I don't know if I could ever be a bartender. I like the idea of being one, but it seems to me it's like the ultimate pop quiz in a very intense situation. People come in off the street and ask you for a Tequila Sunrise or a Negroni or A Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against The Wall, and you immediately have to know how to do them. Sure, you can stop and look in a book (I did that when I was a sorta-bartender at a restaurant), but a real bartender has to know how to make these drinks immediately, especially if it's a Friday or Saturday night. Though I guess it's like any other skill, you learn through practice.
Esquire has the four obscure drinks that every bartender should know how to make. I've heard of (but never had) The Aviation Cocktail, but I've never heard of the other three.
5-21-2007 @3:09PM Jennifer Hess said... The Aviation is a delicious drink. My husband has worked it into our regular cocktail rotation.
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5-21-2007 @3:58PM George Sinclair said... I really don't know what that Esquire article was trying to get at, why should anyone know those cocktails?
The Aviation is a drink that seems to be championed by the Internet Mixology Crowd.
The others are totally obscure, with the Bone being an invention of David Wondrich (unless I am wrong).
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5-21-2007 @4:31PM Daemon_of_Waffle said... My mixology teacher advised learning the drinks for the crowd you serve. If you work at TGIF, then you learn fruity drinks; a cigar bar, manhattans and the like. You learn the drinks that please your crowd. If I work at Bar X, and one day Mr. Y orders obsure-drink Z, why should I know it? If I don't, I have a handy book I can reference. This article from Esquire seems to just be for guys who want to learn obscure stuff to impress their friends. I'm cooler if I know something you don't.
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5-21-2007 @9:21PM Darryl said... Another thing: Why are Esquire's recipes always dry as a bone? Two teaspoons of sweetener against almost an ounce of lemon? Are they all diabetic?
I've been meaning to try the Burnt Fuselage, it sounds delicious.
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5-24-2007 @6:41PM Ima Wurdibitsch said... I'd just be happy if I could get a decent martini. How can someone claim to be a bartender and not know what a twist is?
I ranted about it at:
http://ipaidforthat.blogspot.com
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