Important little things

Citrus Flash

Often, bartenders do not even suspect that the zest that remains from oranges, lemons and other citrus fruits is real gold in the hands of a professional. What most attracts guests to the bar counter and creates a note of intrigue in the eyes of others? Of course, fire! Having cut the zest into pieces, a knowledgeable bartender will definitely find a worthy use for it during work. Before giving the prepared cocktail to a guest, we squeeze the essential oils from the zest onto a burning match; it looks impressive and sells better. A good step towards decent tips.

Every thing has its place

The main obstacle to working in a bar is finding the right tool or component, especially if the bar is busy and you need to prepare several drinks at the same time. The fuss begins, nervousness arises, the atmosphere becomes tense. Therefore, you should always remember the rule: If you take it, put it back! For clarity, you can paste up pieces of paper indicating the items that should be located here.

Traffic jam in the bar

In many establishments, especially abroad, you can see a huge cognac glass and a bucket filled with bottle caps behind the bar counter. At first glance, it will seem that this is a decorative item, but collecting corks also has its own cunning plan. Probably every bartender has encountered the problem of losing corks from bottles of wine, cognac, and whiskey. Therefore, when opening bottles , it is better to put the cork in some specific place; someday it will definitely come in handy.

How to take straws

The bartender must remember: the guest is squeamish, and therefore the straws must be taken exclusively by the corrugation (bend), and not by the upper part, as is usually done in steam, especially at discos. There are straws without a bend, then there is an unspoken rule to take them not by the drinking part. Note: the bartender’s work looks very elegant when he takes the straws with tongs . It is not without reason that at Russian competitions many participants use this technique in order to look advantageous in the eyes of the jury and the public.

Why polish clean glasses?

Very often in films they show a bartender in the background, for some reason always polishing glasses. What should a bartender do when all the glasses have already been polished? Immediately before serving the drink, lightly polish the already clean glass. For what? This is always pleasant for the guest and necessary from a hygiene point of view. Often stemmed glasses hang on guide clamps, and tiny specks of dust, invisible to the eye, settle on the clean glass. Note: Use clean linen polishers to polish glasses. You can use any moisture-absorbing fabric to polish glasses. Do not polish beer glassware or champagne glasses.

How is a napkin useful?

Do bars always place a glass on a napkin or a coaster? Probably not everywhere and not always. But when serving guests at the bar, this unspoken rule is a mandatory part of the service.

The napkin or fire serves several functions. The first is the aesthetics of presentation. A cocktail on a napkin or a glass of beer on a brand-appropriate coaster looks very nice. It is important for the bartender to remember that it is better to put a napkin under the glass than to put a beer of another brand of beer. What do they do in many Russian bars? Just the opposite!

The second function of a napkin or fire is to save time. The bartender does not need to wipe the counter again if a drink spills or drops from a foggy glass get on it. A napkin or fire absorbs moisture well and prevents the drink from spreading over the counter.

The third function is the efficiency and speed of service when two or more bartenders work behind the counter at the same time. These small items help avoid duplicate orders. Example: a guest approaches the counter, where two bartenders are working, and asks to pour 50 ml of vodka and a glass of juice. At the same time, he can speak to the bar, and not specifically to one of the bartenders. Correct actions: whichever bartender puts two napkins first (one under a shot of vodka, the other under a glass of juice) fulfills the order. Note: Do not use dry, crooked or dirty fire pits and do not skimp on napkins.

BarNews Magazine, 2/2008