TALK
In November 2024, we hosted our 11th Independent Study Day of the year. This monthly event is all about spending time in a community with other bartenders and includes guest speakers, hands-on learning and peer-to-peer mentorship. For November’s event, we opted to do something different than what we had done all year by hosting a family meal. Thirty of us sat around one table to share a meal and to say it was incredible, is an understatement. We made place cards to ensure that everyone was seated beside someone that they perhaps didn’t know that well in an effort to forge new friendships. We wanted everyone to truly engage with one another. We were not entirely sure how this setup would work out so in preparation for any stagnant moments, we had a jar of printed questions at the ready. These questions were meant to be prompts for conversation. On that day, the jar of questions was not necessary – the room was naturally alive with conversation. Magic!
We know that the world is a pretty dark place at times and we know how easy it is to lose our spark, our fire that encourages us and pushes us to continue doing what it is we do. We get lost in the darkness with our heads down. We want to offer up these questions to all of you as a way to feel inspired again. To get you thinking more about the industry and what you want from it. What you like. What you don’t like. Why you feel this way. To remind you of why you do this drink-making thing. To get your spark back. These questions are here as journal prompts so you can really write out how you feel or simply give them a read and let them sit in your mind as you go about your day. We want to encourage you to be more active in your job, in your bar and in your community, however that feels best for you.
If you would like to send us any feedback or have more questions here that you think we should add, please fill out the form here.
- What was the first cocktail that you learned to make and how did that come about?
- What was your first shift behind the bar like? How did you feel?
- What do we need less of in this industry? Both from bartenders and from brands.
- Is social media still fun or does it feel like a chore?
- Has attending any industry opportunities like seminars and cocktail conferences changed the way you approach your whole job? What have you learned from those experiences?
- What is the best cocktail in your city? What makes it so great?
- What is your favourite cocktail competition and why?
- What’s missing?
- Are you a playlist bartender or an album bartender? How does music play a role in your job?
- Who is your favourite regular and why?
- What is the best thing a guest can ask you about? What do you like talking about with guests?
- How is your brand literacy? What are areas of it you can improve?
- What was your favourite industry event that you attended recently? What made it so good?
- Who would your dream speaker be for a seminar? What are you looking to learn from them?
- What is best advice related to your job that you have received?
- When was the last time you had a great time out and what made it so great?
- What do you wish brands would do for bartenders?
- What drink order lets you know that a guest appreciates what you do?
ACTION
Write down the answers to the following questions. The first two questions were relevant to being in-person at the event but we still wanted to include them here:
- When you arrived, I made you a cocktail. Write down what the drink was as though you are writing it on a menu.
- Same drink, write the recipe and method as though you are writing a bar manual or a person that has never made a cocktail before.
- We, from Bartender Atlas, have done a lot of work with Campari as a company so as an example, if a representative from Campari Canada asks you to talk about a Daiquiri, what rum are you talking about?
- Same question, except it’s a Paper Plane. If Campari has hired you to work with them, or if we have hired you on behalf of Campari Canada, what are the ingredients of a Paper Plane?
- What is the difference between a classic cocktail, a vintage cocktail or a modern classic cocktail?
- How are The Leafs doing this season?
- What’s the feature exhibition at the AGO right now?
- What four questions should you ask a guest when they order a martini?
- Imagine I am sitting at your bar and I have had 2 or 3 of your drinks and I am looking to have one more somewhere else, where should I go?
- What is the ABV of Tio Pepe Fino Sherry?
Answers:
- Menu: Vodka, Grand Marnier, Lemon
- Recipe: 1.5oz Vodka, .5oz Grand Marnier, .75oz Lemon Juice, .5oz Simple Syrup.
Combine all ingredients in shaker tin. Fill tin with ice and shake hard for 10 seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. No Garnish.
You could also include directions to make simple syrup. - Appleton Rum
- Wild Turkey, Aperol, Italian Amaro, Lemon Juice
Why is this important? Look, giant corporations are giant corporations and they have rules and one of the rules is to sell THEIR STUFF. Campari, as a group, owns dozens of brands and it is important as a bartender to have at least some knowledge about who represents what. Wild Turkey and Aperol are both Campari properties. So if Campari is paying you to work for them in whatever capacity, it’s important that you know what you are talking about and with whom. This goes for most spirits that we deal with in Ontario. There are some independents, obviously, but more and more distributors are seeing the value in working with spirits. Just something to keep in mind when writing recipes or even working with brand reps on menu placements for your bar. This extends to what you are wearing, depending on the event or venue you are at. Showing up to a Jack Daniel’s event wearing your Lot 40 hat is a bad move. Wearing your sweet Altos Jean jacket to a Patron party is disrespectful. If you have been invited on a brand trip or are competing for a prize from a brand, don’t wear other brands’ shirts or shoes or hats. The brand reps had to work hard to get the money to bring you wherever you are going or whatever you are participating in with them. So don’t wear your Fernet hoodie to the Campari comp. We all love free stuff, just be choosy about when and where you use or wear it.The brand reps had to argue to get the money to bring you wherever you are going and just to be nice, maybe just to make them feel good, don’t wear your Fernet hoodie to the Campari comp? We all love free stuff, just be choosy about when and where you use or wear it. - A Classic is a drink that was popular before and slightly after WW2. A Vintage drink is a drink that was created before the 1970’s but didn’t come into popularity until …the modern era. Which we will say started around the year 2000 but really kicked in around 2005. So for instance, I would say that a Manhattan is a classic, a Last Word is a Vintage and a Penicillin is a Modern Classic. Of course, this is just where I sit and I encourage you to think about it and explore the history and nomenclature of cocktails on your own.
- Top of their division. Way Above 500.
- Hip Hop in culture is the cool show at the AGO right now. Neither of these have to do with making drinks or running your bar, but they do have to do with being able to have conversations with your guests. The main reason that we even started Bartender Atlas is because we want bartenders to be the ambassadors of good times in their cities. You have to know what’s going on and be able to talk with guests about whatever they want to talk about. That is as much part of being hospitable as being able to balance a Vieux Carre.
- Gin or Vodka? How much vermouth? Olive or Twist? Up or Down?
- Everyone’s answer will be different but that’s what’s important. If I, as a guest, trust your opinion, that’s a show of confidence. So whatever you answer here, you should be able to answer confidently.
- 15%. There is a lot of talk about low-alc and light cocktails but you have to know the ABV of your ingredients as a starting point to working on those drinks.