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Best International Bar Nomination: VCC

t is that time of year when Tales of the Cocktail requests nominations for the best bars and bartenders from around the world. This year I will enthusiastically tip my hat to the Vintage Cocktail Club in Dublin Ireland. So why I am so enthusiastic about VCC? Well, read on and find out. In February 2015, my girlfriend and I […]

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Tavern Culture (1966)

Lately, I’ve been looking into old research papers on bars and the people who frequent them. One that I found fascinating is transcribed below and was published in 1966. The paper deals with a typical New York dive bar called the Star Tavern, the people who sit in the chairs and an Irish bartender. The paper was written by a […]

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Bartending Pet Peeve Number One

When you work behind a bar, there are many things that the customers / guest don’t get to see or don’t understand. Sometimes we don’t want you to see things, it is part of the magic, other times we would like to let you know about something. Here’s one of those things that everyone should know. When you come to […]

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Some Tips About Tipping

Recently there has been a lot of blog posts (Waiter Rant, Boozenews.ca, etc.) about tipping, and I figure I should throw my two cents into the ring. In general, tipping or providing gratuities, for a job well done by a server or bartender is a given in the food and beverage business. But it is always a crap shoot from […]

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Cocktail Hall of Shame

When you write a blog, you try to keep things interesting by writing about a bunch of different subjects. Most of the time I write about cocktails and drinks I like, or what’s popular. That can get old. So I decided that I should occasionally write about things I don’t like and see what we can learn from it. Hence, […]

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My First Bartending Shift

Every once-in-a-while I like to reflect back upon certain bartending moments in my life, and one that always comes to mind is my first bartending shift ever. I, like many others, started bartending by doing group events, mine happened to be a Christmas party. The job seemed simple, two bartenders would serve basic drinks to a group of between 300 […]

Working Bartender Advice
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Advice for New Bartenders

The number one email question I get is “what should a new bartender know before they start their first shift?” or “what should a new bartender do to becomes successful?”. So instead of answering each question independently, I figured I could put together a good summary post that will get the basics out of the way. This is also a […]

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Cocktail Menu / List – Aperitifs

In the quest for a well-balanced drink menu, I have included some basic mint based drinks, some classic cocktails, a few modern creations and then the aperitifs. The standard definition of an aperitif is a an alcoholic drink usually enjoyed as an appetizer before a large meal. It is derived from the Latin verb aperire, which means to open. Many […]

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Door 74

Around this big blue marble, stylish 1920’s era bars are making a discrete come back. The most recent addition is door 74, in Amsterdam, which is under the watchful gaze of Philip Duff. For those who know Philip, most would agree that he is a bon vivant with an insatiable appetite for cocktails and beautiful women. His worldly travels landed […]

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Bartender vs Mixologist

As I was perusing the Liquid Muse’s blog, Natalie had a great topic in one of her posts. During an interview, she called Rick, from Martini Groove, a “mixologist” and his response was that the term should be banned from the English lexicon. I found that to be an odd response. But a little discussion started about which term is […]

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What It Takes to be a Bartender

In many conversations I’ve had with people, the perception of a bartender is rather simple. The fact is that being a bartender can be fairly hard, if you take the job seriously. It’s not so much the obvious, such as pouring a pint that is hard, it is dealing with people that presents a challenge. Not only dealing with customers, […]