Message 17916 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> Ok, I'M PISSED! I took your advice went into a bar and ordered a 
> Maker's Mark Manhattan Straight Up STIRRED. I know he heard and 
> understood every word I said.
> 
> When I got it back it was SHAKEN with shards of ice in it!
> 
> This is what I'm talking about. This is why I started this tread. The 
> typical bartender does not know what STIRRING is!!! 
> 

That really is too bad.  I wouldn't expect a bartender at a beach bar or 
college bar to stir up an excellent Manhattan but I'm really surprised that 
one in a restaurant bar wouldn't have some idea of what you wanted when you 
asked for it that way.  Especially since you mentioned that he seemed piqued 
by the idea of making an old school cocktail.  

Of course I think back to when I first started bartending.  I'd been making 
drinks at home and at parties for years, but mostly margaritas and shooters, 
not the classy stuff.  I knew what Manhattans were by name, but hadn't really 
pondered how to serve a great one, nor did I have the appreciation for bourbon 
back then that I do now.  I have to admit that if you'd ordered a Manhattan in 
my bar during the first month or two that I was working it would have been 
shaken and without bitters.  I did know what stirring was though, I would have 
done that on request.  Of course your theory about bartenders shaking 
everything that goes in their tin would have held up at this place (a hotel 
bar even!) considering that the bar didn't even have a bar spoon when I 
started working there.  I went out and bought my own and I'll be taking it 
with me when I leave.  

Luckily I've learned a lot from other bartenders I know, a few good cocktail 
books and of course the information discussed in these forums.  I've seen it 
pay off as I get compliments from customers who tell me "Wow, you really know 
what you're doing" or something of the like.  But the sad thing is that the 
bartenders who are actively trying to better themselves and be at the top of 
their craft are a small minority of the entire group.  A really good bartender 
probably is hard to find.  The bitter irony about that though is that a good 
bartending job is hard to find also.  

I'm looking to move out of the bar I'm at right now, but it took me months to 
find this job and will probably take me a while to get something better.  I 
get told all of the time that my Martinis or Cosmopolitans or whatever are 
much better than what this person had downtown (where "the best" are supposed 
to work), but I can't get them to give me the time of day over there because I 
don't know the owner and I haven't been doing this for ten years.  Still, if 
somone is mediocre after a year I don't know how much they'll improve doing 
the same thing for several more.  The cooks who work in the hotel restaurant 
where I'm at are mediocre at best and they've also beeng doing this for many 
years.  

All right, that's the end of my rant.