Message 9493 of 22774 in Behind the Bar

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I admire bartenders who don't drink (I know of many recovering alcoholic 
bartenders, that's gotta be rough) but at the same time, is it possible to 
have a straw-full of booze and be okay?  You talk about being able to 
understand the flavor profile of drinks by smelling the ingredients and while 
that does give you some idea as to the flavor, it doesn't help you to know if 
a specific drink is balanced right.  There was a previous post some time back 
talking about how much liquid is in a straw and the conclusion was EXTREMELY 
little (it took dozens of straw samples to fill a shot glass).

If people are worried about the slippery fall into alcoholism, I completely 
understand.  Currently I'm living on a Caribbean island where for a large 
portion of people alcoholism is a way of life (rum is $3.90 a bottle and milk 
is $6.00 a gallon).  I just thought that taking a very small sample from a 
drink a few times a shift gives a much clearer picture of the product going 
out to the customer.

Others' thoughts?

~Tom "The Captain"

> Just so you know, I'm a non-drinking bartender.  Some do think I'm an 
> oddity, but I don't catch any flak for it.  I pay attention to what 
> people say about the taste of a drink, I read a lot about different 
> spirits and liqueurs, and I SMELL those spirits and liqueurs whenever 
> I can.  It's amazing what you can learn about a drink from just 
> smelling the individual ingredients.  I've only been at this a few 
> months, after years in the restaurant and bar business, but I find my 
> employers seem to appreciate the fact that I don't drink.