Bartending On A Budget: How To Impress Friends And Family Without Spending A Lot Of Money

By Patrick O'Malley

The book addresses issues of planning parties and events where alcohol is being served to friends and family. People attend BBQs, weddings, brunch and so many other events and usually see a table full of liquor which is just confusing to many including myself. The book "Bartending On A Budget" will explain that less liquor is more liquor and far cheaper. Creating a signature drink for an event will add class and lessen the blow to your wallet while impressing all of your guests.

The savings which helps people save money while serving signature drinks to friends and family come by using substitutions of ingredients. We will make a cosmopolitans as our event signature drink listed below is the recipe using triple sec instead of cointreau or grand marnier which is about triple the price.

Cosmopolitan
2 oz./60 ml Vodka
1⁄2 oz./15 ml Cranberry Juice
1⁄4 oz./7.5 ml Cointreau or Grand Marnier (Triple Sec more economical)
1⁄4 oz. /7.5 ml Lime Juice

Chill a martini glass and add ice to a shaker/mixing cup. Next, pour the vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime juice into the shaker. Shake the ingredients for 15 seconds. Strain the mixture into a martini glass. Garnish lime twist.

Another drink which shows you that there can be more than on substitute in a single drink recipe is a
WOW Tequila Sunset. I make this drink very often for people who enjoy traditional tequila sunsets and the taste does wow everyone.

Wow Tequila Sunset
1 1⁄2 oz./45 ml Silver Tequila
1⁄2 oz./15 ml Frangelico (Crème de Almond or Amaretto more economical)
1 1⁄2 oz./45 ml Sweet & Sour Mix
1 1⁄2 oz./45 ml Orange Juice
1⁄2 oz./15 ml Chambord (Crème de Cassis more economical)

Add tequila, amaretto, sweet & sour mix, and orange juice into shaker/mix cup.
Shake the ingredients for 15 seconds. Strain the mixture into an old fashion glass,
filled with ice. Top off the drink with Chambord. Garnish with a flag. Wow Tequila
Sunset pictured below.

Also the book goes into how you can experience and taste high end liquor and not pay much money or sometimes even for free. The book deals with festivals, infusing liquor, short cuts and tricks along the way to make your money stretch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patrick O'Malley
• Release date: Nov 18, 2016

Patrick O'Malley

The author was a computer programmer for over two decades while taking various bartender positions. The book started because there were no books about how to save money while serving your friends and family great tasting drinks. However, the saying goes if there is a book that you want to read then write it yourself. Patrick O'Malley live in the Chicago area and enjoys entertaining family and friends.

Book preview

Introduction

Liquor is my passion. Making great cocktails bring out my creative side. It is the great trial and error of combining two or more ingredients and not knowing what will come out as the final result is what keeps me driven. Learning that bartending is so much more than pouring drinks fast. The skill and technique have to be there, along with knowledge. The trends in bartending change all of the time and what is old becomes new again and what was hot today is no longer hot tomorrow. While watching these trends, I saw the niche which I could carve out for myself, and it was more in the consultation area.

There are those drinks that never go out of fashion and hence get passed down from generation to generation. People are usually more adventurous than what we know, but we often get into a rut. I am guilty of that myself; my favorite drink is a Maker’s Mark Manhattan on the rocks with a little extra sweet vermouth.

What got me so interested in bartending was when I had started working in the 1980s in the food industry, starting off first as a dishwasher, busboy, food server, room service attendant, and finally a bartender. All of those past jobs were to pay for undergraduate and graduate school. Even after obtaining a Master’s degree, I would still take bartending side jobs frequently; working at some very luxurious hotels, occasionally the hole in the wall and places in between. Being a bartender was so exciting to me because the bar is so critical to an establishment’s success. A right or wrong drink sets the pace for your entire dining experience. Meaning you as a customer will more likely tend to have a drink well before you have something to eat at a restaurant. Your restaurant could have the best steak, fish, chicken, appetizers, pasta dishes or whatever dish in town, but if the drinks are bad, it ruins the entire dining experience. Also, a bad drink may stop a first time customer from becoming a regular customer or even having the opportunity to order the best chicken, steak or whatever your restaurant may have on the menu.

I have seen customers first hand on many occasions; have just one round of poorly made drinks, then leave an establishment never to return. Look at it from this point of view; because you never get a second chance to make a first impression, translated in the food industry you can capture a person’s palate by their first taste. When giving someone a properly made drink that they have never had before, there is always a bit nervous energy flowing from my part. I hope they love this drink as much as I do, that is what goes through my head. I wait for that first sip and gaze into their eyes because the eyes don’t lie and then wait for that pop. When you see the pop in a customer’s eyes, then you know he or she will be back again!! The next time, they will bring friends to experience what you are capable of doing for them.

Planning is an essential part of making your party a success. It helps you know your budget and also helps you plan what food and liquor items you want to serve to your guests. When I plan a party, I first think about the number of guests which have I should invite, this is critical. Usually, I have very close friends and family over for parties, which are about 20 people. The average person is going to have between 2 to 3 drinks, and will probably eat twice, so budget according to that rationale. I also plan for the extras; my invitations always state the guest can bring one friend, but that never happens. Some guests will bring 2 or more additional guests. However, since I plan for that, I usually have more than enough refreshments for everyone. I usually plan the details of my party about a week ahead of time by testing out my signature drink, making the food and liquor list, then checking my cabinets and refrigerator to see what I have in-stock vs. what I need to purchase.

Always try to stick to your shopping list and the only deviation is when a substitution has to be made. I often go to Sam’s Club and Costcos for the larger sizes bottles of liquor because 1.75 L bottle of vodka rounds out to 59.2 oz. of vodka with is more than two bottles of vodka each at 750 ml/25.4 oz, and their prices are quite reasonable. The one 1.75 L bottle of liquor will cost less than purchasing two-750 ml bottles, so buying in bulk is an advantage.

Usually, people call me on Wednesday or Thursday, between the hours of 3pm-9pm about their party for Friday or Saturday, and enquire about what drinks they should serve and how much liquor they should purchase. I take a deep breath, sigh and say This is the first I am hearing about your party this weekend and then things usually get silent. Then I start by asking my friend’s what his favorite base liquor is; this means if the person likes vodka, gin, rum, tequila, scotch, bourbon, sloe gin,