Message 10399 of 22774 in Behind the Bar

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Here is something I wrote on a similar thread on the FBA website:-

The big thing i have noticed when bartenders first start pour-testing is they 
get really frustrated and are not patient with it. You really have to be 
patient and practice at least once a day. Like anything, practice makes 
perfect. 

Pour testing can make the difference between a good drink and a GREAT drink 
and it really annoy's me that some bartenders think that because they can 
flair a bit or know a few cocktail recipes that they have the divine right to 
not pour test. It is one thing you cannot take for granted, its amazing the 
amount of people who claim to be able to pour perfectly but it turns out they 
have never even seen an exact-o-pour! 

We keep a daily tracker on our bar which has bottle pours (from 1/4oz to 3oz), 
store and pours (1/2oz to 4oz), flair pours and 25ml/50ml measures. We go 
through this tracker every shift, left and right handed. I recommend doing 
something like this as you will probably notice you have some pours which you 
struggle with. I also try to mix it up a bit and do a variety of different 
pours, cuts, bounces, flair moves, etc to make it more like a shift and to add 
to my repertoire of tricks. I also use different sized bottles, multiple 
bottles, and bottles with various amounts of liquid in them too. 

A few little tips that work for me: - 

1. Always challenge other bartenders (have a weekly pour league with a small 
wager for example) 

2. Start counting when the liquid leaves the bottle. Not before. 

3. Practice......... 

4. Find the right spacer word ('bubble' and 'and' seem to work best) 

5. Store and pours seem to cause bartenders a lot of problems when they start 
(i use 'elf' for 1/2oz and 'elephant' for 1oz. So if i was pouring 2oz with a 
store and pour, in my head i would say, 'elephant, elephant' and if it was 1 
1/2oz i would say, 'elephant, elf,' and so on, so forth......) 

6. Dont count out loud when your serving a guest (stupid i know but i have 
seen it happen. 'elephant, elf......') 

7. Practice.......... 

8. Make a drink to recipe using the exact-o-pour and make one by free-pouring. 
Taste the difference. Their should not be any difference. If there is, 
practice all over again........ 

9. Following on from the previous point, know what the drink should taste like 
and taste every drink you make. You will begin to notice if you are over/under 
pouring so you can adjust accordingly. 

10. Practice........ 

11. Hot water pours faster than water at room temperature. Try it and 
see....... 

12. Tilt the bottle slowly. If someone asked you to pour a tin full of water 
into a boston glass you would not turn it wildly upside down. You would tilt 
it slowly. 

13. Try picking the bottle up thumb down instead of the usual thumb up (the 
bottle swings round on the inside of your body as a pose to the outside). It 
gets you into a pour quicker and does not cause as much strain on the wrists. 

14. Put the tin/glass down and use both hands. Go on, just put it down. The 
old bad habit of bartenders to pick the tin up in their weak hand is annoying 
and you will find that your strong hand becomes more comfortable at 2 bottle 
pick-ups, bounce pours, flair pours, etc. 

15. Again following on from the above point, i found that when i first started 
my right hand seemed to be over-confident and my left hand was better. Weird 
but true. Now they are pretty much identical. 

16. Use two or even three bottles to get to your amount (i.e two bottle 
pick-up to pour 1oz). 

17. Practice...... 

18. Pour blind. Do not pour directly into a measuring implement. I have seen 
people do this. What is the point? 

19. Keep a daily tracker. 

20. Practice, Practice, Practice........ 

Hope this helps a little, 

Adam 

P.S And some more stuff from the same thread, courtesy of Mr Toby Ellis of Las 
Vegas and www.barmagic.com fame.

Hopefully I will be able to help you a little. While I don't compete much 
anymore, back a few years ago, pouring was one of my strongest points, (a nice 
way to say I was slow as mud and flaired like a train wreck, I know) and in 
fact, I think only Rob Corujo (who literally had his water blessed before a 
competition) would consistently whup me in pour rounds. It was the one round I 
always felt I could compete eye to eye with Alan, Ken, and the rest of the 
rockstars. (Or that's how I choose to remember it, lol). Much of the credit 
goes to John Fiore, a Friday's Legend who schooled me but good in free 
pouring. I also picked up some tips from Ken Hall and Alan Mays along the way. 
Anyway.... 

I poured just about every single day for two years. I kept an exacto-pour in 
the kitchen and poured at breakfast. I went into work early and did a full 
44point pour test before each shift. Before I flaired, I poured. That's 
probably the most important thing... consistency. And believe it or not, I 
counted while i worked. Ken did/does too. You can't practice at home one way, 
and work another. (One of Ken's biggest secrets... he works the same as he 
competes, so competing is second-nature because he flairs and pours that way 
all night, every night. I was never that disciplined and hence, I have no 
world titles. Something to think about...) 

The most basic component of technical freepouring is your counting scale. Make 
your life easy if you don't already know this and use a 4 count for one ounce. 
That way, every 1/4 ounce is a one count, and there are no fractions. 
Laugh...but I have bartenders try to sell me on systems using a 3 count, a 2 
count, and a six count for an ounce...makes no sense to me. How do you count 
3/4 of an ounce if you use a 3 count for one ounce??? (Without a scientific 
calculator or a slide rule, lol?) I know this is common knowledge in the flair 
community, but just in case.... I said it. 

In no special order, here are other things that make the difference, at least 
for me.... (and remember I'm a slow learner, a klutz, and not terribly 
talented, and so this stuff is probably pretty good, lol). 

1. I pour every way possible...both hands, every increment from 1/8 ounce up 
to 3oz. Sometimes I just pour LH 1 1/4 20 times in a row. Other times I 
alternate hands, pours, etc. Like weight training, I tried to mix it up to 
improve. Muscle memory can work against you, orherwise. Keep your mind and 
your body guessing. Sometimes just the ritual of doing it the same ay makes 
you pour better than you really will in a comp. 

2. I also practiced multiple bottle pours, store n pour pours, and wine pours. 
That includes simultaneously doing two different pours with each hand. 

3. Turn the exacto-pour away from you so you can't see your results until 
you've poured the entire set of tubes. Otherwise, you will adjust your 
counting as you go, depending on each pour. Then, sometimes, I do the 
opposite... to fine tune my counting. In fact, when I train freepouring, to 
teach people the cadence, I have them pour directly into the tube and count as 
the water quickly rises up each line. 

4. Mix up what you pour into. Use tins, glasses, cleat cups, colored cups. 
It's called "Schema Theory" and it is a learning theory that suggests your 
brain performs better (remembers things easier) by familiar visual cues. It's 
why you always remember your rounds better on your practice bar, and then you 
brain fart on stage, in an unfamiliar environment. (Or am I the only one who 
does that, lol?). To fight it, you can do two things... make your practice 
area EXACTLY like the competition environment (hard to do) OR don't use the 
same visual cues aka environment in your training...it is a crutch. 

5. Don't cheat your results. If it's close or almost on the line or you really 
can' tell... it's out. Be harder on yourself. 

6. Tap your foot. Just try it. It helps. 

7. Count outloud. Biggest rookie mistake I notice when I teach... I tell my 
trainees emphatically to count OUT LOUD...they never do. I insist. It makes a 
difference. (You actually count faster in your head, then if you say it. It's 
why you always do those 35 second speed rounds when you visualize them, but 
never for real, lol.) 

8. Start and stop counting using the same "marker." Don't start counting when 
you turn the bottle over but stop as you cut the liquid. Start when the liquid 
leaves the spout and when the liquid stops from the spout (my favorite way) or 
something similar. Apples to apples. 

9. True slide pours are a waste, to me, because they don't count. Use bubble 
aka bounce cuts, snap aka aggressive cuts, or faucet (motion is like you are 
turning off a faucet) aka classic cuts. 

10. Make sure your water is room temperature. Fill up bottles or buckets the 
night before and leave them out, and not in a cold room/garage or over-heated 
room. very important. 

11. Pick a counting system that works for you and stick with it. In my 
opinion, the specific one you pick does not matter, but all the successful 
ones include a "spacer" for timing/cadence. I always used "and" as my spacer 
as in "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5". Just counting the numbers makes it very 
tough to get a cadence. Other popular spacers are "bubble" and "bobble" ... 
somebody had one that is so funny, but I can't think of it right now. (D-mn 
theraflu) 

12. Smoothly swing your bottles up. Jerking the bottle too fast causes air 
bubbles, in my experience. 

13. If you bounce cut, you stop counting on the "and" (spacer) BEFORE the 
actual count. Example: to pour one ounce with a bounce cut, you would count 
and pour "1 and 2 and 3 and" whereas with any other cut you would count and 
pour "1 and 2 and 3 and 4" 

14. Make sure you fully drain your exacto-pour before re-using. A couple drops 
is an 1/8th ounce. 

15. Learn with all bottle types and sizes. 

16. Stick with Spill-Stop #285-50 Chrome Pourer. Nothing else is terribly 
accurate. Be careful not to buy knock-off brands... they do not pour the same, 
the diameter of the opening in the spout is different. The quickest way to 
spot a Spill-Stop is that the edge of the round metal collar is "beveled" or 
"squared" off. The knock-offs have collars that are tapered to more of a "flat 
point" all the way around. (Somebody make that make more sense, please... I 
never know how to say that, lol.) 

17. Blow the air of our your spouts before pouring...remember "todos gotas est 
auro" (every drop is gold) 

18. Check your spouts to see that the air valve is not plugged/bent. 

19. Make your practice fun. MY GM used to bet me once a week on a pour. 
$20.... luckily he never beat me, but it was close a few times. The pressure 
(more from the fear of the staff watching my GM spank me, than the $20) was 
great preparation for competition. Set up games or drills where you have to 
hit a bunch of different pours. Simulate the pressure of competition in your 
practice, in other words. 

20. Use paper/pour test sheets to track your progress. Start a book. You have 
to track your progress at anything when you train, if you really want to see 
results. I think. 

21. Work on your weak hand until it's your strong hand. Same with specific 
pours. Can't ever hit 1/8 ounce? Practice it until you ALWAYS hit it. 

22. Watch your spout/pours. Sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many times 
you find yourself losing focus and therefore spill or mess up. Train yourself 
to get focused on the tip of that spout when you pour. 

23. Don't forget to practice your flair pours. 

24. What altitude are you pouring at? Don't mean to sound like too much of a 
dork (I know, WAY too late) but pouring in Denver or in the Alps is not going 
to go the same as in Vegas or London. (Yes, I poured in Denver.) 

25. Listen to your pours. Anybody else just "know" the sound of 2 ounces in a 
tin? It helps. 

26. Crisp cuts. If you're slow, you're pouring an extra 1/8 of an ounce or 
more. 

27. With a 4-bottle pour with full liters (And in general, if you don't want 
carpel tunnel), you swing with the elbows, not the wrists. Makes it a LOT 
easier. Even if you're huge and ripped like me. 

28. Liquids of various densities and viscocities pour differently. I can't say 
as though I've done enough tests to notice a difference between water and 
80-proof spirits like vodka (though I would venture a guess that water pours 
slower as it is less viscous), but certainly things like chilled Patron, 
Bailey's, and most liqueurs....pour slower. 

And finally... some competition tips, other than what I just wrote (because 
all that applies to competition) 

1. use brand spanking new spouts 

2. double check to make sure the water is room temperature 

3. relax. Good, slow breathing helps. it relaxes the muscles, which is 
important. 

4. watch your stream. In some comps (most) once you start, you can't start 
over. If you get an air bubble (it happens), compensate your pour/count! Sure 
it's a guess/risk, but I've saved my -ss a couple times that way. 

5. If the comp calls for a flip-to-a-pour... don't get fancy. Use a smooth, 
arced, controlled, single flip. 

6. Make sure your spouts are all the way in. 

7. Keep your bottles and hands dry. 

8. Keep your hands off the spout (that's a "duh"...but I've seen it) when you 
pour. 

9. For pour rounds like Legends that are a combination of speed and accuracy, 
I say always go for accuracy over speed. A perfect round that is a couple 
seconds slow is better than a great time...where you missed every pour. That's 
just me. 

10. For pour offs... you just have to want it and feel it. 

11. Pray for cool judges who are fair but willing to hang the tin over the 
tube (and even blow into the tube) as long as it takes to help you (and 
everybody else). I know a guy who used to do that. 

12. Have your water blessed. 

13. Enjoy it. Positive reinforcement to the brain, baby. It's key. If you 
“hate” pour tests, I doubt you'll ever be good at them. (Know anybody who 
hates to flair who wins flair rounds? Exactly.) I loved to pour. 

-- 
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