"bartender" news and stories

Bartenders don't usually use a whole range of vegetables in their mixing unless they are particularly fond of bloody marys and celery garnishes. More and more often, however, fresh herbs are cropping up in cocktails. The Seattle Times had an interesting look inside a bartender's herb garden this weekend. Herbs can generally be grown indoors and require only a small amount of care relative to maintaining a whole garden. The taste of a fresh herb is unmatched and, if you're going to be using them frequently, they are nice to have at hand without a trip to the store. Their suggested list of herbs and cocktails, which is practical for pros and weekend mixologists alike, includes: 

• Spearmint, for classic mojitos and anything that needs a refreshing touch.
• Basil, can also be included with mint in a mojito
• Thyme, adds a layer of flavor to a peach Bellini.
• Rosemary, add to a gin cosmopolitans.
• Sage, works well with tequila and "will raise your margarita to the next level."

They also recommend cilantro and tarragon, but for me, mint or basil is a better choice for an addition to summer lemonade than cilantro, which the Times suggests. Basil, thyme, rosemary and sage can all be used in cooking, too, though I don't necessarily endorse adding spearmint to, say, a grilled chicken dish. And a word to the novice gardeners: basil grows quickly and aggressively. Fortunately, you can make a killer pesto with the leftovers.

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Muddle is a word with two meanings when it comes to food/drink preparation, which makes it a little confusing when you first hear it used. There is a tool used by bartenders, and anyone else who really likes to make drinks, called a muddler. It is a rod with a flattened end, like the one shown in the picture. It is used to crush ingredients together, usually at the bottom of a glass, which is a process known as muddling.

Most often, the drinks that are prepared with a muddle are those that involve herbs and citrus, because crushing them together with sugar releases their natural oils brings out their flavors of the ingredients more strongly. For example, a mint julep usually has mint and sugar muddled together at the bottom of the glass before adding the other ingredients. In a mojito, lime is added to the mint and sugar mixture, too.

Earlier this week, our friends over at Engadget posted about a new robot bartender from Japanese brewer Asahi.

This little fella will crack open a can of beer and pour it into a mug. It supposedly even tilts the glass to ensure a good head. What's more, the robot is also a refrigerator that can hold up to six cans of beer and two mugs.

Asahi is giving away 5,000 of these little robotic Sam Malones in a lottery-style drawing. The catch?

It's a Japan-only contest.

With recipes on the ipod, is it any surprise that now there’s the iPod bartender? Created through podSites, the iPod bartender lets you decide what kind of drinks you want by choosing from things like daiquiris and layered cocktails, or simply picking the type of alcohol such as gin or rum. All together, there are 230 drinks that can be stored on your iPod in a notes format.

There’s also a shuffle feature where you can create your very own “BoozeMix.”

Similarly, Apple's download site features the Podtender, pictured here, which features roughly 900 drink recipes.

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