Tips for ordering

Ever feel totally and completely overwhelmed when you walk into a bar? I mean, there's a WALL of alcohol in front of you, as well as a bunch of tap handles of beers you can't pronounce and a bartender looking at you. It's all pretty intimidating, I know. But most of us already have a personal preference when it comes to adult beverage time. If you don't or never feel comfortable ordering for yourself, here are some tips to make this experience better.



1) More often than not, there is a board with listed specials, if you've missed it or can't read it, ask the bartender.

2) Don't be ashamed of asking prices, but understand it will be an extra step for your bartender because prices on alcohols change all the time, which means bars may fluctuate their pricing on certain brands.

3) DO NOT by any means, ask them to just "make you something good." That request is just a pain for those of us behind the bar. You see, customers have such different taste preferences that something delicious to me could be disgusting to you. This request just brings on a slew of other questions "do you like fruit drinks? do you mind soda? milk? strong?..." the list just goes on and on. I can make delicious drinks, but I can't read your mind or know what you are craving.
    * the ONLY exception to this rule is if there is a specific liquor on sale. If say, Pinnacle Whipped is on special, yes, we can make you something good. But if it's something like a "You-Call-It" special when almost the entire rack in on special, it's far more difficult. Just, stay away from this request.

4) As sort of an add-on to the above rule, if a bartender at another bar made you this "something good" drink and gave it some ridiculous name like a "Tropical Nemo", do not get annoyed with me because I don't know the name of it. Assume you bartender knows just about as much as you do when it comes to mixed drinks.

5) If we are busy, please PLEASE do not resort to any of these things
    a) screaming at me
    b) leaning on my bar and screaming at me
    c) telling other patrons I am not capable of doing my job, in front of me
    d) throw something over my bar or in my general vicinity

Some of you may cringe at that list, but all of these things have happened to me more times than I would like to remember. Just remember, we work on Fridays and Saturdays because they are busy and we serve a lot of people meaning we make money. Similarly, you go out on Fridays and Saturdays because it's busy and you can meet people. Have a little patience. I promise you, I am far more inclined to rush a drink for a smiling and courteous customer than I am for a rude one.

6) If the drink tastes weird, there are a lot of variables. Sometimes, our drink guns run out of juice or tonic or soda water. If it tastes weird, explain to me what it is that does not taste good, please don't criticize my ability to pour your vodka tonic.

7) I am not trying to short change your drink by "under pouring". A lot of bars have strict rules regarding correct pouring techniques and sometimes will even make you pay if your bar is out an excessive amount of liquor compared to your nightly sales. Again, we are JUST doing our jobs. The bar down the street might over pour and that is good for them. Then again, the less people I have to kick out because I don't know how much one bartender poured them in that one drink, the better my night goes.

8) Be VERY careful if you choose to start a tab. If we have 100 customers who give us a card during the night, sometimes things can go awry and your tab is higher than you expected. We ARE NOT trying to rip you off. Mistakes happen and you may have brought some crappy friends that added drinks to your tab without throwing you the cash. We didn't add it just for fun.

9) DO NOT ASK ME FOR FREE DRINKS. It is EXTREMELY rare I will ever give you one. The times we will? Your 21st birthday (MAYBE) and if a mistake happens and some extra drink is made. For me, I will almost NEVER give you a free drink, especially if you ask for one. As the shirts at my prior work used to say, "I don't come into your job and ask for free shit." Don't ask.

10) Finally and most importantly: TIP YOUR BARTENDERS. TIP TIP TIP. Regardless of specials or whatever, WE WORK FOR TIPS. And you better believe if you frequent a bar and you are a bad tipper, the bartenders remember and when its busy? Don't expect to get quick service. Sorry to be blunt but, if the person next to you has a better tipping track record, they come first. We have bills too.



Here is some easy terminology for you as a patron:

A "well drink" is one typically on special and not a name specific drink. It is also known as a house drink. These are drinks like "rum and coke", "vodka tonic", "gin and tonic" etc. Pretty simple. If you order this drink and do not request a specific liquor, you will not receive it. If you want a vodka tonic with Grey Goose, request it. It is not a well.

If you want your drink poured straight from the bottle into a glass, this means it is being served "neat"

"Rocks" means it is with ice. "Grey Goose with lemon on the rocks" means a shot of Grey Goose with a lemon on ice. No mix.

"Up" means chilled, but no ice. A martini is typically served "up"

"Splash" means I'm going to put a very small amount of something in the drink. If you want Absolut on the rocks with a splash of cranberry, your drink will only have a small amount of cranberry in it. Sometimes I like to add a "splash" within mixed drinks. Like, Absolut APeach with pineapple and a splash of cranberry (yum).



So there are the basics. There will be more updates soon about "classic drinks" and terminology for those. As well as how you can order a classic drink but add an easy twist. Stay tuned and don't forget to tip your bartender!

The Bottom Shelf

In the modern world of alcohol advertising, "bottom shelf" have become dirty words. But believe me friends, when it comes down to it, I would bet half the people ordering couldn't taste a difference. That being said, when a customer orders Belvedere you do not give them Bankers Club. What I'm saying is that if you are on a budget, there is nothing wrong with buying that plastic bottle. However, make sure you shop around first. Sometimes, you would be surprised at how much some bottles actually cost. If you want to stay on the cheaper side, I wouldn't go all the way down to Bankers Club. For almost the same price, you can grab the same sized bottle of Svedka. Which, thanks to some wonderful advertising techniques, many find as a recognizable brand which means a premium vodka right? Sure. It certainly tastes better!

There are ways, however, to make the bottom shelf enjoyable. First, you might not want to mix with tonic or club. Because these alcohols tend to be less smooth, you may just feel like you are choking your drink down. Which to me, if you are paying for it at a bar, you might as well enjoy it.

If you are a vodka drinker, mix with cranberry and orange juice, or orange juice and pineapple with a small splash of cranberry. If you are counting your calories, you can mix with soda or tonic, but simply ask for an extra lime (or lemon, for some).

Cheap whisky? Try with sour mix and a cherry. Ginger ale is a safe but enjoyable option as well.

How about some rum? Simple! Pineapple with grenadine. If it's spiced rum, ginger ale is my preference, it tastes like cream soda!

Tequila? make the cheap skinny margarita! mix soda water with a splash of triple sec and two fresh limes. You can use lime juice to save money, but I enjoy fresh limes instead.

Gin? Why are you drinking cheap gin?


Now if you are on a budget for the holidays and looking for a cute and creative gift, you can put that inexpensive vodka to good use! Grab some mason jars, your favorite candy and voila! Candy infused vodka! You can get a wonderful flavor by adding some of those super yummy peppermint sticks (you know the ones, that just melt in your mouth, yeahhhh those ones). Let the candy of your choice soak in the jar for about 2 days or to your desired taste and strain out any excess.

Wrap with a ribbon and maybe attach a packet of hot chocolate, it is guaranteed to make anyone smile on that first snow of the season.



I had so many wonderful blog suggestions in the past few days, I cannot wait to write about everything!

Peaches and Lemons and Chiffon oh my!

Woah! My sincerest apologies for the lack of blogging. These past few weeks have been insane. With Thanksgiving madness, work, and indoor colorguard, it's been rare that I've even looked at my laptop! But I have been testing a few drinks to post about :)

This past August, Harrison and I went to Vegas for a nice end of summer vacation. It was my 6th and final summer marching drum corps and we wanted to celebrate in a big way. When we were walking through one of the casinos, we noticed a liquor that was hard to pass up. Some of you may have seen the wine named Cupcake. They have an array of spirits and recently released a line of vodkas. They have flavors like Frosting, Devil's Food Cake and Lemon Chiffon. Though they all sounded amazing, when we were recently in Joe Canals, I decided to pick up the Lemon Chiffon flavor. This vodka is very bright and sweet, it really does embody the taste of a really nice lemon chiffon, which happens to be one of my favorite desserts.

I was contemplating what to mix this with when I saw a bottle of Peach Bellini mixer. Typically a Peach Bellini would be made with peach puree and sparkling wine. While at Target a few weeks ago, they had flavored italian soda on sale so we picked one up. For this particular drink I did not add any, but I think they'll add a nice taste to the drink in the future. So this is my take on an old fashion drink.

Chiffon Bellini

1.5oz Cupcake Lemon Chiffon
.5oz Pinnacle Whipped
2oz Peach Bellini mixer

This drink can either be shaken and served up, or in a lowball glass.

What, did you think I would make a drink without Pinnacle Whipped? It's just too perfect! 

And aren't our martini glasses beautiful? When we were in Vegas, I surprised Harrison for our anniversary with tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's LOVE. Which was incredible and I wanted to buy everything in the gift shop. For some reason, these glasses were made specifically from designs within the show, but the store was giving them away for $1 a glass. Which, nothing is that cheap in Vegas, so we didn't really believe anyone at first. Thinking back, we should have bought more than two but it was scary enough to travel with what we had, I would have hated for anything to have been broken. 

I promise to try and keep more on top of this, get ready for some holiday drinks!

Ps, if you would like to see a blog for a particular alcohol you're not sure how to use, or what you have in the house that you'd like to make a new use of, please comment and let me know!

Oh Pinnacle, how you get us every time.

To add to their ever growing amazing array of flavored vodka, they went and did the thing no vodka company should ever do... make a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavored vodka. Oh yes, they did. We went out to dinner tonight and afterwards had a craving for a nice cocktail, but no interest in paying for one. So instead, we took a trip to Joe Canals. Now, I had gone planning on buying the Pinnacle Gummy, which tastes like Swedish Fish (and is amazing) however, right next to it was this bottle of glory. It might sound gross, but this vodka is GREAT if you know a few easy tips for it.

We already had some coffee flavored vodka, so that mix is perfect. You could make a play on a White Russian with the Cookie Dough flavored vodka, Kahlua (or any coffee liquor) and milk. Which is sort of what I did tonight.

Cookie Dough Frap Martini

1.5oz Pinnacle Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavored vodka
.5oz Espresso vodka
splash of Pinnacle whipped
2oz Milk (or for Harrison, Rice Milk)
compile all inside a shaker, mixmixmixmix

pour and enjoy!

When you sip this drink, you first get the taste of the cookie dough, and they you get this amazing coffee taste that follows. As if that chocolate chip cookie had a coffee filling. ohhhyeahhhh.

We picked up a couple of cheap, and delicious flavored vodkas. Stay tuned for more :)

11/11/11

Woah! What a date eh? I wonder what weird earth shattering things were supposed to happen today. Around here, nothing too substantial... I caught up on my shows, Harrison went for a run and Clancy is licking himself. Nothing too crazy, though I do have work tonight, we'll see if people act any more crazy than normal. The weather has been pretty perfect around here lately, the fall we didn't quite get in October. Clancy has been sleeping on the balcony loving life. Unfortunately with last nights rain came chilly weather back today.

Clancy in his favorite spot

A few weeks ago, I broke my nose and my boyfriend went to pick up some things and magically came home with a bottle of Pinnacle Double Espresso Vodka. Oh yes. It is just as great as it sounds. Though it comes in the signature blue bottle, it has a dark espresso color to it. This vodka is a creep, if you've ever had espresso, it's basically no different. The color, smell, taste, it's all there. Actually it has very small traces of caffeine in it too. But not enough to get you really messed up like the pre-recalled Four Lokos (stay far far away).

Anyway, this vodka is pretty perfect on the rocks, or mixed. Here's my use for this vodka.


Spiked Espresso

1oz Pinnacle Double Espresso Vodka
.5oz Pinnacle Whipped (oh yeah, I went there)
Fill with coffee.

What a way to wake up huh?? I love coffee, I could drink it all day. Though too much gives me the shakes so I try NOT to do that. But the way the espresso tastes in the coffee makes it this wonderful dark pure taste and the Whipped? I mean come on, I will add that vodka to almost any drink. No doubt about that. You can try with Wawa's pumpkin spice flavored coffee (which is wonderful on its own) and it is perfect. Hazelnut coffee, french vanilla etc... yeah any flavor will do. Obviously, I would not suggest this drink other than probably after dinner.

Enjoy!

Razberi Mocha Martini

So at work we got a promotional bottle of Stoli Chocolat Razberi. And yes, it smells just as amazing as you'd think. The bartenders there sort of annoy me because I feel like they don't get creative with drinks. For example, tonight's specials included Pinnacle Whipped for $3. Why did it take so long for no one to communicate that we were out of Whipped? And then, why wasn't there a liquor on special as a replacement? Whatever, not my job. However, I had a customer order a creamsicle (1oz Whipped, Fill with sprite and orange juice), and the bartender sort of looked at me like "what what do I do?!" and I was just thinking, c'mon really? We have extra promotional bottles of Cupcake Vodka Icing (which, they also make a Devil's Food Cake vodka that I'm dying to try). So I just say, well why don't you just use that instead? And he acted like it was such a feat to make do with what he had.

I don't understand bartenders like that. I am not a bartender like that, and I hate working around ones like that.

ANYWAYS. Back to the actual story about the Stoli. Everyone looked at this bottle of vodka like it was the most confusing thing they'd ever seen. With any vodka that has a chocolate taste with it, more than likely you'll want to use milk as a mix. However, if you're like me and not interested in drinking so much milk, then there are easy alternatives.

I'll call this one a Raz Mocha Martini

1oz Stoli Chocolat Razberi
1oz Kahlua Coffee Liquor
splash of milk
shakeshakeshakeshakeshake
top with a cherry


For me, I'd prefer a little less milk, but you may want more. Also, make sure you chill your martini glass before so to keep your drink nice and mixed. To do this, pour ice water into the martini glass while you pour your drink, then dump when you're ready to pour in the glass. You want to mix the drink heavily, because with added milk you can sometimes get a separation and a warm milk drink just is not cute.

Moral of this whole blog, never ever be intimidated by any flavor or type of alcohol.

Sleepy Toddy

Well if you live anywhere in the New Jersey or Philadelphia region, today was an absolutely beautiful day. Followed by a freeeeeezing cold evening. I (along with my boyfriend) teach a marching band in North(ish) Jersey and our competition from Saturday was rescheduled to tonight due to the freak snow storm that hit. Which was silly if you ask me but, I supposed the host school would have lost money if they didn't reschedule the show and, it was good to get one  more critique in before Championships. The cold weather has hit really quickly here. This afternoon a sweatshirt was more than enough and tonight we were completely bundled. So getting home all I wanted was something warm. Well, besides the puppy.

This is my take on a Hottie Toddy. Or as I am referring to it, a Sleepy Toddy.

1.5oz Jameson Irish Whisky
1 teabag of Sleepy Tea
Small squeeze of honey
Smaller squeeze of lemon

Now, I have giant mugs so 1.5oz may be a little heavy for some people. So 1oz or .75oz will do ya just good if you have a normal sized mug. This drink is very easy and based off of your personal taste preferences.

Normally I would free pour, but from the huge-nature of this wonderful Starbucks Philadelphia mug, I actually measured this one. 

Mmmm, pure chilly evening deliciousness. 

how he longs to be, beneath the dreaming tree...

Well, now that my rant has passed, I'll get back to my main point of blogging. A few weeks ago I read about The Dreaming Tree wine. It was made alongside Dave Matthews by Constellation Wines US. The name comes from 1998's Before These Crowded Streets and the track named The Dreaming Tree. The idea behind the wine was basically to make an accessible wine to consumers, by making it tasty and affordable. It lists online as around $15, we picked it up from Joe Canal's in Lawrenceville, NJ for around $18. We also found it in Princeton, but it was about $21. I think if we got a membership card to Joe Canal's (which we should have by now) it'd be down to the list price.

Anyways, onto the fun stuff. Here are some pictures of the beautiful bottle

The neck foil, as well as the cork reads the lyrics "standing here the old man said to me, long before these crowded streets here stood my dreaming tree."

A beautiful lyric and an awesome introduction to the wine. This wine is beautiful, full-bodied and has the tastes of dark robust fruits like cherry and blackberry. You also get a slight vanilla tastes that finishes the wine in an absolutely divine way, the same way Dave Matthews can make for that perfect addition to any sunny afternoon. 

I can't wait to eventually try "Crush" which is their Zin and Merlot combination as well as their Chardonnay. Mmmmm :)

Happy Tuesday to us!

(Please, ignore the under-eye bruising. My nose is still unhappily broken)

Morality has left us

I have to say, I pride myself on not giving into the disgusting fake empire that are the Kardashians. I find their actions staged and so strategically planned that it is mind boggling that people tune in every week to watch it. Any use of the words "family" must be taken lightly, since the whole family has capitalized off of the fake fame that is Kim Kardashians sex tape. I mean really, how much could you say for that name prior to that? How do they justify their fame except for one of them just having extremely poor judgement? Any attempt to show humanity or even basic humility is lost in the greed and drive to get their name all over everything and anything. But what really bothers me about them is that the few instances in which I have watched their show, they know way too much about the basics of marketing and branding. Not anything about their show, their lives, their family etc. are real. Anytime you hear them talking about how sweet and loving Kim is? It's just attempting to STILL reposition her name as a wholesome brand. Her fame came from a sex tape, and if she were really against her name being associated with pornography or based on her looks alone, she wouldn't have posed for Playboy, or done a commercial for EasyTone in which she basically seemed like she was back in that hotel bed with RayJ.

And with yesterdays (not at all) stunning actions on her behalf, it is just another showing of how money hungry and fame grabbing these people are. The older sister's quick marriage wasn't enough, the baby of the other sister wasn't either, so what did they have to do? They had to rob people of millions of dollars to pay for a wedding that had nothing to do with love or the sanctity of marriage but rather, to show themselves off to the world and get their names back in the news papers. I feel bad for the poor schmuck. He probably did love her. Though after seeing the special, I'd be willing to put money on the fact that she bought that engagement ring all on her own. He seemed like a real human being, maybe someone who plays a sport for the interest of playing, rather than how he can get the most money. And maybe he actually cared for her. Too bad for him he let the weakness of their fake E! fame take over and allow his name to be made a mockery of. Shame on all of them.

I can't wait till the day when interesting humans are shown on television again. I'm tired of these "vodka/water" drinking females who are a terrible representation of what a 20something girl is. Until then, I'll watch Three Sheets reruns and wish I had his life.