Who is Steve the Barman?!

I am the famous Steve the Barman. At the time of writing, a 37 year old veteran of the Cocktail and Bar scene. My cuddly persona, cheeky smile, my AMAZING Wardrobe filled with crazy Shirts…and award winning brand of Wind Ups and Sarcasm are what set me apart from many Guys and Gals behind the stick.

I was born and bred down in Cornwall and that will always be my spiritual home…I’m definitely a Beach/Water guy…but I’ve lived up in Cambridgeshire for 25 odd years.  My whole working life has been spent in Pubs, Bars and Restaurants ever since I turned 18.  I never went to Uni.  Instead, I went into Pub Management during my A Levels as an 18yo!  I went from Greene King to Cambridge University, to a few independent venues, to finally setting up Thirst First.

My Cocktail Training actually came from London.  As a 20/21 year old, I really wanted to learn.  I bought books and read recipes, but at the time there were no decent Bars in Cambridge to hone my skills.  So I managed to get a few Volunteer gigs on my days off in the big smoke.  For 5 or 6 months I did it for free, but the knowledge I gained was superb.  Sadly, those Bars don’t exist now…but the memories live on!

My Philosophy on Life;

If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doing!

For me now, it’s all about working to live and creating memories.  I do love the Hospitality trade, but working Every Friday to Sunday, Christmas and Easter for years on end, does come hard.  Now I have that luxury to just say No. Today is a fun day!  I have that luxury to close down over the Christmas Holidays!  I had 3 weeks off last Christmas and it was probably the most relaxed and fun Christmas I’d ever had!

My Mission;

Well  have 2!!!

Firstly, to outlaw the word Mixologist. It’s a poncey name.  We’re all Bartenders.  Some have different passions to others, granted.  I’m not interested in creating Tomato & Basil Spheres for a Bloody Mary.  Yeah it’s cool, I can’t deny that, but that’s not what you guys really want.

Secondly, I love giving you guys some “Drinkspiration”. Amazing drinks that you can make at home with ingredients you can get from your local supermarket!

 

Thirst First

Thirst First (or Thirsty for short) is in its 3rd year. Fresh enough to still be the cool new kid on the block, but experienced enough to be one of the best in the Biz.  All of us Mobile Bars should be professional, experienced and have amazing Customer service.  That’s a given isn’t it?  If its not, you’re in the wrong Business.  What I care about is YOU.  I go that extra mile.  I only use top notch ingredients.  We don’t compromise.  Don’t believe me?!  Well then check out our reviews. See when you care about the person you’re serving as much as I do, then you can afford to brag about the feedback I get.

After spending years pouring nothing but Pernod Ricard brands…Havana, Beefeater, Absolut…I wanted something a little different for Thirsty.  So I have started working with Maxxium.  They’re super cool and have some amazing brands…and some really fun ones too. My core brands are Stolichnaya, No3 Gin, Brugal Rum and Jim Beam.  But then I also get to play with Midori, Galliano and Sourz too! It’s the Brands that you guys love.  It’s the Brands that put the smiles on your faces.  And it’s the Brands that make some really cool drinks.  Couple that to my favourite Juice brand, Eager…who make 100% pressed and squeezed juices, with no concentrate…then I can’t help but make you Awesome Drinks!

 

Question I get asked the most; “Do you juggle Bottles?”

Nope, I’m not a circus act. I entertain people by making tasty drinks instead.

To be honest, I’ve never tried.  What put me off was years ago when I was working in a very busy Bar.  I had a dude on the station next to me juggling bottles.  He was brilliant.  But the customers in front of him just wanted a drink.  Their faces told a thousand words.  Flairing is Cool.  Serving people fast is way cooler!

 

Weapon of choice;

Rum. No, Vodka…ooo no, Tequila.  Actually, no it has to be Rum. I couldn’t live without a Dark and Stormy or a Spicey Stormy!!

 

What do I do outside of #ThirstyWorld?

Well gone are the days of following Liverpool all over Europe with my trusty Season Ticket.  Now I have found a new Home.  I LOVE NETWORKING…4Networking to be precise.

I’ve been a member of 4N for 18 months or so now.  Attended nearly 200 meetings up and down the UK. (Here’s my profile!) For me getting 25+ businesses together in a room, sharing, collaborating and helping each other is an amazing feeling.  I don’t use Networking to sell my Business.  Yes it helps build my brand and I’m now known nationally in 4Networking, but I’ve found that because I’ve done everything myself for my Business, I have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can help others grow and be successful. I’m not an expert by any means, but I do know a lot of stuff that a lot of people probably don’t!

I do love a good cup of Coffee and a Cooked Breakfast. So give me a shout if you wanna meet up for a chat about anything. I’m a serial networker, I do at least 2/3 meetings a week and I love chatting Business.

So that’s me, the first of many blogs!  Catch ya soon.

7 Tips For Being An Awesome Bartender

As you may know, I’ve been a Bartender for some 20 years now…

I have dedicated my life to it. A few weeks ago, I read somewhere that the industry average is just 30 months…2 and a half years!!  Wow.  But do you know what, I get it. I do. There’s a massive combination of factors contribute to people jacking it in after such a short period of time.  The biggest one, being the unsociable hours and that can put a huge strain on family life.

The other excuse I hear quite often, is money. Well yeah, being an employee will never make you a millionaire. But the same can be said for a whole host of other careers. So I won’t take that one.

My theory is that it actually takes a rare breed to make it behind the stick.  Whenever I have to fill in a form to say which sector I personally fall in, I always put Skilled.  (There is never a perfect fit for Catering).  This gets greeted with all kinds of laughs and derogatory comments. Even this weekend, on 2 separate occasions I was on the receiving end of “So what do you do through the week?” As in, a Bartender is just a part time weekend gig! This used to rile me up, but now I just laugh at them. The way I look at it, I can retrain to do what you’re doing…but to do what I’m doing, yeah 97% of you just couldn’t cut it.

So below are my 7 Big Tips for being an Awesome Bartender and making a career out of it…and getting paid pretty well for it!

Steve the Barman in action

 

1 – Personality

This is vital to being successful. If you don’t smile. If you huff and puff at 10:55pm when a group of 7 come in. If you don’t engage with the customer. If you just suck the life out of the customer when all they want to see is a smile and a friendly face. Then you might as well jack it in now.

Enjoy what you do. Take pride in what you do. Put guests needs before your own.   You can’t learn this. Either you have a personality, or you don’t. This is the biggest crucial factor in a Bartending Career.

 

2 – Looking the Part

No one wants a scruffy Bartender.  Good grooming is essential.  Doesn’t matter what your look is, but you need to have ‘a look’.  Mine now has developed into my Brand. I’m known for my collection of colourful shirts. Not quite Hawaiian, but loud none the less.

Other essentials are washing your hair, having a shave unless your look is the beard…there is a difference between unshaven and rugged though. Washing your hands and cut your nails! And a decent aftershave. No one wants to be served by a sweaty, smelly mess with dirty finger nails.

 

3 – A Great Memory

This is something you can learn. It can develop over time, however speaking to a lot of the old timers, its something we’ve always been good at, right from the early days. The pros, can serve 2 different rounds at the same time. We can spot the regular guest and make their drink while serving someone else so they feel special. But also, more importantly know the prices so you don’t spend 5 minutes at the till. Think about want your customers want; swift, friendly service!

 

4 – Good Knowledge

A customer comes up to the Bar and asks; “What’s that? What does that taste like? What would you mix that with?” You can go from hero to zero in seconds if you fluff your lines here. Know your products. Have suggestions for new drinks. And know what you stock! The amount of Bartenders I meet, that haven’t got the foggiest what they actually stock. Also keep up to date with trade websites and reading magazines, always be keen to learn.

 

5 – Speed

It takes 5 minutes to pour a Gin and Tonic, a Pint and “sorry, what was the last drink?!” Seriously…A Bartenders sole remit is to make the guest feel happy and comfortable and give them a drink as quick as you can! Develop methods and routines. If a customer is trying to find that elusive £20 note to pay for their drink, instead of being all huffy, turn to the next person and get their order. Instead of waiting for another a Bartender to finish with the Peroni Tap, go off and make the Vodka & Tonic.  Speed is king.

 

6 – Good Mental Arithmetic

So, its a busy shift what if the boss says you must ring everything through the till. You’ve got 3 bartenders fighting over one till! What are you gonna do?! Simple, do your maths. Know your prices add it up in your head. As long as the money goes in the till, who cares if it goes in then, or 5 minutes later. Again your first priority is the customer, not making sure that Long Island Iced Tea gets logged at 9:37pm.

 

7 – Being Unique

If you truly want a career in Bartending, you need to bring something else to the party. You need to find your identity and what makes you tick. Mines always been about the party and about the fun.  Now I’ve added to that with my shirts. You obviously need the skills otherwise you’re going nowhere, but having that uniqueness, it just sets you apart.

 

 

Steve the Barman owns and runs Thirst First Ltd, a Mobile Cocktail Bar company that provides the WOW effect for your events. If you have an event coming up, Business or Pleasure, give us a shout and we’ll do our damnedest to help out. Check out; thirstfirst.co.uk

 

 

Keeping Barman Appy (Part 2)

Continuing on from last week, I just wanted to share the rest of the Apps that help me each and every day to run my business; Thirst First Mobile Cocktail Bars.

Apps to me are vital.  Without them, working on the move like I do would be impossible.  Last time I mentioned things like Outlook 365, Xero, Tiny Scan, IFTTT and the awesome Task Task. Have a read here; Keeping Barman Appy (Part 1). In Part 2 I’m going  to share another 7 Apps that I love.

PayPal Here Contactless

Dropbox

I must of admit, I was a late converter to Dropbox.  Because of O365 I used One Drive for Business.  However I found the “For Business” App annoying lacking in functionality.  The normal One Drive is great, but the one that comes as part of the O365 family doesn’t do the job.

Dropbox on the other hand gives me 1TB of storage.  Yes a lot of other cloud storage does too, but Dropbox advantage is that it links seamlessly into everything I use. My iPhone, O365, Outlook on my iPhone and even Tinyscan for my receipts. Its the definite winning platform in my books!

 

LinkedIn

Not the desktop site, but the App!  As a business person I am getting loads of value out of LinkedIn.  Much more than Facebook, but the 2 are completely different.  LinkedIn is all about staying in touch and if used right, i.e.. actually talking to people and not just connecting, so much can happen.  Plus there’s also Connected, Slideshare and Pulse…other LinkedIn apps that keep you in touch with what’s going on.  The best bit for me, is that if you add a new contact to your address book, the next time you open the LinkedIn app it’ll match that person and ask you if you want to connect.  Brilliant!!  Just remember to send them a message when connecting and not just randomly click the connect button. Introduce yourself and be friendly!

 

PayPal Here

This has revolutionised the way I can take money at events.  Its brilliant for any small shops, market stalls, pop ups, mobile food vans, authors and public speakers who have events they’re promoting, etc etc.  A £50 investment in a Contactless Card Reader and a quick download of the app and you’re away!! Yes the fee’s are slightly higher than a proper PDQ machine, however you don’t have the line rental or monthly fees.  I can take anywhere between £200-£1000 on this a month…at this level its cheaper for me to go down this route.

The advantage of PayPal Here over Payleven, iZettle, Worldpay etc is that funds are transferred instantly! Not 3 days later like the rest, but the very second after payment is taken which is brilliant for the cash flow of a small business like mine.  Charges are also taken instantly, so no monthly bills to factor in.

The other cool feature is that if you download PayPal Here on an iPad and you’ve got a fully functional EPOS till system…for FREE.

 

Crowdfire & Publish

2 great Apps for tracking Twitter and Insta interactions.  Crowdfire shows you who’s followed/unfollowed. People who are inactive. It gives you your competitors Stats. It can show any Tweets that have been posted nearby. It has the ability to copy your friends/competitors followers.  Its also available on the desktop too.  Its enabled me to really trim the people I follow to genuine people with interesting stuff to say!

Publish, developed by the same dudes, is for scheduling Tweets and Insta Posts. You can let it publish at recommended times, or set the times yourself. For me, its the best thing I’ve found for the iPhone!

 

FrameMagic – Picture editing app

 

 

FrameMagic

This is all down to personal taste, but for me, FrameMagic is hands down THE BEST app I’ve found for Picture creation for Social Media.  There’s loads of Frames to chose from. Every little detail of the pic can be edited, including background colours, frame sizes, grid layouts. It also has the ability to overlay your logo which is Ace.  But, even better than that, if like me, you use custom Fonts, you can upload them to the App so the Text matches your brand on every platform! In my opinion, its way better and easier to use than Canva et al.

 

iMovie

Apples native Video Editor. It does everything you’ll ever need and unless you’re a real pro, negates the need to spend £80/£250/£1000 on Video Editing software!  Adding effects. Cropping. Stitching 2 or 20 videos together to upload as 1 video. Overlaying Logos. Adding Text. Adding music.  Choosing the Ratio and finished size of film. In fact, for little old me, there is nothing that I can’t do with it.

 

So that’s me done.  I hoped that’s helped in some small way?! Of course, there are other Apps that I LOVE.  Even things like Spotify which helps me with my focus during the day.  All the Facebook Apps are Vital. Twitter. Kindle for Bed time reading.  Tom Tom which takes me directly to someone’s front door (its take me wrong 3 times in 3 years) and because its downloaded to your phone, you never need to worry about data, or a phone signal!  Apple’s Passbook is brilliant for Apple Pay and my Starbucks card!

There are also some apps that EVERYBODY I know uses that I just don’t really have the need for or that over complicates matters.  ToDoist is great, but not necessary for me. The same with Evernote.  At the end of the day, its about what can help you and make your life easier.

If you have other Apps that I’ve not mentioned that you think I’d like, please do mention them below. Sharing is caring…

Until the next time
StB x

 

Steve the Barman owns and runs Thirst First Ltd, a Mobile Cocktail Bar company that provides the WOW effect for your events. If you have an event coming up, Business or Pleasure, give us a shout and we’ll do our damnedest to help out. Check out; thirstfirst.co.uk

 

Keeping Barman Appy (Part 1)

First things first. I’m not a geek. I don’t do gadgets for the sake of it. But I do love a bit of cool tech that is useful to me and makes my life easier.

This Blog Post is about the Apps/Software that make my Working life so easy.  I’ve broken it into 2 parts. 

I’m a Windows user, I have a Win 7 lappy, a Win 8 Tablet…but I also have an iPhone 6+ which, if you are in Business…is THE coolest, most productive phone you could ever own. I have them all talking to each other seamlessly. Which means, no matter where I am, or what gadget I have with me, I always have my “office” close to hand.  Whether that’s today while I’m typing this in Starbucks, or like yesterday while I was at home catching up with X Factor and Casualty!

 

Office 365 (Windows)

My whole business is run from O365. Everything! Emails, Calendar, Events, Meetings, Tasks, To Do Lists, Contacts etc etc are managed in Outlook.  All my design work is done in Publisher, which I LOVE.  I’ve been using that since the old days in 2003..if not earlier!  I also do use Excel and Word a little bit, but Outlook and Publisher I couldn’t live without.

Hot tip for Outlook.  If you find yourself typing the same types of emails over and over again, save the text as AutoText.  I have 17 different ones set up…inc 3 different signatures. Yes there’s a separate Signature option, but Autotext is way quicker!!  My Email writing time has been cut by probably 4/5 hours per week. Maybe more! Even from when I was Cut and Pasting from a previous email/word doc.  Thank you to Liz Dolman from Double Click Training for this hot tip.

 

Outlook (iPhone)

I love my iPhone 6+. I don’t like Android and Windows phones are behind the times app wise still. So my emails were okay while on the move using Apples native Mail app, but they still lacked in the attachment department. Then I found Outlook for the iPhone probably about a year ago. It syncs perfectly with O365. But the best it is being able to attach Dropbox/One Drive files so easily. I can send quotes, Cocktail Lists etc etc while on the move, even during an event! Being quick off the mark gives me such an advantage.  Outlook for iPhone is a million miles better than Apples Mail app in my opinion. Give it a go for 2 weeks…see how you get on. It is different to manage, but once you’ve mastered it, you’ll love it I’m sure.

 

TaskTask (iPhone)

For such a long time, Outlook Tasks caused me such a headache. Something so useful on Windows, was a real nightmare on the iPhone…or just being on the move! The native Reminders app, quite frankly is a pile of pooh. There was nothing that synced with Outlook. I didn’t want to migrate everything from Microsoft to Google…as I just don’t like Google Docs/Calender etc.  I did play about with ToDoist for a bit…but it just creates a load of extra unnecessary work. I even tried using Evernote as a Task List and Event Note taker. That works for a bit, but no where near as good as Outlook and again creates extra work.  Outlook Tasks ROCK.

Then came along my saviour. TaskTask. Every little tiny detail from Outlook Tasks (even the flags, categories (and colours!), reminder times, work completed and importance level) sync perfectly.  As in absolutely perfectly. Every single little note about an event or enquiry is to hand, no matter where I am – without creating any extra work at all. No flicking between Evernote and Outlook emails, its all right there. TaskTask is my favvy app for work on my iPhone.

TaskTaskApp

 

Xero (Windows & iPhone)

Xero has completely transformed my business. I can see my P&L instantly. I can see where I need to cut costs or how much I’ve spent on Coffee in a given month.  It’s also enabled me to go 100% Paperless.  As all my invoices and receipts are sent and stored in the cloud. (more about that in the next app).  and my PayPal Card Reader also syncs. Yes there is Sage and numerous other bookkeeping software, but they are nothing like Xero. Nothing! Even my Epos all links in.  So many other business programs link in to Xero too.

For more info; contact Nikki Butlin at Athena Business Services. She’ll have you looked up in no time.

 

TinyScan Pro

I use Tinyscan everyday! It takes a piccy of receipts and invoices and saves them as PDFs before automatically syncing them to a Dropbox folder, or emailed directly into Xero awaiting reconciliation.  Yes there’s Receipt Bank that does the same job (ish) but from my experience you still have to reconcile transactions and wait 2/3 days for receipts to be processed. Plus there’s a subscription fee based on usage…my level would be circa £20 a month).  TinyScan Pro for a one off £3.99 eliminates all that faff. Take a pic of a receipt, 5 seconds later you can reconcile the transaction in Xero and bin the receipt! Job Done.

 

IFTTT

I mentioned IFTTT two blog’s ago. In truth, I’m still learning all its capabilities for new recipes, but the amazing thing for me at the moment is to have all my Email Notifications turned off, but so I don’t miss a new enquiry, IFTTT texts me the moment an enquiry form drops into my Outlook inbox, so even during an event…if I get 5 mins…I can send a quote with attachments from Outlook on my Phone! (I don’t even have to type the quote out, as I have a standard Autotext options set up on the iPhone).  Other uses for IFTTT have been Emailing Tweets I’ve favourited to myself to remind me of things. There are literally 1000s of useful productive things that IFTTT can do.  It links to every major Platform/App/Service you could think of!

 

That’s enough for Part 1, I’ll have Part 2 with you by the end of the week with even more cool Apps that I use on a daily basis.

 

What IFTTT recipes do you use?! Do you have any recipes that could help my readers in their daily lives?  Please comment below to share the love.

Wrapping up the Limes

Helloooo there! Replacing the Cocktail Recipe on Friday for the next few weeks is just a ‘normal’ blog.

In my last Blog, I said that after reading Dee Blick’s Marketing book, I was going to concentrate on a few things.  One of those things is Email Marketing and I’m booked into a course where I can learn more about it, courtesy of the lovely ladies at Smart Messenger. I’m hoping to pick up loads of hints and tricks to really get those Cocktail Recipes and my Mailshots rocking.  So in the meantime, I’m just going to bore you with my random musings.

I thought as it’s Friday, I’d share a another funny.  Another Barman wind up!  Although this one is not exclusive to me – I’ve heard this go down many a time – I certainly do enjoy dishing it out.

Spending the bulk of my working career around Cocktails and Spirits, you can imagine that I’ve always used a lot of fresh fruit.  At the moment at Thirsty get through a good box of Limes and punnet’s and punnet’s of Raspberries and Strawberries each week.  Well what happens to all the left overs at the end of the night?  You know, you can never wedge up exactly the right number of Limes can you? So what happens with the leftovers?  Well we can’t waste them…can we?! 😉

I’ve only managed…or even thought to pull this off a couple of times, but it does provide many hours of ridicule after the event. This only really works in the first few shifts of a newbies career behind the stick. You have to get in there quick otherwise you lose the opportunity…

Wrapping up the Limes…

So…

The end of the night comes around and you have plenty of Lime Wedges left over that will naturally just go in the Bin. Well no, not tonight they don’t. Arm your newbie with a nice roll of Cling Film and get them to individually wrap each Lime Wedge to preserve it for use the next shift. “They have to be individually wrapped because if you just cover them in a bowl, the air will get to them and turn them brown”. You can amuse yourself for at least 20 minutes!

For extra value…make sure the Newbie is on the following morning, so they have the pleasure of unwrapping teach Lime Wedge…right before you bin them and get them to chop up fresh limes…

Cruel, but oh so funny!

 

Steve the Barman owns and runs Thirst First Ltd, a Mobile Cocktail Bar company that provides the WOW effect for your events. If you have an event coming up, Business or Pleasure, give us a shout and we’ll do our damnedest to help out. Check out; thirstfirst.co.uk

 

 

Marketing, IFTTT and Refocusing

I won’t lie, August was a great month for me.  I decided back in early July, that August was going to be the month I stepped back a little to take time out and relax. To kind of refocus on a few things.  Business has been going great for me in 2015. Turnover on the previous year has already doubled, yet I found I was still coasting along.  I’d lost direction and a little enthusiasm to be creative and grow Thirst First even more.

So after Bradcamp in Norfolk…

the first thing I decided was to hand over the Cambridgeshire 4N Area Leader role to someone new.  I’d felt that I’d accomplished all I could do for a while, Cambs is absolutely Buzzing and it was time for a new challenge.  But also this would free up a huge amount of time to refocus on my Business.

The second thing I decided was that I was going to have my first Holiday in over 3 years!! Actually getting on a plane and jetting off somewhere!  Even if you’d asked me 4 months ago, I still thought that wouldn’t be achievable this year.

And the third thing was that I was going to use August to plan an Autumn assault ready for my new financial year on the 1st November.

You see, when you’re just coasting along and you’re on your own in the business, you don’t often get a chance to refocus and plan the next stages.  You just continue to do what you’ve been doing successfully for the last 6 months!

Along with the 4N Area Leadership, I also wanted to take a “Sabbatical” from meetings too. 5 weeks out completely. Well, I didn’t do too badly, I only attended 2 meetings.  Come on, its 4N. Its 50% social after all. Its not just about Business, a lot of these guys are my friends too. Going a month without seeing them would be hard!

Roll forward to the 1st of September and what have I achieved?

Well, quite a lot actually.  I have so many plans and so many changes to make. So many adjustments and lots of new things to concentrate on.  The majority of this is down to Dee Blick of The Marketing Gym. I must confess that I’ve still not properly read her 15 Essential Marketing Masterclasses book yet, however I downloaded The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Book on my Kindle App and read the whole thing Cover to Cover in 4 days…and made soooooooo many notes!  This book is brilliant to get you firing again.

The second thing I achieved which is coupled to above, is to achieve a new Working day Focus regime. Inspired by Richard Eaton’s Blog about going offline while on holiday, I wanted to achieve something similar.  I wanted to create habits where I was not constantly going to grab my phone, or respond to emails.  This was going to be a massive ask as after all, it is just me in my Biz.  I can’t afford to ignore enquiries for a whole week. However, I did mange to go 95% off comm’s quite easily actually…and after being back for 3 days, I’m still in the same mindset.

Firstly, I have turned off ALL the notifications off my phone except for Calls and Texts. Everything! Not even leaving the Badge App Icons on to show how many notifications I have on Facebook.  I even turned off my Email Notifications…and they are staying off too!  I will now being responding to emails in the evenings only.  But this is where the cool new tech comes in that allowed me to stay online for 5% of the time.

During a 4Sight at Ely 4N (that I wasn’t supposed to be at), Mark Noel mentioned a service called IFTTT (If This, Then That). I’d heard of it before, but never explored the possibilities. Well, I have to say its completely changed my world.  As I mentioned, I can’t afford to leave enquiries, I’m in a competitive market and I need to be first off the mark as much as I can.

What I managed to set up with IFTTT is amazing.  I now have it forwarding Enquiries via my various Webforms from my Outlook Email Inbox, to me as an SMS Text.  This lets me see Enquiries immediately, without seeing and being tempted by the 30-40 other emails all vying for my attention in my Inbox.

The other cool bit, is that I have auto-text saved on my iPhone, so I can send a quote out immediately and even attach PDFs in a matter of minutes. While I was away in Italy, this actually got me 2 bookings for 2016…and I still had no idea of the other emails in my inbox until I returned home.

IFTTT has so many other possibilities too with a shed load of platforms. Check it out for yourself.

 

So now instead of just aimlessly sitting down at my desk every morning at 7am I have a whole new regime.

On non 4N days, my Alarm is now set for 7am and I’m straight up and out for a Walk. Then I’ll have brekkie and try to do something that Ian Dickson is always banging on about. Eating That Frog for Breakfast.  For me, its my Follow Ups after enquiries, they take me so much time and i never look forward to them.  So now I have them all done by 10am, which now leaves me the rest of the day to concentrate on Dee Blick’s Marketing Regime…

I have my Outlook calender fully scheduled for the next 8 weeks. I have created 27 new Marketing tasks to achieve in those 8 weeks.  I really want to build the corporate side of Thirst First Mobile Cocktail Bars. I’m adamant now that I don’t want to build biz where we’re taking 2/3 events on Saturday. That’s not what I’m about. I want to use my spare capacity through the week for now. That’s what I’m concentrating on. Dee Blicks book is going to help me massively with this.

If you own your own business and you want to grow, I really strongly urge you to go out and buy it, download it and have a good read…and have a Notepad or Evernote ready!  Its given me so much new inspiration.

 

 

 

Mojito

How to make a Mojito…StBs Way!

First off, lets clear a few things up.  It’s pronounced Mo-Hee-Toe…not Mo-Gee-Toe!!!  Now that we’ve got that out the way, lets crack on with the recipe and how you can make it for yourself.

A plethora of Mojito’s lined up ready to roll.

A Mojito is one of my favvy Summer drinks.  Its my go to instead of the Pimms and Lemonade for your summer BBQs.  It’s sooooooo simple to make and soooooo tasty, it makes me wonder why so much Pimms is actually sold during the Summer!

The key to any good Mojito…like any other Cocktail out there…is the ingredients. Get the best Rum you can afford without going over the top.  For example, Havana 3yo for £19 a bottle will make an infinitely better tasting drink than a £14 bottle of Bacardi. However, there is no need to invest £40 in a bottle of El Dorado 12yo…thats a sipper!!

Also, instead of nipping off to your local supermarket to get Turkish Mint and Limes from China, hunt out your local Fruit and Veg shop.  Not only is it cheaper, but the quality and freshness is amazing! Thirst First Mobile Cocktail Bars spends about £30 a week with our local Fruit and Veg Lady. Out of interest, I did the exact same shop online with my Supermarket, it came out at £79.  The mint alone which cost me £5 with my Greengrocer, cost me £23 online! The mint I know was cut fresh the day before, the mint online probably a week old at least and will have lost most of its aroma. #TrueStory What an advert to #ShopLocal!

Anyway’s, here’s what you’ll need;

50ml Light or Gold Rum
1 big fat vivid green, juicy Lime
15ml Sugar Syrup
12 fresh and aromatic Mint Leaves
75ml Sparkling Water
Cubed Ice

Yeah Cubed Ice!! I said it. Cue the wrath of Bartenders UK Wide. Well not all of them, but there is a massive movement towards Crushed Ice in the UK. Again, there is no right or wrong, just your own way! I like to be authentic (ish) so I use Cubed Ice. Simple as that really.

So how do you make it;

Roll the Lime to release the Juices, then cut into 6 wedges.
Squeeze 3/4 of them into a Glass. You need about 25ml of juice, which is about a little fingers worth.
Pour in 15ml of Sugar Syrup/Gomme which can be found in the booze aisle of most supermarkets for about £4. (15ml is about a Capful)
Pour in 50ml of your Rum. I use Brugal Anejo, but if Supermarket shopping…Havana 3yo all the way
Take 12 decent Mint leaves in the palm of your hand, then smack them once and drop them into the glass.
Pour in your Sparkling Water
Plonk some Ice in till the drink is 2/3 way up the glass
Stir the drink to bring the Limes to the top
Top up with more Ice
et Viola!!

Again another common myth from the younger generation of Bartenders. There is no need to bash the crap out of the Mint by Muddling it! A simple smack between the palm of the hands releases all the aroma’s and flavour you’ll need!

Pimping it up;

Now you can have some real fun with Mojito’s. Here’s how you get known as the Daddy by all your mates…

By adding 5 Raspberries at the same time as the Limes and gently muddling, you have an Amazing Raspberry Mojito.

How about the pulp of 1 fresh Passion Fruit for a Passion Fruit Mojito?

How about swapping the Sugar Syrup for Vanilla Syrup (found in the Coffee Aisle) and adding some Blueberry’s for a stonking Blueberry & Vanilla Mojito.

Blackberries, Strawberries, Kiwi Fruit, Lychee Juice, Apple Juice.  Swapping the Sparkling Water for Prosecco. Swapping the Light Rum for Coconut Rum. The list is literally endless and only hampered by your own imagination!

Competition;

Don’t forget about my Competition from last week. To win a Thirsty Cocktail Kit…
click Here and scroll to the bottom!!

 

Pizza Gate

How do you cook this Pizza?!

I spent a few years working in Student Bars in Cambridge Uni (the proper one!). They’re a clever old bunch. We’re talking A* at A-Levels, as opposed to Bs &Cs. As well as serving drinks, part of my job role was to also teach these kids important Life Skills. You know, Please and Thank you, Putting money in your hand as opposed to leaving it on the Bar. That kind of thing…

As well as being a pretty awesome Bartender, I’m also kinda useful in the Kitchen. My Cheesy Beans on Toast is a culinary masterpiece. So one day when a budding Junior Doctor…the ones who save lives…phoned the Bar asking for Cookery instructions, of course I was only too willing to help him out.

“StB, I got this fresh Pizza from Sainsburys, how do I cook it?”

A doctor remember…

“Well mate, just follow the instructions on the pack. Preheat the oven, then remove all the wrapping and pop it in the oven. About 180 degrees should be okay for 10-12 minutes.”

The lad couldn’t mess this up…

How wrong?! 15 mins later, the phone rings again. Fire Alarms going off in the background and a panicked doctor on the other end…

“what’s up mate?!”
“the Pizza caught fire, there’s smoke everywhere!!”
“What do you mean the Pizza caught fire?! You’ve only been at it for 10 mins or so!! Did you remove all the wrapping?”
“yeah, of course I did. I ain’t stupid”
“So what could catch fire then?!”
“It looks like the white plastic base has melted all over the oven!!”

Wow. That’s the future of the NHS folks. I won’t tell you which hospital he’s now at. I’m just thankful it isn’t Addenbrookes!

National Rum Day – 16th August

So there was an ulterior motive with my Rum Punch recipe I shared on Friday (admittedly with some tedious email issues…oooops).   Yes folks, today, Sunday 16th August is National Rum Day!!!  One of my favvy days of the year…after St Pirans Day obviously.

Today is all about celebrating the one drink that stands head and shoulders above all else in the party stakes.  Love it or hate it, its the only drink that is synonymous with fun!!  It is so diverse that for those that say “I don’t like Rum” simply means they haven’t found their way to enjoy it yet.

Go on…Celebrate National Rum Day

 

I love it all ways.  Neat, as a Mai Tai, as a Dark and Stormy, as a Mojito, as a Daiquiri…and as a Rum Punch!!

So make this afternoon a fun afternoon and crack on with your favourite recipe.

To help you on your way, here are a few simple ideas that you can quickly and easily knock up at home!

 

Rum Punch

See my recipe here

 

Mojito

• 50ml Rum of choice (Brugal or Havana 3yo for example)
• Half a fresh Lime cut into Wedges
• 15ml Sugar Syrup
• 12 Mint Leaves
• Sparkling Water

Watch my Mojito Video here

Dark and Stormy

• 50ml Rum (anything goes from Lambs to Kraken Spiced Rum!!)
• 2 Lime Wedges
• Old Jamaica Ginger Beer (its the Best for this by a mile!)
• Angostura Bitters

Use a tall glass, add the Ingredients over plenty of Ice

 

Daiquiri

• 50ml Light Rum (Brugal or Havana 3yo for example)
• 25ml fresh Lime Juice (juice of 1 lime)
• 15ml Sugar Syrup
• 15ml Chilled Water

Shake all the ingredients and double strain into a Martini Glass
You can even add fresh fruit like Strawberry to the mix

 

Cuba Libre

• 50ml Rum (The whole point is Cuban Rum like Bacardi…but don’t be shy to use Havana 3yo/Brugal
• 2 Lime Wedges
• Coke

Use a Tall glass, add the ingredients over plenty of Ice

 

Pina Colada

• 25ml Light Rum
• 25ml Malibu
• 2 Lime Wedges
• 50ml Pineapple juice
• 50ml Coconut Cream

Combine all of the ingredients into a shaker with Ice and shake the hell out of it for 12 seconds!

Dark and Stormy

 

There you go folks. There’s 6 very simple Rum Cocktails you can get your lips around today! There are plenty of others too. This list could be endless.

Have a great National Rum Day.  I’ll see you on the other side…

Rum Punch

So here it is, my first proper weekly Cocktail Recipe, direct to your inbox!!  I’m gonna start rolling these out Every Friday with the specific intention of making them easy enough for you to understand and make at home. And for you to be able to source all the ingredients at the same time as your weekly shop from your local Supermarket. No more need to default to the Pimms and Lemonade for your Saturday afternoon BBQs!

The Rum Punch is the ultimate Party Drink. And one of my favourites as I love all things Tiki. Kind of fits with my personality and shirt collection! Tropical, Sweet, Colourful and instantly puts a smile on your face.

At a young Bartending age, I was taught this very simple Formula that you can use to make any kind of Punch! Whether that’s Rum, Vodka, Brandy or Whiskey!

Its the 1, 2, 3, 4 Rule

If you break your Cocktail up into 10 parts, you can follow the simple formula and I guarantee you can make an amazing Punch every time…whether that’s individual punches, in a jug, or in a giant fish bowl to create that central masterpiece at your next party. But how does it work?

• 1, is 1 part Sour. So Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit etc
• 2, is 2 parts Sweet. Mainly your Sugar Syrups in the booze aisle (Grenadine, Sugar) or syrups like Vanilla, Almond/Orgeat, Caramel in the Coffee aisle. Or even posh cordials like Elderflower and Ginger in the drinks aisle.
• 3, is 3 parts Strong. Your Rums, Vodka’s etc
• 4. is 4 parts Weak. Juices, Lemonade, Ginger Beer etc

You also have what I call ‘Crossover’ Spirits…Liqueurs. Supermarkets now sell fruity liqueurs like Strawberry, Raspberry, Cassis…heck even Peach, Banana & Lychee these days! Plus there’s liqueurs Llike Passoa, Midori, Tia Maria, Archers etc. They’re not as strong (about 15-25% abv).  So you could in fact use 2 parts Rum and 1 part Banana!

Now you’ve got the inside track, here’s my tried and tested Rum Punch Recipe…

StBs Rum Punch!

Steve the Barman’s Rum Punch

 

3x nice and juicy Lime Wedges
15ml Grenadine
15ml Orgeat Syrup
50ml Kraken Black Spiced Rum
25ml Strawberry Liqueur
50ml Tropicana Orange Juice
50ml Tropicana Pineapple Juice

Just a side note to this, firstly on Thirsty’s Bars, I use Old J Spiced Rum. I love it.  It’s the old Sailor Jerry we all use to love back in 2009 before they changed the recipe. And as for the Juices, I use a Brand called Eager. The important thing to take away is, don’t compromise! I purposely listed Tropicana as they are the best 100% pressed and squeezed juices you can get from a supermarket. DON’T SKIMP. Don’t go down the Concentrate Juice route as most Bars would do, just to save a few pennies. You have to appreciate, if you want to drink something, you want it to taste as good as it can do. So spend that extra 50p/£1 on real juice. I promise you, you will taste the difference.

So there you have it.  Thats my own personal recipe. But the combinations are endless. Just follow that 1,2,3,4 formula and get cracking!

 

Tell you what I’ll also do.  There’s a FREE Cocktail Kit up for Grabs!

To win, upload a piccy of yourself enjoying your own Punch creation, to either Facebook or Twitter and use the Hashtag #StBRumPunch. You have until 8pm on August 31st, 2015.

Win our very own Cocktail Kit

 

 

 

 

 

Can a Cocktail Recipe be wrong?!

A few weeks ago, I published my recipe for MY version of the Porn Star Martini.  Its a tried and tested recipe that I’ve used for the last 3 years, simply because you guys love it.  As in Absolutely LOVE it.

Steve the Barman’s Porn Star Martini

However it drew some amusing comments from other bartenders and bars about how it wasn’t the proper recipe…

Now granted, its not exactly the same recipe that legend Douglas Ankrah created way back in 2002. However when you read his recipe, it is in essence just a Vanilla and Passion Fruit Martini served with a shot of Prosecco. When you look at my recipe, my take on the Porn Star Martini is again, a Vanilla and Passion Fruit Martini…and in actual fact, not wildly different at all.

So this begs the question;
Can a Cocktail Recipe be wrong?

As most of you reading this know, I’ve been behind the Bar for 20 years now.  I’d say that’s a shed load of experience.

But am I the best Bartender out there? Am I the Authority on Cocktails?
No.

I can’t claim to be, as I never really got involved in Cocktail Competitions during my youth. Nor do I wish to be. I never had the ego to want to be the best.  Instead, I chose a different route. I dedicated my career to making the tastiest drinks I could possibly make, that my type of customers would actually order and want to drink….not just once to try it, but over, and over….and over again!

You see in Bartending, there is no right or wrong recipe. There is no one individual or organisation who can say that’s right or wrong.  Take the humble Sex on the Beach for example. A quick Google search results in 3 equally as tasty recipes, all from 3 leading UK Bar Chains. Which one of them has the correct recipe?  And is the correct recipe tastier than the other 2?  Also the amazing Espresso Martini has a different recipe in every bar you walk in to. The ONLY people that can judge that, are the actual customers buying the drinks.

The same can be said the same about Cooking. When researching this Blog post, in 2 minutes I found 6 different Roast Chicken recipes and 3 different Lasagne recipes. Which one of those is correct?!

Over my 20 years or Bartending…16 of which have been out and out Cocktails…I’ve recreated a lot of popular Recipes and put my own twist on them, using the ingredients I could easily get from my Suppliers.

Over the last 2 years though, I’ve discovered a new passion, a new USP.  I love to share recipes that you guys can make at home, by using ingredients that are readily available from your local Supermarket.

And while Thirst First’s Cocktail menu for Events is a tad different…there’s lots of weird and wonderful using some really cool brands…Steve the Barman’s personal Menu is all about the Supermarkets, simply because you guys don’t have access to a hell of a lot of products that us pros do.  I want you guys to be able to go away and make tasty drinks for yourselves. I want you guys to have more imagination than just defaulting to Pimms and Lemonade at your Saturday Afternoon BBQs. By taking great Cocktails and flipping up the recipes to make them more accessible to you guys, well, there’s nothing wrong with that…is there?!

Starting this Friday (14th August), I will be sharing amazing recipes each week, that you guys can make for yourselves at home.  Everything from very simple serves, right through to the more in-depth Cocktails. However, they will always have the common theme and will use ingredients that you can purchase from the big 3… Tesco’s, Sainsburys and Waitrose.

 

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