Bar News

Thanksgiving Holiday Cocktail Drink Recipes

Thanksgiving is coming and if you are having a dinner party try some special cocktails to please your guest. Our master bartenders at American Bartenders School have worked over time to come with these taste tempting mixed drinks recipes. Do something different and offer these delicious drinks that will complement your Thanksgiving or other holiday feasts.  Try them as an after dinner dessert drink at any of your holiday or winter gatherings. 100’s of other cocktail drink recipes  and bartending videos at our bar guide and drink recipe sections of our website.
Pumpkin Delight

1. ½ oz vanilla vodka
2. ½  part Kahlua
3. ½ part Irish Crème
4. A dash of pumpkin pie spice
5. Shake with ice and serve in stemmed Martini glass

Turkey Trot

1. 1 oz Grand Marnier
2. Splash of  Cherry Sprite
3. Fill with cranberry juice
4. Serve in tall glass with ice

Turkey Shooter

1. ¾ oz Wild Turkey
2. ¾ oz Peppermint Schnapps

Cranberry Surprise

1. 2 oz cranberry juice
2. ¾ oz  Chambord
3. ¾ oz light rum
4. 2 oz canned cranberries
5. Blend ingredients and garnish with mint leave

Baked Apple Treat

1. ¾ oz whisky
2. ¾ oz apple schnapps
3. 3 oz warm apple cider
4. Garnish with a Cinnamon stick
5. Warm the apple cider in a cup or glass mug.

Hot Apple Pie

1. 1 oz light  rum

1. ½  Chambord or raspberry schnapps
2. 2 oz cranberry juice
3. 2 oz apple juice
4. Slice of  a piece of apple and hang it on the side of the glass. Mix all ingredients, except for the sliced apple in a tall glass and heat in the microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds, or until warm.

Thanksgiving Punch

1. ½ oz  apple schnapps
2. ½ oz ginger schnapps
3. ½ oz dark run  spiced rum
4. 2 oz eggnog
5. Shake with ice and strain into stemmed cocktail glass

Hundreds of cocktail drink recipes and drink recipe videos are available for you at our website American Bartending School Bartending Guide

How Much Money Can I Make Bartending?

This is a question that most people who are thinking about becoming a bartender ask.

Bartenders work for a salary and tips. The salary is between $8 and$10 per hour plus tips in most areas. The hourly salary may be higher or lower depending minimum wage laws. One

of the most attractive things about bartending is the potential for tips. According to the “CNN Summer Tipping Guide “2009, a patron should tip $1 a drink or 15%-20% of bar bill before tax. Some customers may tip more or less depending on the level of service and the demeanor of the bartender. On a busy shift a bartender can serve several hundred drinks. A good night’s salary for a busy bartender may be between $300 and 400 in tips and their hourly salary. This is one of the primary reasons bartending is attractive to people who like night life and don’t mind hard work.

What each bartender earns depends on numerous factors. The most important is good customer service skills. Other important things are

• How busy the establishment is.

• What shift they work.

• What days they work.

• Do the servers tip out the bartenders at the end of the shift and share 15% of their total beverage tips with the bartender. This is a practice where the bartender works the service bar and primarily makes drinks for customers sitting at tables and not at the bar.

• How good is their customer service skills

• Do they acknowledge customers when they arrive or want another drink?

• Do they greet customers with a smile and a friendly hello?

• Do they ask how there drink is after the customer has had a chance to taste it.

• Do they say good bye and thank them for coming in

Customers want to have an enjoyable experience. A friendly, polite bartender that takes care of customers is an important part of the success of every establishment. This is why at American Bartenders School the dos and don’ts of customer service are important parts of our bartender training. Good customer service skill can’t be over emphasized. Especially, if the bartender want to rake in the tips.

Incredible Alcoholic Drink Names

Have you ever wondered where do all those crazy alcoholic drink names come from? Every time go out to a restaurant, I  see a drink menu that has a long list of alcoholic drink names that have the word martini or the ending tini in the name. Their ingredients little to do with an actual martini recipe. How did this happen? Where do bartenders find these names like Appletine or Chocolatetine? Other examples are the class of cocktail drinks that have sexual connotations like Sex On The Beach, Leg Spreader, or Dirty Red Headed Slut.  We teach many of these drinks at American Bartenders School.

The origin of most cocktail drink names are unknown or based on vague legends and myths, but some follow patterns. These are some of the ways mixologist come up with interesting names.

Alcoholic drink names with Sexual Connotations

They are usually related to a class of alcoholic drink recipes called shots or shooters.  Most of these alcoholic drink recipes use multiple liquors and mixes.  They are drank in one swallow and are meant to create a quick alcoholic buzz. The largest group of new alcohol drink names have to do with sex or profanity.  While many of the alcohol drink names appear to be juvenile, they continue to be popular with young customers according to bartenders in New York City.  Bald Pussy, Blow Job, Absolut Sex, are only a few.

Alcohol Drink Recipe Ingredients

There’s the Sloe Comfortable Screw, that uses Southern Comfort, Sloe gin and orange juice (thus the “Sloe” and “Screw,” as in Screwdriver). Then there is the spin off the Sloe Comfortable Screw Up Against a Wall, which includes Galliano (the “Wall” is short for Harvey Wallbanger that uses Galliano).

Liquors’ Name

Sometimes the liquor determines the name. The Bacardi cocktail was invented by the Bacardi Rum Company. Another example is the shot Absolut Sex . It’s named after the one of the key ingredients Absolut Vodka.

News Events

In the past bartenders often used special events as an excuse to name new cocktails. A example is the Japanese Cocktail, named in the mid-19th century for the first Japanese delegation to arrive in the United States. The Obama Mama, a drink that was advertised in a few Washington D.C. bars after the 2008 victory or President Obama.

Interesting People

Alcoholic drink recipes are named after famous people. The Gin Rickey was named after Colonel Joe Rickey,the Negroni after Count Camillo Negroni and the Ramos Fizz named after a well know New Orleans bartender Carlos Ramos. The Shirley Temple is a non-alcoholic drink that became popular in the 30’s and was drink parents ordered for their children.

Places

The Manhattan a famous classic cocktail was named after the Manhattan Club in New York in the late 1800’s where it was first served. Rumor has it that the Russians had a drink called the Chernobyl made from chilled vodka and shard of dry ice.

Another group of names are derived from sequenced numbers name or a variation of the original name. Snake Bite 1, 2 and 3 are good examples. Red Headed Slut and Dirty Red Headed Slut are another.

Now that you have some basic guidelines on naming drinks you need to put on your thinking cap and come up with the next great cocktail name.

Halloween Cocktail Drink Recipes

Halloween is coming and we have some ghoulish recipes are for your sipping pleasure. These bone chilling cocktail drink recipes are guaranteed to make your Halloween a night to remember. Exercise your bartending and mixlogoy skills to create these scary and devilish drink recipes.

Garnish the drinks with fake spiders, bloody vampire teeth, plastic small skulls and plastic spider webs to terrorize your guest.

Vampire Kiss Martini Drink Recipe

1 ½ oz vodka
1 oz champagne
Float ½ oz Chambord

Rim glass with sugar with red sugar, use food coloring to color sugar. Shake with ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.

Vampire Elixir

1 oz vodka
½ oz apricot brandy
2 oz sweet and sour

Shake with ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.

Float ½ oz Grenadine on top

Cyptini

1 oz coffee liquor
1 oz vodka
1 oz freshly brewed espresso

Shake with ice and serve in a stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with two coffee beans

Red Death

Cooler, blend or shake
1 ½ oz Vodka
Southern Comfort
Amaretto
Sloe 1 ½ oz Gin
Fill with 1oz each of sweet/sour and orange juice
Dash of Grenadine Syrup

Grim Reaper

4 oz of Guinness Stout
¾ oz espresso flavored vodka
¾ oz white chocolate liquor

Mix vodka chocolate liquor in a shot glass and then pour into pint of Guinness and shoot the entire glass.

Frankentini

1 ½ oz vodka
½ oz green crème de mint
½ oz white crème de cacao

Shake with ice and serve in a stemmed cocktail glass garnish with mint leave

Ghostly Goblin

1 ½ oz vodka
¾ oz Chambord
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice

Shake with ice and strain. This drink may be served in a stemmed cocktail glass or over ice.

Vampira

1 oz tequila
1 oz passion fruit nectar
1 oz sweet and sour
2 oz blood orange juice

Fill tall glass with ice and stir all the ingredients except the orange juice. Carefully pour the blood orange juice last, allowing it to filter down.

Devil’s Punch

½ oz tequilia
½ oz triple sec
½ oz lemoncello
1 oz sweet and sour
2 oz orange juice

Shake and strain into tall iced glass

Garnish with a cherry and skull’s head

Werewolf’s Delight (non-alcoholic cocktail drink recipe)

1 ½ oz sweet and sour
1 ½ oz orange juice
1 ½ oz pineapple juice
2 oz lemon lime soda

Fill tall glass with ice and float ½ oz grenadine syrup on top.

For more information about bartending in New York, New Jersey or Southern California, please visit or bartending school locations.

Bartenders Get Creative with Molecular Mixology

A hot new trend in bartending is “molecular mixology“. Molecular mixology is a new funky bartending term used to describe the use of creating drink recipes with non-traditional ingredients. Molecular mixology is the art of taking flavors we are used to ingesting in liquid form and turning them around so we get solid cocktails and alcoholic foams, sprays, and smoke—sensations we don’t typically associate with happy hour. It’s more like cocktail hour at a haunted house.

The name is taken from the cooking term molecular gastronomy. A term that was coined by Hervé This, a French scientist who wrote a book explaining the scientific interaction of food ingredients. He believes it’s important to understand the application of scientific principles to cooking and apparently drink recipes. Mr. This was the attraction at a symposium that Bols Liquors, held for bartenders from around the world on the subject in Paris.

Many of the new drink recipes, don’t make much sense. They may be fine for a bartender tasting competition but don’t ask your local bartender to make it for you. They’re kind of like concept cars, look good at the auto show but are impractical for everyday driving.

This example “molecular drink recipe,” was taken from the L.A. Times. Although this recipe may appear extreme – most molecular cocktail recipes are equally as difficult to make.

The Pickled Pig Molecular Cocktail Recipe

Cucumber simple syrup
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Place the chopped cucumber in a heat-resistant bowl and set aside. Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Pour the simple syrup into the bowl over the cucumbers. Cool the mixture, then strain. This makes about 1 cup syrup, which will keep for about 1 week, refrigerated.

5 strips slow-cooked bacon
1 teaspoon tri-color peppercorns
1 (750-ml.) bottle Hendrick’s gin

Place the bacon and peppercorns in an open-mouthed container with the gin and set aside for 6 hours to allow the gin to steep. Remove and discard the bacon and peppercorns, then freeze the gin overnight. The next day, remove and discard the frozen “fat cap.” Store the gin in the freezer until needed.

While this new trend in mixology is interesting, I doubt many bartenders will be mixing them.  The ingredients are difficult to find and the drink recipes are labor intensive.

What The Rich Drink

What to know what bartenders are serving to the  rich?

A national sample of 500+ wealthy American consumers was surveyed online by the Luxury Institute to determine what wealthy people are drinking these days. The Institute’s respondents had an average income of $308,000.00 and an average net-worth of $3.9 million.

If you like champagne and have big bucks this is one for you. Dom Perignon, produced by Moet & Chandon, was ranked as the top champagne brand by the Luxury Institute’s survey. According to those who responded, it’s “timeless” and has and has “superior quality.

Patron tequila, was rated the top premium tequila and its sales have been increasing substantially. Try it the next time you order a Margarita. All tequila sales generally have been increasing.

In 1824, The Macallan was voted the top scotch brand. In December 2007, an anonymous person paid $54,000 for an 81-year-old bottle of single malt Scotch whisky from the Macallan Vintage at a Christie’s auction. It was one of the highest ever paid for a bottle of whisky.

Far Niente, a Napa Valley winery, was voted the top premium wine. The big ticket people praised its “high quality” and “excellent consistency.”

Blended and bottled in the Cognac region of France, Grey Goose was voted the best vodka. Launched in 1997, the brand was bought by Bacardi in 2004 for about $2 billion. Interestingly, in several blind tastings it was ranked near the bottom.

Ten botanicals are used to give Bombay Sapphire, rated the best gin, its taste: almonds, lemon, liquorice, juniper berries, orris root, angelica, coriander, cassia bark, cubeb berries and grains of paradise. All of these special ingredients give it a unique taste.

Among cognacs, Grand Marnier came out on top. Grand Marnier is a blend of fine cognacs and essence of wild tropical oranges and is aged in French oak casks. Grand Marnier isn’t a pure cognac according to definition.

Moet & Hennessey’s 10 Cane, rated the top rum, says that its taste comes from using Trinidadian sugar cane instead of molasses, as other rums do. Rum has been increasing in popularity in the last several years.

Made in the heart of Kentucky, Woodford Reserve was rated the top whiskey. Woodford Reserve is also the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. Makers Mark is probably the most highly rated American Whiskey among all classes of drinker

Bartending Mixed Drink Secrets

If you want to be a great home or party bartender, one of your best friends is ice. It’s one of the most over looked ingredient but one of the most essential.

A common mistake in preparing a good cocktail drink recipe is not paying attention to the ice. If you’re using the ice from your freezer, it probably absorbed odors from the other frozen foods you store. The longer the ice remains in your freezer the greater effect it will have on the taste of your drink. Ice that has been stored in a freezer for a long period of time, at least a week or more has a slightly fishy smell.

Bartenders at your favorite watering hole use ice from commercial ice machines. This ice is made with filtered water and stored in an ice bin. It’s not exposed to other food odors like you home freezer and is clear in color and has a clean taste.

Like many other items, ice will absorb odors in the freezer. Ice that spent too much time to time in the freezer will give a cocktail an unpleasant fishy taste. If you live in an area with hard water, it will have a heavy mineral flavor. Buy a bag of ice that has been made with filtered water at your local convenience store. If you don’t use all the ice, seal the bag tightly to keep out those nasty freezer odors. Commercial softened water is another thing that affects ice. It uses large amounts of sodium and will add a salty taste to cocktail drinks.

The type of ice you use will determine how diluted the drink will be from the meltage. Large cubes are good for drinks that contain clear non-sweet spirits, and not mixed with fruit juice mixes or cream. Small cubes are good for any drink that you shake. Crushed ice works best with frozen blended drinks. Experiment with different shapes of ice to determine what works best for you. At American Bartending School we prefer to use small cubes. They easily fill different types of glasses, are excellent for shaking cocktails drinks and melt quickly to chill the drink.

Experiment with different sizes of ice to help you determine what best suits your style of bartending mixology.

Bartending Salaries

A frequently asked question here at American Bartending School is what salary can a person earn bartending?

Bartenders work for a salary and tips. The salary is usually $9-$10 per hour plus tips. The salary may be higher or lower depending on how busy the establishment is and the state’s minimum hourly laws.

Most bartenders aren’t concerned with the hourly salary. They are much more concerned more about the tips and how busy the bar is. Tips can be substantial and this is one of the most attractive reasons to be a bartender. According to the “CNN Summer Tipping Guide “2009, a patron should tip $1 a drink or 15%-20% of bar bill before tax. Some customers may tip more or less depending on the level of service and the demeanor of the bartender.

The tips can be considerable because a bartender can serve 100 to 200 drinks per shift. Some of our graduates working at clubs and restaurants have told us that on during a good shift they can earn $300 to $400 and sometimes more. A shift is a working day.

Remember that good tips depend on good service. This is something that we constantly stress and cover extensively in our bartending school training program. No server or bartender should expect a tip when they provide poor service.

If you’re now a bartender or someone who wants to be a bartender, here are a few simple suggestions on how to give good service to increase your tips.

• Always acknowledge customers when they arrive or want another drink.

• Always greet customers with a smile and a friendly hello.

• Always ask how there drink is after they have had a chance to taste it.

• Always say thank you when they pay their tab.

• Always say good bye and thank them for coming in.

10 Best New York City Wine Bars

According to Robert Sietsema writing for the Village Voice, these are the 10 best wine bars in New York City. We’d love to hear what you think of these wine bars. Since we are all about bartending, we’d really like to know what you think of the bartenders at these places. Are the bartenders knowledgeable about wine? Are the bartenders friendly or good looking? We want to hear from you – so let us know.

1. D.O.C. Wine Bar, 87 North 7th Street, Brooklyn, 718-963-1925 docwinebar.com According to Google’s reviews, DOC ranks 4.5 stars with almost 50 reviews. The top reviewer said this about DOC, “If you love Italian food and Italians, “the real ones” you must try this wine bar !!! The food is great and they have an incredibly interesting Italian wine selection.”
2. Gottino, 52 Greenwich Avenue, 212-633-2390 ilovegottino.com Users have rated Gottino with a solid 3.5 stars but the reviews are mixed. One reviewer claims they “had an absolute wonderful experience, friendly service with great explanations, small, but not too small, plates, not cheap, but entirely reasonable for the city. chairs a bit uncomfortable, but that’s about the only downside I found,” while another reviewer said “Although gottino’s wine list is laughable, the bartenders exude a stuck-up, holier-than-thou attitude about their meager offerings. Couple this with uncomfortable seating, a narrow space, a faux-rustic feel, and a clientele that makes you wish you brought a pillow, gottino is best avoided.”
3. Inoteca, 98 Rivington Street, 212-614-0473 inotecanyc.com Also rated a 3.5, reviewers say, “inoteca is wonderful … relaxed, romantic, hip, tasty. we had a very informal wedding, and had our wedding dinner at inoteca. they were wonderful. of course, we have been there a billion other times … great italian wine list. ” Another commentor said, “ I feel like I am visiting Italy and the food is delicious, healthy and affordable. I recommend the beet salad, the vegetarian lasagna & enjoy find your favorite wine from their list of lush Italian wines.”
   
4. Bar Jamon, 125 East 17th Street, 212-253-2773
5. Total Wine Bar, 74 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, 718-783-5166
6. Morrell Wine Bar, 1 Rockefeller Plaza, 212-262-7700
7. Ten Bells, 247 Broome Street, 212-228-4450
8. Turks and Frogs, 458 Greenwich Street, 212-966-4774
9. The Upholstery Store, 713 Washington Street, 212-352-2300
10. Vesta, 2102 30th Avenue, Queens, 718-545-5550

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Hot Liquor Trends 2009

Here are the top drink recipe trends according to the National Restaurant Association:

Top alcohol trends

1. Micro-distilled liquor. Micro-distilled liquers are small run “boutique” distilleries making high quality, often specialty liqures like vodka and whiskey. Check out Sunshine Vodka by Green Mountain Distillers. When you are out next time, ask the bartender if the feature any micro-distilled liquors and substitute one in your favorite mixed drink recipe.
2. Culinary cocktails. Culinary cocktails are drinks recipes that feature organic herbs and vegetables normally used by chefs in the kitchen. An example is the Basil 8 at Table 8 in Los Angeles. It’s made with an unexpected combo of crushed white grapes, vodka, ginger ale, Angostura bitters and basil. It sounds weird, but it’s totally the best drink ever according to Alexandra Tellier over at metromix.com.
3. Organic wine. The idea of organic wine really isn’t new, but more like coming full circle back to wine’s origins. However, for a wine to be labeled “Organic” and bear the USDA organic seal, it must be made from organically grown grapes and give information about who the certifying agency is. A wine in this category cannot have any added sulfites. It may have naturally occurring sulfites, but the total sulfite level must be less than 20 parts per million.

Top non-alcoholic beverage trends

1. Specialty iced tea. A Dallas company’s new iced tea line, introduced in July, features three flavors—lemonade green tea, vanilla black tea, and berry-hibiscus tea—all fortified with probiotic cultures, which are said to promote digestive health. Not to mention we’ve all see the new Snapples commercials featuring “better stuff”.
   
2. Organic coffee. Much like organic wine, organic coffee must meet a set of guidelines.
3. Flavored/enhanced water is flavored and “nutritionally enhanced” bottled water that has been jazzed up with everything from cucumber to mango and grapefruit extracts, infused with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes and loaded with herbal supplements, antioxidants and oxygen.

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