Help.A.Bartender

Some of you may recall reading my piece last month on my experience of The Kraken Black Ink Society competition. If not, shame on you, it can be found here: 


Competition Breeds...

One of the bartenders I had the pleasure of competing against (and later getting slightly tipsy with) was the ever-safe Ajax Kentish, pictured above. A big dude with an even bigger heart it seems because just the other night, he dropped me a line to ask for my help in raising some funds and awareness for a mission he holds close to his heart; Help.A.Bartender.


The story behind this is one we can all relate to in one way or another: Help.A.Bartender started off when Ajax found out that one of his friends Elias, who worked as a bartender in Greece, had a serious motorbike accident. The complications arising from that accident have left Elias in need of extensive surgery and further treatments but in order to get them he needs to pay between €30,000 - €50,000. Those of you reading this are, more-than-likely, in the bar/hospitality trade and we all now how that goes when it comes to the end of the week. 


Elias has sold most of what he has to pay for what he’s had done so far, so Ajax decided it's now his time to help. He'd been planning over the last two month to cycle to Athens from London within a month to raise money and now he confirms he will set off in just 2 and a half months. He's going to need a lot of help to get to his goal, including some more sponsors. If any of you out there in cyberspace read this and think you can help then please head over to Help.A.Bartender and soon http://www.helpabartender.com/, in the words of Ajax : "whether it be £1 or £20, whether it be £1,000 or £5,000, every bit helps. And I will be keeping you up to date with things I'v been doing and things you can do to help". Methods for donation will be up shortly.

This is a mammoth task for any one man to undertake, however, if we all give a little we can get Elias back on the mend. Ajax has even higher hopes for this endeavour, however, after this mission has been completed, he says there are other people who work in hospitality who could use a little help, and we might be able to do something about it. The first mission is for him to help out Elias, but where this venture goes after that could be somewhere very special indeed.

Please spread the word, keep a watchful eye on Ajax' progress and, if you can, please donate to the cause.

Good luck Ajax, expect my donation, I'll spread the word and any help I can provide up here in Scotland will be quickly given. 

Jodes

Competition Breeds...

Monday 13^th February 8.30am – It’s D Day...well, K day. I'm up early as seems to be a theme of the last few days but it's all been in aid of this juncture. 

The setting - Hotel Pelirocco: A quaint boutique hotel on Brighton beachfront. I'm in the Sputnik room, a sci-fi themed room with fibre-optic lighting, and for once I slept comfortably (the last few nights have proven a chore to relax). As I throw on some clothes to go eat, my mind starts racing to the events of the day. The main event, of course, is the semi final of the UK Kraken Hunter competition. Originally, this day was intended to be the final but due to a mass of high quality entries, it had to be altered to accommodate. This in itself is a double edged sword, it inspires great trepidation to learn that you must face more competitors (and in a semi) but it also inspires great confidence in that your entry was chosen to be counted there amongst the 10 very best. 

After breakfast and a short walk to clear my head (having been sat in the bar with Danielle Young from the Marblehead team running the competition, drinking straight Kraken the night before) I return to my room to prepare for the day ahead. With my yarai washed, goblets shined, blazer mugs cleaned and prepared (practicing in your room until you pass out from the exhaustion of the last few days will leave them in need of a wash), I make my way to the bar.

11.20am - I'm in the bar and I type desperately to get a few words down before people start arriving. Too late. Two competitors arrive and I instantly feel out of my depth. I’m treading unknown waters. The two look like members of Gallows. Skinny jeans, retro glasses, tunnels and handlebar moustaches abound. In short, they look the part. The duo are Joe Gunner and Adam Wilson. Meanwhile, across the room, just little old me in my black kilt (yeah, you read that right). I take deep breaths to calm the nerves. The rest of the competitors arrive sporadically and soon the list is completed, and the crew hail from some rather famous, albeit daunting berths:

Joe Gunner - Portobello Star, London

Adam Wilson - Mojo, Leeds 

Dan Bovey - Sahara Bar, Reading (if you think his name seems familiar, google Bacardi Legacy)

Ajax Kentish - Hawksmoor Guildhall, London

Mike Stringer - Flip-It Cocktail consultancy. 

Sarah Mitchell - London Cocktail Club, Shaftsbury Avenue

Alexis Gotts - Old No. 7 Bar & DQ Nightclub, Sheffield.

Kate Rose - Be At One, Shoreditch. 

Sophia Sansford - Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle.

Wish me luck... I'm up second. Through our chatting, we learn that the order of the day is to be a mixture of blazers, beer cocktails (London’s current trend/fad), calamari rings, squid ink and condensed milk. Although, I must stress, not all in the same drink.

1.10pm - ...and it's all over. Well, for my part anyway. It's a surreal set of occurrences, which transpire to prevent your blazed drink (which has worked fine every night leading up to this day) from lighting properly. Combine this with the fact that there are 2 other blazed drinks today by hugely accomplished bartenders and you'll forgive me for thinking I was on course for disaster. On a personal note, I'm happy with the fact that I calmly and collectively apologised to the judges then restarted. Thankfully, the second time, my drink blazed beautifully. Commented on by one of the judges as being served at "the perfect temperature". Needless to say, I'm hopeful after such a comment. 

The Demon In The Dark:

60ml The Kraken Black Spiced Rum

25(ish)ml of boiling water

2 Demerara  sugar cubes 

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Bob's Peppermint bitters.

Fire

At it's heart, this drink is a Bumbo (as discussed in my last Corpse & Cocktail post) which is then set ablaze: Firstly heat up your blazer mugs with some boiled water then after grating some Cinnamon and Nutmeg into a goblet, fill a mixing glass with water and place the goblet inside. Place the spoon above the goblet with two sugar cubes. Saturate the sugar with a few drops of Bob's Peppermint bitters. Then comes the fun part. Dump all but around 25ml of the water from the blazer mugs. Add The Kraken to one of the mugs and set it on fire. VERY carefully, pour the flaming rum back and forth from mug to mug each time increasing the distance between the two in order to get that famous blue strand of flames. After 4 or 5 good pours, pour the rum over sugar cubes. It's essential that you do this whilst the flames are still burning; this allows the sugar to caramelise. After the sugar has been broken down, give it a little stir with the spoon to combine everything fully. Remove the goblet from the mixing glass and enjoy. 

After my drink was made, I was whisked away to allow Adam to prep and have my "moody" portrait taken. I only wish I could have a copy of the pictures but we don't get to see them until Imbibe prints them. So with massive blunderbuss in hand and my goblet in the other, I growled like the photographer had just stolen my drink. Job done. It's hard to be moody though, when you're half filled with rum and enjoying the company. The other problem with having the photo shoot after your entry is that you miss the other drinks. Bah! 

With the rest of the drinks, made, judged and consumed. We made our way out to sample the delights of a rock’n’roll town such as Brighton can only offer. The details of which, however, stay with the hopeful inductees of the Black Ink Society. At very least, I've spent the day with 9 great bartenders and to make an understatement, it's nothing like our scene in Aberdeen. No one cares who wins because they enter so many different competitions. This has its good points and bad points. On one hand, it lends a very informal and relaxed atmosphere to the proceedings but on the other hand I feel like I'm the only one here who actually drinks The Kraken. 

…

If nothing else, each and every competitor was there simply to make his or her drink and have fun. No agendas and no ulterior plans. It genuinely felt like a meeting of artists that I'd been lucky enough to infiltrate. I only hope that I open Imbibe over the coming months and see my Kraken Portrait, I'll know then if I've done our small corner of the world (and indeed myself) justice. 

Lets hope competition breeds success...

Jody

2012 | More | Less

Some of our blog contributors have put together a list of various trends, categories and bartending habits (good and bad) that we’d like to see more or less of in 2012.  Thanks to Adrian Gomes (AG), James MacKay (JM), Tom Lawman (TL) and Mike McGinty (MM):

| More |

• Independent brands, with bartender support for these brands. (TL)
• Working flair, not to be confused with showmanship, adding to the guest experience, whilst not affecting speed of service.  Time and a place for everything when it comes to flair. (JM)
• Falernum. (JM / MM)
• Dress code – fix up, look sharp bartenders.  Not everyone has to adopt the speakeasy-style, but in the very least shirts and aprons, or other garments to distinguish yourself as the service-provider, not the service-user. (TL)
• Table service from bartenders and bars alike.  Let’s not get a complex about waiting on tables.  Take the initiative and ask your guests to take a seat whilst they wait for their drink.  You may notice the difference in tips. (TL)
• Cognac’s, Armangnac’s and eaux-de-vie’s.  Brandy is one of the oldest of all distilled spirits and such a diverse category.  Get tasting, get experimenting. (AG)

| Less |

• Japanese hard shake.  Whilst we admit it is a classy and well-thought out shaking technique, surely bartenders who would like to imitate this have better things to be doing with their time…(AG / TL)
• Less mixto tequilas (and Jose Cuervo) on the speed-rail.  Tequila is a growing category.  Expand your back-bar and offer a quality house pour. (JM)
• Elaborate drinks lists with poor execution by the venue management/team.  Applies to venues with illusions of grandeur but a poor recruitment and training policy.  Baby steps are the key. (JM / AG)
• Jagerbombs.  Yes we’ve all done them, but let’s cool it a bit on the speed-drinking front.  It’s not smart and it’s not cool…even if it used to be. (TL)
• Politics and trash-talk between bartenders.  Competitions are a great tool to learn more about the art of bartending. Winning is no substitution for making friends and networking.  Compared to most competitive activities, in this industry, it really is the taking part that counts. (AG)
• Bartender snobbery.  Yes, we’re all guilty of it from time to time.  Let’s try harder this year! (JM)

Comments are welcomed.  What would you like to see more or less of in 2012?  Disagree with our contributors?  Let us know.  Happy New Year!

...I'm Sweet Enough.

A fundamental building block in mixed drinks, we thought we'd give you a brief insight into sugar: where it came from and how it got here.  I referenced a few sources to compile this, but in all fairness, the majority of this article has been heavily-influenced by Wayne Curtis' fine book on rum: 'And a Bottle of Rum - A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails'.

Sugarcane first appeared in Asia around 4000 B.C. - most likely Papua New Guinea.  As trade routes opened up and empires expanded, as did the reach of sugarcane, with the cultivation and processing moving west via China, India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Iberia and the Atlantic islands of Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Azores.  Christopher Columbus was subsequently responsible for carrying live sugarcane seedlings to the New World on his second trip in 1493 (his Father-in-Law was a Madeira sugar planter) planting these on Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti).  It turns out the Caribbean islands offered the perfect climate and soil conditions for sugarcane and the colonists were quick to establish plantations in Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

To produce sugar, the cane syrup is machine-pressed from the cane and heated until near-crystallisation.  It is subsequently cooled and cured (this is the point at which the by-product molasses appears).

With great quantities of sugar being produced in the New World colonies, prices fell in Europe and many of the plantation owners were ruined.  Meanwhile, New World plantation owners were making a killing, building great houses like the one below...

In England, the demand grew quickly as sugar evolved from a luxury item only the aristocratic classes could afford, to a staple for the common man.

To keep up with the sugar needs of Europe and their emerging colonies, slaves were imported.  On the colonised islands, native tribes had been decimated by European disease (such as small-pox) and poor working conditions.  Thus began the Trans-Atlantic triangular slave trade, carrying sugar and rum from the Caribbean and New England to Europe where these were sold and the profits used to purchase goods to be traded in West Africa for slaves to be transported to the Caribbean to work in the plantations, to produce sugar for...you get the idea.

As the European powers continued their colonisation of the world, sugar, in turn, reached new territories: Brazil, Pacific Islands and Australia, among others.  Significantly, in 1747 a German scientist discovered sucrose in Beet Root and shortly after, beet sugar began production.  This didn't really take off until the British blocked all Caribbean trade with Napoleon's French Empire.  Beet sugar grew as a result and now accounts for 30% of today's sugar production.

An important point to note is that, currently,  sugar prices in the US and Japan are higher than the rest of the world due to import tariffs and as a result their domestically-produced high-fructose corn syrup is favoured over sugar, especially for soft drinks and processed foods.

The trend with us bartenders is to make our own 'cane syrup', usually to 65 degree brix.  'Degree brix' is the sugar content in an aqueous solution, with one degree brix equating to 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution measuring representing the strength of the solution as a percentage of weight.  Hence, if you make your cane syrup (or sugar syrup, or simple solution) in a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water, then the degrees brix is 65.