut you off. I'm the bar manager and I made the call." Of course she demanded to know why. I told her that she had been stumbling all over the club as soon as she had got there, reminded her of the glass she shattered at her table and told her that even her friends had told us to cut her off. Sounded like a no brainer to me, but then again I was the sober one in the situation.

Of course the answer I gave her was not the answer she wanted to hear. She started screaming a variety of curse words as she backed up from the bar, as if to prepare to lunge at me and my fellow bartender. Just as I was in the process of telling her that now was the time for her to go, security came up from behind and kindly escorted drunk girl to the door.

I think its safe to say that this chick has been permanently 86ed from our bar.


Word to wise:

Bartenders: Always keep your cool. Always remember that drunk people aren't rational. You can't take it personal when someone is blaming you for their drunken actions.

Drinking Public: If a bartender cuts you off, it's probably for the best. Accept the fact, quietly leave the bar, get in a cab and go home. Running your drunk ass mouth and making a fool of yourself in public won't get you served and is the quickest way to the front door.

December 5th: Celebrate Repeal Day!

December 5, 2009 marks the 76th anniversary of the Eighteenth Amendment being repealed, giving back to Americans their constitutional right to drink. The Eighteenth Amendment is the only amendment to the Constitution that has been repealed thanks to the Twenty-first Amendment, marking the end of Prohibition in 1933.

Learn all about what Repeal Day is exactly and why it should be celebrated

Repeal Day events in San Francisco tonight

So today, be sure to drink and be merry. Celebrate the day in American history when the ban on manufacturing, importing, exporting, buying and selling of alcohol was lifted and that all fellow Americans (whom are at the legal age to drink or older) got back their constitutional right to drink publicly.

Fun Holiday Cocktail Recipes

Everyone is gearing up for Thanksgiving this week with making several trips to the grocery store and preparing to spend more time than usual in the kitchen. If you are looking to entertain adult guests this year or are an adult and are looking to entertain/relax your adult host(ess) with some holiday cheer, be sure to check out the following fun holiday cocktail recipes. They are fun, tasty and most importantly, easy to make:


Batida de Pumpkin


Spiced Place Market


Smashing Pumpkin


Cypear Buck

Your adult host(ess) and guests will thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Funny Things I Overheard

You can hear a lot of funny things working behind a bar. If you aren't part of the original conversation, the things you do hear may seem random and not make any sense. I recently overheard a few things that were said where I was part of the conversation and they still sounded funny to me:

"Oh yeah. There's another $400 here!"

"Half the club smells like weed."

"No more shots for you!"

"How do I make a Hot Toddy?"

It seems like the later it gets, the more random and entertaining things people say. I chalk it up to public drunkenness. There's never a dull moment with bartending as long as there is alcohol involved.

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