Bartending
Blood Alcohol Content(BAC)
The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. It is measured in percentages. For example, a BAC of 0.10% means that a person has 1 part alcohol per 1000 parts blood in the body.
The average BAC statistics for a typical 150 pound man
Number of drinks | BAC | Effect |
---|---|---|
2 | 0.05 | release of inhibitions |
about 3 | 0.08 | DWI/DUI legal limit |
4 | 0.10 | loss of coordination, staggering, slurring speech |
8 | 0.20 | loss of emotional control |
12 | 0.30 | walking blackout or loss of consciousness as body tries to save itself |
14 | 0.35 | coma, minimum lethal level |
16+ | 0.40+ | death |
What is ONE Drink
- Beer: one 12 oz normal strength(4% alcohol) beer. Micro-brews and malt liquor have a higher percentage of alcohol.
- Liquor: 0.5 oz of pure alcohol.
- 1 oz of 50% alcohol or 1.5 oz 405 or 80 proof alcohol.
- A 1.5 oz shot of whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, or tequila equates to one drink.
- Wine: 5oz of standard wine; 3oz of fortified wine(more than 15% alcohol content, such as brandy, cognac and sherry)
Set-up of the Bar
- Back bar: holds top shelf items(name brands)
- Bottom Bar: holds sweet items(brandy, cordials, liqueurs, and before and after dinner wines, port, sherry, Dubonnet, etc)
- Beneath the bar: contains sinks for rinsing mixing tools, sinks for holding
ice, a dishwasher, drying stations, and a speed rack for "well" liquors.
- A speed rack: The most typical order of the speed rack is: Vodka, Gin, Rum, Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch, Tequila.
- stored on ice or in a refrigerator: white wine, Southern Comfort, baileys, and Jagermeister.
Pour Counts
- use a jigger or a shot glass to make sure the correct amount of alcohol is going into each drink
- use pour tops on the bottles, which control the flow of liquor from the bottle. ~1 oz in 1 second.
Garnishes
Create color contrast:
- RED drinks take GREEN garnish
- BLUE drinks take YELLOW garnish
- TONIC takes LIME
- SELTZER takes LEMON
Cutting Fruit Slice
- Cut off both ends of the fruit with a sharp knife.
- Cut the fruit in half
- Turn the fruit halve flat down and cut small slices.
Substitutions
- Orange flavor: Triple Sec, Blue Curacao, Cointreau, Grand Marnier
- Citron Vodka = Regular Vodka with a splash of Rose's Lime Juice
- Sweet Vermouth = a splash of marashino cherry juice
- Rose's Lime Juice = 4 wedges of lime and a packet of sugar
- Seltzer & Sugar(e.g. in a Mojito) = 7up
- Cream = 2% Milk = Soy Milk
Not Interchangeable
- Tonic Water != Club Soda/Seltzer: Tonic water is flavored with quinine. Neither Club Soda nor Seltzer have this flavor.
- Scotch Whiskey != any other Whiskey or Bourbon
How To Chill A Glass
- Place glass in refrigerator or freezer
- Crush enough ice for our needs
- Take the chilled glass and fill with crushed ice, or ice water
- Prepare the cocktail
- Holding stem of glass, shake downward to remove ice and water
- Strain cocktail into glass and serve
OR
- Coat te inside of a glass with water
- Dump the excess water
- Place the glass in the freezer util it frosts
- Remove frosted glass from freezer, fill and serve
How To Flame A Drink
- Warm glass before mixing drink
- Mix drink
- Float highest proof alcohol on top of drink
- Ignite using a long match
- Extinguish before drinking
OR
- Warm glass before mixing drink
- Mix drink
- Pour one tablespoon of highest proof liquor into shot glass
- Ignite with a long match
- Carefully pour flaming liquid into drink
- Extinguish and serve