Bartender Journey 484l63

Bartender Journey Podcast #284   Today we talk about cocktail photography with professional food and beverage photographer Anthony Nader.  His company is called 52 chefs. He is a lot of fun.   I was lucky enough to be invited to his seminar recently that was specifically about taking great photos of cocktails with your phone.  It was sponsored by Tequila Avión - thank you very much for that Ms. Veronica Chaparro. It was at the roof top bar at the Park South Hotel, which is an awesome place, if you ever get a chance to go.  Bar Methods was going on while we were there, and I got a chance to say hello to friend Chris Bitmeed who runs Bar Methods which is a once a year, 3 day educational event.  I did it about 3 years ago, and I encourage you to look into that for next year - its an amazing educational opportunity.  Anthony gave a great demonstration about how to take great photos, and then we paired up into teams of two - I pared with Hazel, and we had a photo and video competition.  There were lots of props and drinks. We had to submit one photo and one slo mo video. In the end my photo won the contest! It was a picture of a Tequila Avión Nigroni.   We are excited to announce that the special project is our new book, Cocktails Made Simple: Easy and Delicious Recipes for the Home Bartender!  It’s coming out on October 15, 2019! I think you'll find our book serves as a great guide to making drinks, with an explanation of tools and techniques, in addition to classic cocktail recipes.   If you're a Home Bartender looking to entertain family and friends, you'll learn how to build a functional home bar with essential tools and cost-effective tips in order to craft cocktails in your own home. It was a great experience writing this with co-author and our West Coast Bartender Journey associate, Amin Benny and a quick thanks to Hazel Alvarado for Back of House duties on this project. The book is available NOW for pre-order on Amazon.  Click here to sign up for our email newsletter to keep informed about the book.  And please follow Bartender Journey on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Its @BartenderJourney on IG and FB, and on twitter I’m @BarKeepTips. Cocktail Photography Tips: Be sure to Clean the camera lens.  It gets dirty. You can clean it with a soft cotton t-shirt or any soft cloth. Zoom in a little. Setting the exposure and locking in the focus. Click on the subject before taking the picture - the subject will be locked into both focus and exposure  Also, next to the yellow box surrounding your subject, there is a tiny icon of the sun. If you slide that up and down, you can change the exposure.   Display abundance - use props...use your imagination.   Get close -  I had always composed my cocktail photos very neatly, displaying the entire glass and garnish - usually shooting from slightly above the glass so that the surface is visible.  I would center the cocktail. Try getting in very close. Art can be a little messy! Focus on garnish - or on the little droplets on the outside of the glass or whatever - something specific in the drink - not the drink as a whole. Bounce light. A white paper menu is one way to do that. Use a friend’s phone with a white screen - I’d heard at other seminars, or maybe read somewhere, to us the flashlight from a friend’s phone for light when you are in a dark bar or something, but that light is harsh.  A white screen is softer - you can just go to google.com for instance. And of course on iPhone you can go to Settings / Display & Brightness to control the brightness of the screen if you need more light. Pay attention to other photos - what do you like?  When you see a picture that you like, think about what you like about it.  Some ideas for looking at great cocktail photos on IG, are Anthony’s stuff at @52Chefs and our friend Natalie @BeautifulBooze.  I would also encourage you to follow the #cocktails Speaking of IG when you are editing your photo in the IG app before posting - don’t use the pre fab filters - edit the settings individually. When you first get to edit mode in the IG app, above you photo there is a little icon of the sun that is white on the left and black on the right.  This is the lux setting. I did not know about this! Its awesome. I don’t know enough about photography to explain what lux is, but its related to exposure.  Do this first. Then Anthony recommends adjusting the settings in this order: Contrast Warmth Sharpness Turn each setting all the way up to see what it does, then scale back from there.   I hope you learned something from the show today.  I’d love to see your cocktail photos, hopefully using some of the stuff you learned from listening.  Post your picture to IG and tag me @BartenderJourney.   I wanted to share one more thing with you - I just read an outstanding article on bourbonr.com.  Its called “What’s Malt, and Why is it Needed”.  It’s a really worth a read.  It not only does a great job of explaining the process of producing alcohol , but also some of the differences between scotch and bourbon and also the definition of a Single Malt.  I’ll have that link on bartenderjourney.net. We’ll have to try get the author of that article Mr. Henrik Brandt on the show sometime.

Joe McCanta, Grey Goose global ambassador s us on the show.  This interview was recorded at Tales of the Cocktail 2019 -- we get a great understanding of Vodka. Bartender Journey has a special project in the works!  Please click here to sign up to be the first to know about it!  Yes, I'd like to be in the loop.  

We talk with Alberto Vollmer CEO of Santa Teresa 1796 Rum, made in Venezuela. Also a chat with Attaboy alum Zachary Pease at his new bar in Manhattan called My Friend Duke.

Listen in to the Toast to Tales, hear about the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation’s grant recipients for 2019 and hear about the Grey Goose Great Bar Race. Also, we talk to Jonathan Pogash about his edition of Mr. Boston’s Official Bartender’s Guide.

We speak with Raymond Edwards, Chief Mixologist for House of Angostura during Bar Convent Brooklyn.

Don't let those darn Fruit Flies take over you bar!  Give them an inch and they will take a mile!  There is a lot you can do to prevent them from flourishing.  Here's some things you can do: No standing water, anywhere! All drains including floor - sanitizer Plug beer taps Clean and plug beer drip tray Rinse and store empty beer bottles Cover liquor bottles Wipe down bottles Clean soda gun Bar mats must be clean Keep garnishes covered and cold.  Wash fruit before cutting. Don’t be surprised if fruit flies feed on the residue remaining on damp mops, moist cleaning rags and sponges, or near buckets of wastewater. Bottom of trash cans? Last resort - traps

We speak with friend of the podcast & founder and president of the Orange County, CA chapter of the United States Bartender's Guild Amin Benny.

On this week's Episode No. 277, Brian chats with Chad Arnholt and Claire Sprouse of ?Tin Roof Drink Community about green practices for sustainability in the cocktail industry in honor of Earth Day, April 22nd.In 2016, Chad and Claire's efforts were recognized at Tales of the Cocktail with the first Sustainable Spirit Sward and hosted the first Sustainability Summit at Tales in 2017. For past outtakes on sustainability in the cocktail industry on the Bartender Journey Podcast,, listen to Bartender Journey Episode No. 166  featuring a sample from a Sustainability Seminar from Tales 2015 with Mr. Lyan  (Ryan Chetiyawardana), who opened the first cocktail bar in 2013 to use nor perishables (i.e. no fruit, no ice), White Lyan in London andBartender Journey Episode No. 219, You are Throwing Away Money!.

Hazel Alvardo handles the interviewing duties on this episode. She talks to Kurt Maitland who is Deputy Editor of the Whiskey Reviewer website and the curator of the Manhattan Whiskey Club. He just wrote a book called Drink - The Ultimate Cocktail Book.

On this week's episode, Brian chats with Keli Rivers of Sipsmith Gin in honor of National Gin & Tonic Day, which is April 9, 2019.  

I recently attended a huge wine show at the Javitz Center in Manhattan called VinExpo. There were 1000’s of wines to try, plus a few sprits – I had some wonderful whiskey from called Half Moon. There were also classes and seminars. I attended a seminar sponsored by the Riedel company who makes beautiful glassware – mostly wine glasses. In fact we use Riedel wine glasses at the Private Club where I work. The purpose of this seminar was to show that the glass has a substantial influence on your experience drinking the wine. Of course these glasses look beautiful, so that’s a great start. They feel great when you pick them up and are perfectly balanced…we all know to hold a wine glass by the stem yes? In fact it was said in the seminar “if a glass has a stem, use it!” This is of course so that you do not warm up your wine or whatever beverage with your body heat. I caught up with Anne Koziara, who gave the seminar, on the exhibition floor after … we’ll talk to her in just a moment. Our sponsor this week is CAKE POS from Sysco. CAKE is the Point of Sale system that lets bar & restaurant owners focus on the guest experience. Stop worrying about tracking every sale  - CAKE does that for you. CAKE is the Point of Sale system that lets bar & restaurant owners focus on the guest experience. Stop worrying about tracking every sale  - CAKE does that for you. You can automatically save information and review it later, from anywhere. That means maybe as the manager or owner can maybe actually take days off, which can be pretty rare in the restaurant business. No matter where you are, you can check in on daily reports and know they’ll be up to date. To get started with CAKE, check out trycake.com/bartender. For our Bartender Journey listeners, you can get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount. Go to trycake.com/bartender and request a demo! Please feel free to get in touch for any reason. You can email me directly at [email protected]. If you have an interesting story to tell, please get in touch. I’m looking to line up guests for the next few weeks. Don’t forget about our sponsor CAKE POS. Find our special link for our Bartender Journey listeners at trycake.com/bartender. You can get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount. Go to trycake.com/bartender and request a demo! Or just go take a look. It’s a big help if you just go to that URL so that our sponsors to see the Bartender Journey listeners are at least clicking through to check it out. trycake.com/bartender. Toast: May we always part with great regret and meet again with pleasure.

Bartender Journey Number 273This time on the show we talk about the science of flavor with Derek Elefson.Derek shared some great resources with us:Flavor Wheels: Bourbonhttps://modernthirst.com/2014/08/06/the-bourbon-tasting-wheel/#prettyPhoto/0/ Malt Whiskieshttp://malt-review.com/2015/09/10/whisky-flavour-wheels-and-colour-charts/ Ginhttp://www.ginfoundry.com/gin-news/gin-tasting-wheel/ Winehttps://shop.winefolly.com/products/wine-flavors-chart AROMA-FLAVOR TOOLS FOR SENSORY TRAINING:http://www.aromaster.com/https://www.cicerone.org/us-en/products/beer-flavor-maphttps://www.aroma-academy.co.uk/pages/wsethttps://www.flavoractiv.com/beverage/spirits/ FRUIT CHEMICALSKennedy Fruit Chemicals!  An easy way to quickly educate people about chemicals in fruit.  I highly encourage you to post this image with the link.https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/ingredients-of-all-natural-cherries/ Our sponsor this week is CAKE POS.CAKE is the Point of Sale system that lets bar & restaurant owners focus on the guest experience. Stop worrying about tracking every sale  - CAKE does that for you. No matter where you are, you can check in on daily reports and know they’ll be up to date. To get started with CAKE, check out trycake.com/bartender. For our Bartender Journey listeners, you can get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount.

This time on the show we talk with Mr. Philip Duff. He’s been on the show several times. I caught up with Philip after a great seminar he moderated about Irish Whiskey, sponsored by Knoppoge Castle Irish Whiskey -  a great Single Malt Irish Whiskey. Irish Whiskey has such a tumultuous history. There was the great rise and fall of Irish Whiskey and right now another great rise, or resurgence. We’ll get into some of it with Philip during the interview. CAKE is the Point of Sale system that lets bar & restaurant owners focus on the guest experience. Stop worrying about tracking every sale  - CAKE does that for you. You can automatically save information and review it later, from anywhere. That means maybe as the manager or owner can maybe actually take days off, which can be pretty rare in the restaurant business. No matter where you are, you can check in on daily reports and know they’ll be up to date. To get started with CAKE, check out trycake.com/bartender. For our podcast listeners, you can get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount. And with that discount, you get a -friendly Point of Sale solution that includes cloud reporting and world-class 24/7 .

This week on the show we speak with Andrew Watson who is originally from Australia, but now lives and bartends in Sweden. He is competing in the Bacardi Legacy competition.   Andrew’s Bacardi Legacy Cocktail is called Cubist. Recipe: 45 ml Bacardi Silver | 20 ml dry vermouth | 2.5 ml (or a barspoon) Pastis | 25 ml Prosecco | 20 ml Honey water (1:1) | 25 ml Lemon juice Follow Andrew’s Bacardi Legacy journey: On Instagram On YouTube Our sponsor this week is CAKE POS & Management system from Sysco. To get started with CAKE, check out trycake.com/bartender. Bartender Journey listeners get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount. And with that discount, you get a -friendly Point of Sale solution that includes cloud reporting and world-class 24/7 .

Today on the show we talk with Dan Newcomb who is an expert on Liquor Licenses. Its tricky out there trying to navigate the liquor license process. Dan will share some insights with us on this complex issue. Dan's company is Liquor License Advisor. One of the distilleries I visited while in Ireland was Pearse Lyons distillery. Dr. Pearse Lyons had deep family roots in Dublin. There was an old church that had fallen into disrepair and was abandoned for many years. In fact Dr. Lyons’ grandfather is buried there. Dr. Lyons purchased the property and his wife restored it into a beautiful distillery. Unfortunately Dr. Lyons’ ed away in 2018, but the distillery is lives on.  We have some pictures on bartenderjourney.net If you are anywhere near San Antonio TX BarSmarts Advanced is coming to San Antonio, TX on April 2nd, 2019.  It’s a full day of education with the masters of the bar industry like Dale DeGroff, David Wondrich, Paul Pacul, Steve Olson, Doug Frost, and Andy Seymour. You need to do the online component called BarSmarts first in order to qualify. The online segment is absolutely worth doing, even if you are not planning to do BarSmarts Advanced. The online course is only $29! BarSmarts Advanced is just $75.

Tag along on a distillery tour of Tullamore D.E.W.’s state of the art facility. Opened in 2014 it is the first distillery to operate in Tullamore, Ireland since 1954. Tullamore D.E.W. Whisky Ambassador Kevin Pigott shows us around, shares lots of Irish Whisky knowledge, and even mixes us up some cocktails!

Travel Log from Dublin, Ireland.  Interview with Chris Hayes from Teeling Irish Whiskey.

Travel Log from Dublin, Ireland.  Interview with Chris Hayes from Teeling Irish Whiskey.

Florence, Italy is an amazing, beautiful and historic city. Florence's Life Beyond Tourism inciative offers some interesting lessons.  Is it possible to be too ambitious with your cocktail program.  I visited a bar/bistro/restaurant that I thought was trying to do TOO much. I visited two vinyards in the Chianti Classico region: Casa Emma Fattoria Montecchio  

I had some great drinks in Paris! Favorite bars: Prescription Cocktail Club (Cocktail Bar) Dirty Dick (Tiki Bar) Candelaria (Speakeasy) Little Red Door (Speakeasy) The Highlander (Scottish Pub)