The everything about bars thread

[tonyg]

So, since I've seen a cocktail thread, a beer thread, and a fuckload of random bar threads, I figured we could do a general thread for everything related to bars ranging from :

Beer
Cocktails (recipes/info/suggestions)
Flairbartending
Legislation
Work tips
Wine
Spirits
Must-go bars

Would also be fun if we have bartenders on the forum (including me) pming their bar info/schedule if some BG members want to have a good time in vacation (or their hometown if it does happen).

Personally, I work at a speak-easy cocktail bar in Montreal, been bartending there for a year with some of the most competent bartenders in the city. We have an exhaustive collection of spirits (over 120 different bottles), although it would be a lot bigger if the alcohol wasn't state-controlled. Not only do we have outrageous prices (24$ for a 28oz bottle of Bacardi Silver, where I bought the same shit for 11$ in Florida last summer) but we also have incredibly long wait times and restrictions on importations that aren't made directly by the state. Oh, and the most beautiful part of this piece of shit legislation is that we cannot do our own infusions, since it is illegal to handle the alcohol if not in clear sight of a client. All of those things make cocktail bars (real ones, not slush serving shitbars) really hard to open where I live, and limit greatly the possibilities of mixology.

Oh, also, for the ones who wanna get shitfaced quickly with a "manly drink", go for J-Bombs, same concept as a Jagerbomb or Irish Car Bomb, but the shot is JD with an apricot-beer glass. Tastes like God's tears really.

[Tsuko_Asura]

That infusion legislation is horrendous. Some of our best cocktails are made by in-house infusions.

[wop]

London:-

3 Best cocktails + atmosphere, my regular haunts:-

Hakkasan off Tottenham Court Road. One of the best, if not the best for cocktails in London.

Long Bar @ Sandersons Hotel. If you're not VIP, be prepared for 30 min+ queues. Another way is to dine in at the restaurant Suka, and head into the bar after dinner.

Joel Robuchon L'Atelier next to the Ivy in the westend. Their cocktails are absolutely delicious, lots to see as well. Last time I went there, burly bankers with high class Latvian hookers!


All 3 have my stamp of approval ^-^

[Mytiwar]

Personally, I work at a speak-easy cocktail bar in Montreal, been bartending there for a year with some of the most competent bartenders in the city.

What's the name of your bar and where is it located (streets)?

Might drop by sometime with a few friends if it's not "too" classy.

[miokomioko]

Beer + Wine lounges onry (if they have good and obscure beers and a decent wine selection). Lack of hard liquor generally keeps the obnoxious, confrontational, flirtatious douchebags out and maintains a pretty chill environment for chatting up on comfy couches with dim lighting, playing some pool, etc. I suppose it's not as great for meeting others, but such places are usually excellent for hanging out with already established friends and prefer not to get approached by idiots trying to hit on you. They are also great for 1-on-1 conversation with a new acquaintance as a simple after-work date or post-date drink.

My old, regular location (down near Santa Barbara, CA) was a tiny hole-in-the-wall named Mercury Lounge in Goleta, CA (which looked non-existent from outside in a normally dead part of town, Hollister Ave.). She served some of my favorite Belgian wheats, had a free Billiards Table, Scrabble and fresh popcorn on demand, a dim and modern interior....... and I knew the bartender who could get me shit-faced by handing me pints after pints all night and she would end up only billing me like $5 (for which I usually tipped like $20). The only time it got ridiculous inside was when they had a lounge band playing (which did some amazing unsolicited NES music covers) and it drew flocks of nearby UCSB retards.

[tonyg]

I'm also looking for cocktail bars for a trip I'll take to either Boston or New York in May (I'm not 21 yet so can't go before then). I've heard about some clients of mine that come from New York that there are very good bars in both those cities, but that most of them don't advertise and people only know them from others, so I have no idea where to start my research.

Oh and since we're in a bar thread

[miokomioko]

Oh man, mojitos are delicious, but god damn muddling that shit is annoying. I just recently started making them at home where they aren't $10 each.

[Pirian]

Oh man, mojitos are delicious, but god damn muddling that shit is annoying. I just recently started making them at home where they aren't $10 each.

My favorite drink to make when not drinking beer :D I'm not too familiar with my area yet so haven't yet found a place like the one you describe, but I can really think of no better place I would care to spend an evening with friends

[drwaffles]

Font off Oxford Road is a good place for cheap cocktails in Manchester, but it gets incredibly busy on weekends. My favourites from there are Zombies and Long-Island Iced Teas (just to be different...). And be careful of Jaegerbombs - they have a special place in my memory for being the last thing I remember on my second-worst ever drinking experience on New Year's Eve 2010.

[snowtoday]

Oh man, mojitos are delicious, but god damn muddling that shit is annoying. I just recently started making them at home where they aren't $10 each.

$10 each, good price!

[Chezo]

I go to bars/clubs to drink, and that's it. These threads make me feel like an alcoholic

[Tsuko_Asura]

I'm also looking for cocktail bars for a trip I'll take to either Boston or New York in May (I'm not 21 yet so can't go before then). I've heard about some clients of mine that come from New York that there are very good bars in both those cities, but that most of them don't advertise and people only know them from others, so I have no idea where to start my research.

Oh and since we're in a bar thread

I like muddling >.>;

And wtf@ getting someone to let you behind a bar before 21. Lucky piece of shit :s

[tonyg]

I'm in Canada, drinking age is 18, started working at 19 as a busboy and was promoted bartender 4 months later. Been a year now and rocking the shit

Oh and I don't muddle my mint, good slap and then directly in the glass, stir rapidly and top with soda. Anybody making shaken mojitos is retarded

[Tsuko_Asura]

I swivel once, no shaking involved.

[Denchi]

I'm certainly not a bar snob, I more prefer the right ambiance than perfect drinks. SO, with that said.

In Tempe, AZ
- Four Peaks. Great brews, great area, great service, great food, and far the fuck away from Mill. Pretty much perfect.
- Postino. Awesome wine bar, great atmosphere, really great wines that they change often.

Flagstaff, AZ
They all suck. Maybe Beaver Street brewery has some decent brews, but not great. Oak Creek in Sedona is nice, though.

Minnesota
- Duplex
- Prohibition
- Bulldog
- Brit's Pub

[tonyg]

I'm certainly not a bar snob, I more prefer the right ambiance than perfect drinks. SO, with that said.

Don't see it as snobism, but a lot more like having certain standards for a profession that is considered as a job. In Europe, not every scrub can go and bartend and make fuckloads of money (because they don't). It requires an education comparable to college to even be allowed to be a barback, let alone a bartender. If you want to go work in higher up places, you'll need a lot of experience. The way I see most north americans approach the bar is that it's a place to get shitfaced with whatever does the job and doesn't taste too bad, yet for the same price and a LITTLE effort by bartenders to actually learn/learn to make cocktails (and not just candy drinks) and by bar owners to bring in good beers, and not just cheap ones to save on cost. Bartending is a PROFESSION, at the same worth as any other, and to actually be good at it, it requires effort, skill and motivation.

tl;dr Sure a good ambiance in a bar is fun, but wouldn't it be even better if what you drank was different, tasty and didn't make you cringe with every sip?

[Denchi]

I wasn't trying to belittle the profession by any means! And I hear ya. I guess I just usually drink beer, so it's hard for me to judge in the first place.

[Qalbert]

I thought this said everything about bears and I was all excited, but then it wasn't. =/

BEARS