nightlife

Merry Christmas Pittsburgh Don’t drink and drive!!!

December 24th, 2009

Imagine if Santa was drinking during his trip….he’d never finish delivering presents…..

 Don’t drink and drive, Pittsburgh.  Merry Christmas

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One bad driver can eliminate a lot of potential drunk drivers

November 2nd, 2009

Do you want to see how to flush $150,000 of vodka and cognac down the tubes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stDWNam7RtE

OMG!  Do you realize if you lose money bartending  by waste, theft, under reporting, etc. they often take it out of your tips.  If that’s the case in this Russian warehouse….this guy will be paying off his employer for decades!!!  ugh.

OTOH.  With a $150,000 less of cognac and vodka I suspect there will be a lot less drunks driving on the road!! 

  

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Pittsburgh Halloween Parties

October 12th, 2009

Halloween may well be the holiday that generates the most memorable parties.  Crazy costumes, meeting people who are so well costumed you haven’t the faintest idea who they are, and outrageous behavior are all just part of the magic of halloween parties.  It brings out the “best or craziest” in all of us.

If you are going to host a halloween party, here are some ideas that may make that party a huge success.

1.  We wouldn’t be who we are if we didn’t suggest you hire a bartender to serve drinks at  your party.  LOL!!  Of course if you do…you know where to get them (hint, hint–call us at (412) 921-9227)  (hint, hint).

Seriously at a fun party with costumes and outrageous behavior a bartender frees you up to spend more and better time with your guests.  They’ll help you set up before and clean up afterwards.  They can suggest especially nifty drinks that work for Halloween.

You may want a bartender in costume like some of these characters: 

       

Better yet you might want a bartender with extraordinary skills:

Speaking of “extraordinary skills”  you may want to astonish your guests with a few magic tricks. Guests love these tricks. They are easy to master. Alternatively have your bartender perform them (you know the one you hired from our school -> hint hint).

Now for your costume. You’re the host. You’ve got to look dynamite. How about some halloween face tattoos

Of course we would be remiss if we didn’t suggest special   halloween drinks. This comprehensive list includes non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks plus halloween themed punches.

Now if you are going to take your party outdoors, what can we say. If that’s the way you feel get on over to the coolest haunted house in Pittsburgh. Its a blast.

Happy halloween Pittsburgh!!!!

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Becoming a Great Bartender–An essential tip

June 1st, 2009

We recently finished interviewing a bartender who reached the top of his industry.  This is a guy who attended one of our bartending schools, later taught there, took a number of bartending gigs, worked his way up…and landed two of the best bartending spots at two of the hottest clubs in America. 

How hot?  He held down one of the busiest bar spots in a club rated among the top 20 clubs in the nation. From that position he moved to bar manager of a sleeker higher volume per person club, where he again handled one of the busiest bars in the venue. This guy knows how to ring up huge sales. With that, he generates enormous tips.

He gave us a list of the most important tips in becoming a great club bartender. We aren’t going to list them all here–but we will emphasize one of them.

BE FAST-AND EFFICIENT

This may seem like common sense, but in bartending there is a lot to being fast.  Nobody gets there automatically.  It takes time and practise.

Even more importantly than moving fast is moving efficiently.  Always use two hands.  That means pouring all drinks on the drip mat in front of you.  That allows using two hands for two different pours all the time.  Grab everything in front of you at one time and pour.  When you move to the back bar, grab two or more bottles at a time.  When setting up drinks grab as many glasses at one time as you can.  If you are pouring two drinks with the same vodka, set them up next to one another, so you can move the pour from one to the second in an instant.  Ice all your glasses at one time.  If your standard garnishes are set up next to one another, garnish everything at one time.  Above all don’t waste motion.

Working efficiently sets up bartenders to pour many many more drinks over the course of an evening than they could have otherwise.  Each action shaves milliseconds and they add up over the night.  Once you have this down, it becomes easy to pour an extra 50-100 drinks an hour, and easy to dramatically ring up additional sales and make dramatically more in tips.

Getting to that point is the hard part.  It does take practise.  Stop grabbing a glass in one hand, holding it up for show, and pouring from the other hand.  Get those glasses on the drip mat and pour pour pour.  Break every habit that slows you down.

There are three ways to get these habits down.

1.  Attend a bartending school that emphasizes these habits and practise, practise, practise.

2.  Pay attention to the fastest most efficient bartenders in your bar.  Watch what they do, ask them questions, and then practise, practise, practise.

3.  Some bartenders are smart enough and lucky enough to figure out how to be efficient.  They are very few and far between.  We strongly suggest you get training from someone who has already figured this out and knows exactly how to do this.

 

Good luck….and ring up big big money!!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

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What do Harbor Lights, Klondike, a Peach Smoothie, Black Jack WV, and Butt Fucks have in Common?

January 16th, 2008

Okay Pittsburgh….what do ya know?  Anyone have this figured out? 

They are all drink recipes with Yukon Jack!!  Familiar with it?

There isn’t a lot of it around.  Its a Canadian Whiskey flavored with honey.  A real unique taste.  A little little bit like Drambuie.  And its strong….usually 100 proof when sold in the States.

Anyways, all those drinks have Yukon Jack in them.  A lot of those little devils are strong and sweet, the ideal shooter for so many different bars.

Want to learn some recipes and add them to your favorite mixes?  Visit  barfinder.com  . Its a fun website with bar info, drink recipes, dj activity all around the country.  We need more mention in Pittsburgh.

And by the way…..if you really like Yukon Jack….(and I do) better hang out with a designated driver.  Those drinks and others will do you in!!!! 

 

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