BBFB have put a great deal of effort into their Pourfection bar portal since its launch, and are continuing this investment in 2012 with a range of improvements to the site’s bartender tools.

These include an online GP calculator to help you get as much bang from your purchasing buck as possible and a menu creator service that guides you through then creative process and then ships the finished menu to your door (next day, if ordered before 2pm).

We particularly like the new cocktail database that offers some useful search and filtering options, allowing you to find recipes based on your staff’s experience, flavour profile or special occasion.

Visit www.pourfection.com to use these tools free of charge.

As they say about all the best comedy, it’s funny because it’s true…

Distillery trips are one of the best perks of working in the bar trade, especially ones to far-flung places you might never normally visit ‘in real life’.

However, should you be lucky enough to blag a trip to one of America’s many bourbon distilleries, think twice before you use typical bartender language to show your excitement on Twitter.

Leigh Van Bryan, a 26 year old bar manager posted the message “Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America” just before embarking on said trip, only to be stopped at the border by Homeland Security sent back to the UK for “Posting statements in a public forum which could be construed as threatening”.

Anyone in the trade will recognise this as a statement of intent to ‘get on it’, however America’s men in black suits didn’t, and not only did Van Bryan miss out on an expensive holiday,  he is no doubt now on some sort of watch list that will make it very difficult to travel in the future.

How did Homeland Security know about the Tweet? We can’t say for sure, but the FBI’s new Social Media Scraper might have something to do with it.

Full story on bbc.co.uk

Terry Cashman at the GCP 2011 Final

The G’Vine Gin Connoisseur Program was one of 2011’s biggest and most keenly contested competitions – possibly because it offered not only a cracking prize, but also the opportunity to learn a hell of a lot about gin.

The format remains largely the same this year, with competitors completing a combination of online modules, preliminary heats and then a week-long global final in Cognac, presided over by competitor coach, Gaz Regan and competition designer Philip Duff.

Last year, Terry Cashman of the Hoxton Pony and Jill Saunders, formerly of the Savoy’s Beaufort Bar, represented the UK at the global final, which was ultimately won by Gegham Gazarian of Spain.

Terry told us of the final:

“(The Final) was an amazing week, not only spending time in a beautiful part of the country and meeting some great international bartenders, and being tested on every facet of your bartender knowledge and skill, but getting hammered with Gary Regan and Phil Duff is a experience not to be missed. If you take away anything from the experience, make sure it’s gin… I mean fun.”

The prize for the ultimate winner is outstanding. It includes $3000, a trophy, a platinum vine flower pin, all expenses paid trips to Tales of the Cocktail and Berlin Bar Convent and a year’s supply of G’Vine for your bar (which is sure to put you in the owner’s good books).

Enter the 2012 GCP

BarLifeUK will be sending out regular updates on preliminary heats, and updates on the competition’s progress, so make sure you have subscribed to our eBulletins.

However, in the mean time, visit the G’Vine website, create your competitor profile and make a start on the online module parts.

The racetrack had been taken over by body-modders, Teddy Boys and rocking billies for the weekend, with dozens of great artists from all over the UK inking up the punters.

I was pretty sure a few familiar faces would appear in the crowd, and sure enough I bumped into Sahara Bar’s Dean MacGregor on his way to filling up some more skin-real estate. The boys and girls on the Sailor Jerry stand also furnished me with rum, which was, of course, excellent.

Resurrecting the tradition of Life magazine in the 60s, we bring you a mini photo-story (but with images of considerably poorer quality) from the Brighton Tattoo Convention.

That's MR Potato Head to you...

I was joyfully walking the streets of Seminyak in Bali on a warm January evening, when a stranger approached and asked me if I knew a Tom Collins. Strange, I though to myself, but was quick to reply: “No, I’ve never met anyone named Tom Collins before. Why do you ask?”

“Well Sir, he’s hopping from bar to bar and he’s been singing a mighty bad tune about you”

“I’ll murder him”

“Quick! Down the end of that road, you’ll find Potato Head Bar, he’s gone in there, Sir” was his instruction.

Fortunately for me, I was meeting a couple old friends at Potato Head that very evening, so it was going to work out great. Give this douche a dressing down then have a drink to relax and de-brief, post throttling.

I began my journey down a magnificent entrance, a driveway fit for a king, flanked by palm trees 15 metres tall.  I drew up my sleeves and marched on down. This Tom Collins was in for a kickin’, I thought, as I drew closer but slowly, I felt my rage subside. This golf club-esque approach had a profound calming effect on all who walked the length.

I rounded the last corner and was greeted by a structure akin to a football stadium and waiting to greet me was another sizeable structure in the shape of a doorman. I had my backpack with me and I was to hand it over for a quick scan, just a note pad

and laptop, so was given the nod. I was then given probably the most thorough pat down I’ve had since being in Asia. Most days, I’m frisked at shopping malls, hotels etc. and it seriously makes me laugh, as it’s generally a hand on the small of your back.

That’s why I choose to keep my gun in the front of my trousers, the security never check there and the added convenience, I never, ever forget to put the safety on. Alas, I wasn’t carrying my weapon that night.

In I went and I was guided between two walls adorned in recycled window shutters, anyone that has seen this bar could tell you what a fantastic way this is to colour and decorate a blank canvas of grey concrete. From a distance it’s has a rich texture courtesy of the horizontal slats, also the colour and texture transform depending on your perspective. Interestingly it’s taken ……to complete with shutters, sourced from all over the island.

Next, I was greeted by a gorgeous host who struggled with the concept of East, West, North and South, but by god did she try. Given her looks she was promptly forgiven and I made myself comfortable at a table I was shown to, nearly forgetting why I was there. Aaah, Tom Collins.

I thought the best way to track him down was through one of the servers, if he was shooting his mouth like my friend in the street told me he was, surely one of the staff could help me locate Tom Collins.

I waited for some time, which gave me time to take in the surroundings.This bar was truly a grand design, not only was it huge, there were several levels at least two bars, formal dining area, a sizeable lawn for dancing when resident and international DJ’s played and they even had a pool that nestled between grass and the sand of Seminyak beach.

This place was the perfect environment to help you forget about your day to day, much like Mahiki or Milk and Honey.

The first bar’s lamp-shades had maritime horns, possibly taken from a one-time sea-going vessel, possibly not. A back bar that had a live creeper vine spanning the length of the 6 metre bar. Standing room only. And it seemed like there was a dress and attitude code there too, Bin-Tang vests and loud, obnoxious voices. Unfortunately, you can’t escape certain things.

The next bar along was decorated with white garden chairs at a low height with the bar tenders on a lowered floor, so that eye-level service was maintained, a very nice touch, something I feel you don’t see often enough.

Around this time I noticed my friends come in and I signaled them over. I still hadn’t seen a waiter/ress (sexist!) but I’m sure they weren’t far away. We made our acquaintances and I remarked on my friends new boat shoes, perfect venue to be sporting the new purchase.

We sat down and were finally greeted by one of the staff. He asked if he could be of assistance I asked if he knew a Tom Collins and he said he’d ask at the bar. One step closer, was I!! My friends reminded me that a mutual friend had arranged a bottle of Ketel One for us to enjoy. Colin Chia, thanks again buddy, you’re a gentleman, thanks for being a part of this great night. We sorted this out along with soda and lime to boot. It was great settling into and enjoying the surrounds and we did talk about the venue, the décor and the menu for quite sometime. Proof they had done a great job.

The menu was great, plenty of choice a varied selection of Potato Head creations and yes, there was some spelling and grammatical errors, but this bar review isn’t about pointing out every mistake and shouting about it from the top of the hill, I just want to share experience and enjoyment to others in the industry.

Our drinks came over and I had a glass presented to me “your Tom Collins, Sir”

Tall, some fizz and adorned with a citrus garnish, this guy knew what I liked but what the flip was going on. Was I set up? Who is this Tom Collins and whose parents would name their son after a cocktail? No wonder he ‘bad mouths’ others, he’s angry at life this guy.

I set my lips down on the drink and took that first sip. Magic, this drink had the makings of something great, good gin ‘punchiness’, fantastically balanced and refreshing to the end. I, like most bartenders have a relationship with those classics that comprise of base spirit, citrus and sugar. Daiquiris, sours, Collins etc. They’re a great way to test the waters of a new venue and can be turned out at just about any bar.

We settled into our groove for the evening and watched people come and go. The friends I was with knew this place well and frequented PH whenever they were in town. I enjoyed everything about the evening, great company, comfortable and varied surrounds, a great cocktail and a beach for flips sake.

In conclusion, Potato Head is a great place, well worth checking out. Go, go, go! Bali, thankfully, is experiencing somewhat of a comeback on the tourist circuit and I know I’ll visit again. During my time in Bali, I visited PH twice and even saw 2012 in with friends. And it must be said, they make a cracking Gin Rickey.

Click the image to see a larger version

Although we did foolishly think that in the beginning, little did we know how things were about to unfold….

One cold hung-over morning (more likely afternoon?) in October, after the Opal Halloween Ball as I remember, I was kindly invited to take part in an ongoing industry style “come dine with me” that a few regular faces had been doing for a while now:

Suspects included Sara Nixon and Jimi Pearce (Wax Jambu), Stef Holt (El Dorado), some guy called Simon (BarlifeUK) and Mr. James Triffo (Spirit Cartel).

Apparently it was Sara and Jimi’s turn to host which I thought was convenient as I live just round the corner. We did the obvious thing and joined forces to co-host and after setting a date to start the planning we met in the only place we thought appropriate, our local pub.

Now, I believe it was at this exact point (or a few pints later) that night was transformed from a lovely traditional Christmas dinner to a spectacularly unusual mix of mad food, obligatory flaming drinks and customized party games with just a hint of “what the hell is going on now?”. If any of you know us then I think you may already know where this is all heading….

I won’t go into full menu details now as that would probably spoil the article! But this is what our guests knew at the time.

Preparation continued, and for the second and final planning session we decided the park cafe was the more productive option, simply going on the fact that last time we ended up seriously considering carving the turkey with a Samurai sword whilst wearing a hockey mask, turning a variation of a classic pork side into “chicken in sleeping bags” and making a crème caramel the size of a garden bin and flambéing it?!

The day of the meal

I had made an informed executive decision to go out to a rather large Christmas party the night before so wasn’t looking my best (said the expression on Jimi’s face), however 10am or not, there was cooking to be done and after acquiring the help of a number of my housemates the total to cook for had risen to 14.

Now I enjoy a challenge as much as anybody else but had this gone too far? I didn’t think so, but it was certainly a sink or swim moment, just one of those very, very long moments… It was damn lucky we had already constructed and decorated the 16ft dinner table in our hall the day before.

General catering, arts and crafts and what could have been mistakenly identified as a mad panic continued throughout the day. However amongst the sporadic shopping trips (mainly to find out how much stuff you really can fit into a Mazda MX-5) and overcooking the first batch of cauliflower into a fine paste, we were getting somewhere.

Early doors came far too quickly and our first guests started to arrive at the designated invite co-ordinates, I raced to “The Beast” (my 1988 Piaggio APE pick up) and put my foot down, I would pay money again and again to see the faces of everyone I chauffeured that evening, despite not even hitting the full 28mph top speed.

Upon arrival everyone was met with a group of estranged staff (part time staff at best)/housemates, waiters: Nick Newman, Jen Hill, Kirstin McLenaghan and bartender Mark Routledge (fastest bartender in the west). Drinks were instantly in full flow and while everyone was catching up in the kitchen…  The Admiral (Joe Petch), A Tiger (Jimi Pearce) and Yorkshire Pudding Chef Extraordinaire (Sara Nixon) were running around as if they wouldn’t of been out of place on a rammed Friday night TGI’s dispense bar!

The starters were served worryingly efficiently and to complement the food we served 70cl bottles of classic Bucks Fizz with large straws. We had to include several intermittent drinks, perhaps to act as some sort of palate cleanser? But mainly for fun, and the next one tore off your palate and left it crying in the corner…. We introduced the “Big Bad Blazer”:

• 1 x bottle of Goslings 151
• An oversized metal teapot
• Bitters and cinnamon dust.
• Oh and a match…

The meat was ready! The turbo ham joint, as some tradition somewhere must state, was paraded around the dinner table with fireworks strapped to it (hence the turbo).

Meanwhile, due to no fault or miscalculation of our own what so ever, the vegetables for the main were taking a little longer than to be expected, however whilst our resident foodie Tom Jubert was carving away we thought quick on our feet and started administering seemingly endless Port laybacks to pass the time.

The port bottle eventually ran dry, but just in time as dinner was ready to be served in true soup kitchen queuing style, with accompanying individual stuffing cakes and rather potent port gravy of course.

We do however need to apologise to Triffo and Anna as his vegetarian option of “Christmas Suckling fish” was served under the assumption they ate fish?! DOH!

To follow was the “Super Charged Sorbet”; a potent Hendricks, apple, lemon and passion fruit cocktail served over a large spoon of lemon sorbet with the obligatory tea set of course.

Desert was easier (partly down to Stef bringing an amazing Pavlova, thanks again), we scaled down the bin sized crème caramel idea and made a more manageable sized “Mulled Cider Sailor Jelly”, set on fire of course and served with sugar and berries.

Taking a break to look around our kitchen and dining area I realized we had not only created an indescribable mess but a lot of satisfied faces, blame the booze, the company or the food, we may never know, but I suppose none of these are a bad thing.
With great pleasure we introduced the beginning of the evenings after diner entertainment.

To begin, “musical cider bobbing”, a mangled version of musical chairs and apple bobbing, although we used cider and rum to bob a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables (including the infamous impossible coconut!).

I am sad to say at this point that there was a spot of cheating involved. For future reference; Laurence, you can’t carry a chair around with you while the music is on and Sara, using goggles and a snorkel is clearly an unfair advantage!

We had recently picked up a baby grand piano for the house and wanted to host some after dinner piano carols; however tragedy stuck when we realized we didn’t have enough people in the house to standup the half tonne monster onto its legs….. To this day it’s still saton its side… Not to worry as the finale was yet to come!

The Traditional Christmas Fish Piñata looked glorious in advance of its pummelling and in this slightly altered version, the person behind you covers your eyes whilst attacking the fish with an old rolling pin. This was all good and well until the rolling pin broke and hit the Tiger in the chest! Come on, man up Jimi; it’s just a flesh wound! Plus the fish came off a hell of a lot worse.

With our bellies full, cider in our eyes, the fish destroyed and not a shred of common sense left amongst the lot of us we decided it was clearly time for music and dancing long into the night.

Thanks to all who helped out and came along! Keep your eyes peeled over Easter: as I just had an idea…

A couple of comments

Just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you for Saturday night – it was fantastic and the food and drinks were amazing! You really blew us all away with the amount of preparation and thought that had gone into it and showed us a bloody good time!

From being picked up in an Italian tuk tuk, to pyrotechnics, being facially immersed in cider and beating a fish with a rolling pin it was the most spectacular Christmas dinner EVER - Stefanie Holt

Racing through the dimly-lit, rain-covered streets of North London whilst balancing precariously in the boot of a three-wheeled Piaggio (like a Tuk-Tuk but less comfortable and safe)  I was fully exposed to the acrimony of a particular nasty English deluge.

Fearing for my safety at each twist and sharp turn over the traffic-congested roads I knew this was to be the start of a most unorthodox Christmas dinner. You see, my coach’s chauffeur, was also my host…

Any chill I incurred from my journey soon vanished as an enormous room-warming* 151 blue blazer (which burnt from start to finish) was prepared en masse for a collection of invited guests (of mostly familiar faces) from around the drinks industry.

The bottles of ready-made Buck’s fizz, goldfish pinata, quirky playlist and huge portions of handsomely prepared Christmas dinner set this gathering apart – with a unique feel that seemed more fun than forced. 

My only regret was not being able to stay longer. After losing out (at being the first loser – well played Simon) of, “musical chairs/cider-fruit-bob” the cacophony that was, “Joe and Jimi’s Joint Xmas Jam” drew its doors closed.

I have the feeling I departed before the evening took a turn in the direction of complete inebriation (I’ve now had reports back via next-day text messages to confirm those suspicions). Here’s hoping this was only the first in a long procession of disjointed and boisterous Christmas celebration.

Thanks again everyone involved! 

*The blazer literally raised the temperature of Joe’s converted warehouse/kitchen as it was being decanted from kettle to soup pot - James Triffo

From now on, BarLifeUK is going to refer to retro, medicinal bottles as 'hipster' bottles.

Last week Chivas Brothers, the premium whisky and gin division of Pernod Ricard, announced that there was going to be:

“a new look for its Plymouth gin brand, re-positioning it above Beefeater 24, as a “super premium-plus”.

My initial thoughts on this matter were mixed, but the word that kept cropping up in my head was that this decision was a very bold and I mean very bold indeed.

On face value

If you broke this re-positioning exercise into its simplest form, then you can understand why some people are a little confused by the issue,

1. The liquid inside is going to be exactly the same as before
2. The only changes will be the design of the bottle …which by the way looks awesome
3. The price will be increased by approximately 40% to £25ish

See what I mean about bold?  An increase of 40%, when we are watching our pennies at the moment and they are not even changing / improving the gin itself.

The key for me is the term that has been used to explain this decision…Plymouth Gin was undervalued!  Is this a fair point?

The fine line

To me there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

I must confess that I admire them making this positive move, as if you do feel undervalued, then sometimes you have to dust yourself down and confidently pronounce I think I am worth this much.  It has the heritage, its a tasty gin, so who are we to question their decision?

If you look at the gin category as a whole, it is being flooded with a wealth of new brands, all are different from one another, some have been received better than others.  But there lies a key problem…how can you stand out from the crowd, when all that is happening is more and more competition is coming your way, in a specific price range?

A bar can’t possibly list every single gin.  So how do you make your brand a must stock and not a may stock?

The bigger picture

The fascinating thing for me, is that sometimes as bartenders we neglect to think of the drinks industry on a global scale, I am the first to admit I can be guilty of it, but more and more I am beginning to look at things in a completely different way.

Why?

There is a really cool resource you can download called Millionaires 2011.  This identifies the spirits that sell over one million 9 litre cases around the globe and showcases the trends that are currently happening.

The thing that really grabbed my attention was the effect that the emerging Asian, Pacific & Russian markets are having.  These have a truly monumental effect on the manner in which spirit companies think and market themselves.

We are all aware that times are hard, people are not going out as much, preferring to go to the supermarket to buy their alcohol, instead of going out 2-3 times per week.

However, did you know that:

1. In Russia there has been a 40% increase in premium imported whisky sales in 2010, 80% of which being Scotch
2. Martell (owned by Pernod Ricard), was the fastest growing international brand in the world (19.9%), Courvoisier was 3rd (17.6%).  These have both  been helped by the strong growth in China and other Asia Pacific Markets

*all figures supplied by Drinks International Millionaires 2011

This to me reinforces the point that we have to stop thinking insular and consider the affects of the huge populations of people that live of the other side of the world.

Reuters state that Asia will add 1.66 million dollar-millionaires by 2015, taking the total number of wealthy to 2.82 million as the world’s fastest-growing major economies of China and India continue to mint millionaires.

Looking at figures like that, hammers home their is a necessity for super premium products in the world.

Showing off

Imagine you have been spending most of your life on the bread line, then all of a sudden the economy picks up, you luck starts to change and you come into money.  What will you do???  Go out and celebrate of course!

We have all heard the stories of Bankers spending £1000s on bottles of expensive Champagne, Magnums of Grey Goose and not giving a monkeys.  Are we now seeing this happening on the other side of the world?  The difference being that there is a greater number of people doing it.

The difficulty with being submerged in the drinks industry for so long, is that we are aware of product life cycle of spirits, I for one have seen countless products reinventing themselves.  But that is my point, there is a whole lot more people that have not!

Therefore if there is such an abundance of newly rich people, wanting to spend their money, what will they look out for…in my opinion the bottles that look cool and are the most expensive.

I have seen first hand the ceremony that goes into buying a bottle of spirits…the sparklers come out, as the waitresses parades through the crowd to your booth.  Eyes are on you…who are they?  What do they do?  The difference being is that there is always someone else in the room wanting to out do you, so what happens, they buy a bigger bottle, maybe 2 or 3.  With money sometimes brings egos!

Questions?

This brings us full circle back to the re-positioning of Plymouth Gin.  To me its first test will be how the re-positioning will be received in Spain, which is currently going through a Gin renaissance at the moment!

Are they looking to be the Grey Goose of the gin world?

What I am really looking forward to seeing is the creative marketing literature?  How they are going to communicate the changes not only to the trade but to the general public?

All in all I am just excited to see a spirit brand believing in itself and confidently pronouncing I am worth it!

We imagine Mr X looks a little like this. Only with Cognac.

You will know the type I mean…the ones that think they know it all, flash the cash and think they are above every one. I have been brought up to be polite, sincere, take everyone on face value and not to pass judgement.

He sat there sipping his expensive cognac, giving his views about everything and anything, and completely unprovoked he said:

‘What do you know, you are only a humble bartender!’

I was dumb struck and very insulted, but being the professional, I just politely ignored it and decided to clear up and go home. What really struck me is that why in this new golden age of cocktails are bartenders still seen as humble?

Definition

1. Low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc; lowly: of humble origin
2. Not proud or arrogant, modest: to be humble although successful
3. Courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong

What leaps out to me is that I like to think that I act in a manner that is numbers 2 and 3; however Mr X (as we will call him now) saw me as number 1.

How does that work? How can someone make a HUGE judgement about me, simply because I am working behind the bar?

Bartenders behaving badly

I think that a lot of preconceived judgements manifest from guests having had bad experiences in a bar that linger in the back of the mind.

Mr X could have had a bartender that:

1. Thinks they are gods gift, who knows everything and will disagree with any drink he orders
2. Who doesn’t actually give a monkeys because they are hanging out their arse and just want to lie on their sofa eating McDs, writing on Facebook how bad they feel and will never touch Uncle Wray again!

If you don’t agree with a drink choice, don’t be rude, be humble and suggest some other ideas…if you like that sir, have you ever consider this?

I am not trying to tell you how to suck eggs, but if we are to change the opinions of the countless Mr Xs out there, then maybe we need to follow some advice my Mam gave me:

‘Treat someone like you want to be treated yourself’

Bartenders vs Chefs

Everyone knows chefs are dishonest and not to be trusted.

There is something that I have had a bee in my bonnet for a long time. How is it that when you start your career in the culinary world you have a clear and defined career path, but in the drinks world we don’t?

Wannabe chefs firstly go to college and spend a couple of years learning the building blocks of their craft. Everything from techniques to classical recipes, honing their skills; so they are prepared for the big wide world.

Whereas my first experience of working in the drinks industry was pulling 95p pints at a Hall of Residence Bar in Manchester, hardly the place to inspired and learn best practise; but I was hooked!

Therefore is it time that colleges need to appreciate that some students may be interested in a career in the drinks industry?

Are we at a stage where we need to breed best practise from the start?

£12,228 (really?)

The problem I believe the drinks industry faces in attracting career bartender is the salary above. According to the Guardian online, the average salary for a bartender is £12,228, which works out at £235.15 per week, before tax. It is the 2nd worst paying job in the country. Which is hardly attractive is it?

No place to hide

After being in the drinks industry for over 13 years now I would like to think that I am a confident but humble bartender. My one gripe though is that sometimes I think that the powers that be under appreciate what that experience brings.

I will explain…

Going back to my comparison with the culinary world, as a Head Chef you have a team that works under you, you have time to prep and you work to a specific menu.

As a bartender you do and your don’t. Yes you prep your garnishes, have a cocktail menu and drinks list but that is where the comparison ends.

Why? Well the thing is you never know who is going to walk into your bar; you will never know what they will ask for, yes you can make assumptions by your guests gender, age and the way the dress. However I have learnt that they can be completely wrong.

The big difference between being a chef and a bartender, is that we can not hide away from our customers, we are there stood in front of them and in some ways we have to perform, entertain and deliver professional and courteous service.

How we ‘perform’ will go a long way into how the guest judges the bar, hotel or restaurant they are visiting, if it is great they will tell 6 of their friends, if it is bad 20.

Food for thought

If you were sat looking at a food menu and decided there was nothing on it that you liked, I can guarentee a chef would not be the most receptive to a guest asking for some of their own choosing. It is just not practical or cost effective.

As a bartender this is what we thrive on, asking the questions to get to answers, to deliver the perfect drink for a customer. What spirit do you like? Do you like it to be booze heavy? Do you like in a long, short or martini class? If a waiter did this with a guest, the kitchen would go into meltdown with all the different dishes that would be required.

This is what is magical about mixology, that with the right training and level of self confidence, you can easily deliver world class service.

Therefore I will leave you with a question to mull over:

Why is it that there is such a wide gap between the salary of a Head Chef & Mixologist?

Joe shakes up a Moonwalk

Some of the best things in life occur very rarely: a visit by Halley’s Comet, a good Vince Vaughn movie or a delay-free Central Line are points in case.

Seeing five generations of Savoy American Bar head ‘tender together behind the stick definitely falls into this category, and BarLifeUK were privileged enough to witness it today, in honour of Joe Gilmore’s services to cocktail culture.

Germany’s Mixology magazine held industry awards last year during the Berlin Bar Show, with Mr. Gilmore receiving the Lifetime Achievement gong. As Joe was unable to attend, BarLifeUK accepted it on his behalf, with the promise of safely delivering it to him back in London.

Erik Lorincz, The American Bar’s current head bartender, pulled out all the stops and invited Salim Khoury, Victor Gower and Peter Dorelli along for the presentation, which provided us and the many industry guests who attended the rare pleasure of seeing five generations of American Bar icon shaking it up together.

Joe with his Lifetime Achievement trophy from Germany's Mixology Magazine

Joe looked perfectly at home behind the bar as he made a Moonwalk cocktail, which he first created in 1969 to mark the original moon landing – and was also the first drink taken by the team on their return to terra firma.

When he had finished his stint behind the bar, Joe told us: “Thank you very much to Mixology magazine for this beautiful shaker trophy. I am going to take it home and treasure it forever.”

Erik Loricnz said: “This is the dream of all bartenders – to see all these guys today and to be able to dig into such a deep history. Joe is one of the only people who met Harry Craddock… I get goose bumps when I speak to him about the past’s great bartenders.”

BarLifeUK can genuinely say it was moving to see Joe and the guys behind the bar together… Can you imagine the stories they could tell you over a night of Martinis? Congratulations to Joe on his Lifetime Achievement award, and thanks to Mixology Magazine and everyone at the American Bar for making it happen.

They just didn’t need him any more.

Last year the UK representative – in the form of Stu Fritz of Lab Bar fame – took home the top prize at the world finals and netted himself a stonking $10,000. With this year’s entry deadline fast approaching, Stu is recommending it as a competition for you all to enter:

Stu taking out the UK heat complete with bad shirt

“The Domaine de Canton competition is a unique experience for competitors from the United Kingdom. It was a chance to see the styles and trends developing from our neighbours west of the Atlantic.

The superb setting on the exotic island of French Saint Martin, coupled with mystical flavours and spices of Domain de Canton liqueur, sets the dramatic scene for a once in a lifetime experience. Last year was the UK’s first participation and victory, so the standard has been set – will the crown return home in this Ryder Cup like challenge?

Let us also not forget the ultimate prize – $10,000!!! Come on fellow bartenders, what are you waiting for? I will see you out there as a scrutinising judge…”

The competition will be judged over 3 rounds. Round 1 will judge drinks being served and promoted in venues. The 12 most successful venues will then be selected to nominate a bartender to enter Round 2 which will be an original cocktail round. The winner of this will then go on to compete in Round 3 which is the International Final taking place in St Martin this summer.

To enter all you have to do is send an e-mail confirming you are taking part along with your Domaine De Canton drink name and recipe to declan@specialitybrands.com before the 10th February.

The drink needs to be promoted through your venue for three months and the judging of this round will be based on the cocktails taste, name and presentation along with how well the drink is communicated in the venue along with bonus marks for driving awareness of the cocktail.

Tom competing in last years UK final

For further details on the rules click here

We will leave the final words of inspiration to Stu, apart from these – come on UK, bring the trophy back to our shores:

“In the finals, a drink was to be created on the day using the provided ingredients – including fruits and spirituous products. 3 pools of 5 bartenders competed in the first round.

The top from each pool went through to the finals, and the following two bartenders with the highest scores from all pools went through as wild cards. The final 5 bartenders then had to concoct another libation using a mystery box set of ingredients as the garnish.

No unique glassware was allowed, nothing could be brought from home except you bar kit, knowledge (important), banter and skills. A strong liver is also required to keep up with the social antics. It was definitely a competition that I am proud to have entered and ultimately achieved victory, for myself and the UK.”

Party New Orleans Style With Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort is back with a bang this New Year opening its doors once again to the original D.I.Y Louisiana party at the Juke Joint – and you could be there!

Southern Comfort has teamed up with BarLifeUK to offer two lucky winners the chance to win a pair of tickets each to attend the next big party at SWG3 in Glasgow on 2nd February.

The unique venue will offer a slice of New Orleans’ infamous night-life including: Southern Comfort serves, old school horns and hot new DJs who’ll keep the volume turned up and the bodies swaying into the small hours.

For your chance to win these exclusive Southern Comfort Juke Joint tickets, simply email andy@barlifeuk.com with your name and the name of your bar.

This competition is open to UK bar professionals over the age of 18 only.  Closing date: 20th January 2012.

Deadline for entries: February 7th

One of the most eagerly anticipated bartender comps, the Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge will test the full range of bar skills and is much more than a cocktail competition and will employ a range of ‘real world’ scenarios to do this.

The Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge will be holding 6 UK selection heats (London x 2, The North, Bristol, Brighton and Edinburgh) during February and March next year.

The winner of each heat will go through to the UK final, held at a historic London rum location, and fight it out over two days for the honour of representing the UK at the Global Final in Jamaica (2nd& 3rd place will also win a bartender’s trip to Jamaica and the Appleton Estate distillery).

The stages

As well as offering the great prize of representing the UK for a week in Jamaica, winning the Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge will look great on the CV of any bartender wanting to open their own venue. The UK top 3 finalists will also be given the opportunity to become Regional Appleton Estate Bartender Heroes.

Enter here via the Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge Facebook Page.

Some of Reading's finest...

I became the General Manager at Sahara around a year or so ago. When this happened, my aim was to kick it up a notch and put my stamp on the business.

One of my initial ideas included starting the E.D.S., which is the “Educated Drinkers of Sahara”, a cheeky little club where we meet once a month and discuss a topic from the bar industry; a particular spirit, a country and its exports or a trend .

Whilst trying to get this off the ground and build the number of attendees, I noticed that although there was a good relationship between Reading’s different bars there wasn’t a community as such.

Making it my mission to develop that ‘bar community’, I got bang on it and approached every bar, posters in hand, for any training sessions, competitions or tastings that were coming our way. I suppose my notion was to get other bartenders in the town interested, to make Reading somewhere to be seen as a great drinkers destination, with the aim of having educated, inspired bartenders being the majority.

Perhaps in turn, that could even encourage the boys and girls of our bar to become more passionate about their own level of knowledge, skill and maybe instil in them a competitive streak.  Well, it seems to be working and now we have a core group of around 15 to 20 that turn up to everything, notebooks in hand, ready to learn and create.

Fast forward 5 months and an intensive amount of training sessions and local competitions with the likes of Matthew Dakers, Declan Mcgurk, Colin Dunn, Justin Smyth and Emily Williamson, and the scene here has had a brash reawakening.

Since this resurgence,  our bartenders have been growing from strength to strength, winning comps (both national and local) such as the Jack Daniels Birthday Bash, The Chambord Rendezvous and the Ketel One Challenge, placing 3^rd in the Grand Marnier Grand Bal and getting 2 finalists into the Chartreuse final.  Add to that a dynamic mix of personalities, motivation and strong friendships, and you’ll soon see how Reading is quickly becoming a burgeoning source for bartender talent.

So, with 2011 behind us, and a wondrous 2012 looming, what has Reading got in store?  With training sessions with the likes of The Bombay Sapphire Flavour Experience and El Dorado already booked down at the bar, we’re keen to keep the momentum from Christmas rolling.

The next big development that I’m looking forward to is The Taste Pilots.  Other than a genius name what exactly is The Taste Pilots?

Taste Pilots is a once a month group for bartenders to meet up and brainstorm cocktails in a no pressure, non competitive environment.  It’s a great idea as bartenders get to see trends from different bars and areas as well as helpful ideas on how to improve their drinks and because it’s sponsored by a brand all the stock for the evening is free which means no one has to pay for their creations, but it also gains exposure for the brand on board for that month.

The brand ambassador presenting gets to leave with a large handful of awesome recipes, and there will also be an abundance of photographs documenting the evening.

Glenn Saville, wearing a very purple tie.

The first ever taste pilots took place on a cold Sunday at the end of November in Cerise which is the cocktail bar at the Forbury Hotel.  This is the home of Glenn Saville who came up with the idea and therefore the home of the club.

It’s a beautifully intimate bar with all the fixtures and fittings you would expect from a super premium hotel that has been there since 1911.  Wild Turkey was the spirit of choice for the first event and Zoran Peric, brand ambassador was down to give us a run through of the history as well as talk us through a tasting of the Bourbon and the elusive Rye.

Once taken through these it was time to jump behind the bar one by one, and showcase our creations.  With 10 bartenders from 5 different bars it was a great atmosphere and you could tell that most of them had been having a think about flavour matching and combinations whilst taking notes from Zoran earlier in the night.  Everyone was a little nervous at first but once a couple of bartenders had gone up we all quickly fell into the flow of things.

It was great to watch the different styles of each drink and how each person went about developing their ideas over the night.  From very classic stirred concoctions to more modern shaken drinks, all were of a high standard.

By the end of the night we were all feeling quite happy and heading off with our notes and a warm 101 proof glow about ourselves we headed home.

The next Taste Pilots will take place on the 29^th of January, anyone who fancies taking part needs to call Glenn on 0118 952 7770.

Here are a couple of the cocktails created on the evening.

Tick Tock Turkey!

• 50ml Wild Turkey
• 25ml Creme de Cerise
• 25ml Dark Cacao
• 5ml Fernet Branca

S+FS into a martini glass with Chocalate Buttons on the Rim - Glenn, Cerise

Feather Plucker.

• 45ml Wild Turkey Rye
• 15ml Chartreuse Myrtill
• 15ml Chartreuse Walnut Liquer
• 2 Bs Fernet Branca

Stir and strain into a Absinth Rinse Old Fashion glass - Dan Bovey

la dinde folle

• 30ml Wild Turkey
• 15ml La Fee Bohemian
• 20ml Cocchi Vermouth
• 5ml Chartreuse VEP
• 4 Dashes Angustora Bitters.

S+FS into an inverness, Garnish with a flamed Orange slice - Ash, Sahara

Aussie Reviver #1

• 50ml Wild Turkey
• 12.5ml Chartruese
• 12.5ml Creme de Cassis
• 12.5ml Lemon Juice
• 2 dash Grapefruit Bitters
• Zest Lemon into tin before shaking.

S+FS into a martini glass with a lemon twist - Alex, Revolution