The
Nightclub & Bar Show is the trade show run by Jon Taffer’s company.


This
week we take the show on the road to Las Vegas where we met lots of interesting
people, saw some cool products and even had a cocktail or two!  We recorded lots of audio in Vegas and
we’ll share so great conversations this week on Bartender Journey Podcast
number 154.


Listen with the audio player on this page or


·      On the Bartender Journey web site


·      Subscribe
on iTunes


·      Listen
on Stitcher Radio


·      Subscribe
on Android


 


·     
Jesse Greenleaf works at the famous Dukes bar on Oaho Hawaii.  He gave a great talk called Aloha
Attitude/Mahalo Mentality behind the bar.  I talked with Jesse after his seminar.  Among other things we talked about:


o  
Introducing guests to each other is a great thing to do to create a
great atmosphere in a bar.  Jesse
made a great point, “You are hosting a party.  At a party not all the guests are going to know each other
at first.  Its up to the host to
introduce everybody.”


o  
Jessie is very focused on remembering his guests’ names.   These are some of his tips for
getting to know everybody in his bar:


§  Repeat the name three times
in his head


§  Introduce the guest to
somebody else, like your bar back


§  Make sure to enter the first
names into the POS


o  
Jesse also talked during the seminar about using the power of
suggestion, for instance if you take a credit card, nod your head and say “keep
it open Jerry?”  Don’t say “close
it out?” because they probably follow your lead. 


o  
Also using power of suggestion when offering another round – his
example was if Jerry is drinking a Corona, pull out another from the ice and nod
your head and say “another Corona Jerry?”


·     
The Book of the Week is Jesse Greenleaf’s book:  The Cocktail Handbook – Cool Drinks From Hawaii’s Hottest Bartenders.


·     
Jesse is a big proponent of shaking hands with his guests.  While I was in Vegas I went to a great
Bar called Herbs and Rye.  I walked
into that bar & the guy behind the bar went out of his way to come over and
look me in the eye and shake my hand as if we were great friends that hadn’t
seen each other is 10 years.  I had
never been to that bar before and never seen this man in my life, but its was
such a genuine welcome and hand shake.  The head bartender and owner of Herbs & Rye, Nectaly Mendoza Won Bartender of the Year at
NCBShow this year. 


·     
Jason Griffen, who we first met at NCBShow three years ago, owns the Quick Strain Tin Company.


·     
Free pouring vs. jiggers? We talk with Nick Hauke who did a seminar
called Pourning with Speed and Accuracy. 
Nick also invented the Flash Pourer which makes a small visible flash every ¼
oz.  It can be great for training
and every day use too.  Bar owners
liked the Flash Pourer because they can have a visual cue to see how much the
bartenders are pouring.


·     
Jeffrey Morgenthaler, author of the great Bar Book gave a
talk called Technique Driven Cocktails. The point of the seminar was:  question everything.  A lot of
misinformation gets passed down from bartender to bartender.  He had a good idea – to talk to the
kitchen when you have questions.


·     
You’ve heard this before right? That if you roll a lemon on the bar
it’ll give you more juice.  Also,
that a room temperature lemon will give more juice.  I always assumed it was true.  He decided to do a controlled experiment to see if it was
true.  His results were surprising
to say the least!  He divided 60
lemons up into 4 categories:


o  
Refrigerated, Unrolled


o  
Refrigerated, Rolled


o  
Unrefrigerated, Unrolled


o  
Unrefrigerated, Rolled


Surprisingly the Refrigerated, Unrolled yielded the
most juice.  Not by a huge margin,
but according to popular opinion, that should have yielded the least!


 


·     
Friend of Bartender Journey, Warren Bobrow was at the Nightclub &
Bar show representing Mezan Rum. 


·     
In Vegas I met up with Chris & Julia of the