Category: bar hacks
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Bar Hack: Clarified Peach Calpico
Peaches are coming in strong and will do so for a couple of months. Let’s make clarified peach calpico with them. Props where props are due. I’m pretty sure the original version of this came from the great Nico de Soto. He provided it for all via the instas about a year back and Angel…
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First Crack at Creme de Noyaux
Get it? First crack? Anyway. Many others have attempted. I never have. For whatever reason maybe I thought it was too much of a pain in the ass. But hey, 2023 is the year of Noyaux and I hit it out of the park on the first try. For those who are oblivious to the…
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Bar Hack: Raspberry Hibiscus Syrup
Hey Ma look! That’s my old, gnarled hand! It’s a dated picture of The Right Decision, one of our staple drinks I somehow came up with on my own. In the picture you can see that’s how we used to rim the glass, so you could have an unaltered, non salty sip if you so…
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Bar Hack: Leche de Tigre
Want to infuse some life into your…Uh…Life? Ok, maybe you don’t. Maybe you want to do it for your drinks though…This ingredient is featured in one of our recent seasonal cocktails, Tooger’s Revenge, which is gaining some steam…We had a guest in last night who told us, “I normally drink wine, but I’d love to…
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Bar Hack: Green Almond Sour “Amazake” Orgeat
The word of the day today is frabjous (pronounced frab-jess) and it means delightful or joyous. If you use this in a sentence today, no one will know what the hell you’re talking about, which could be frabjous, depending on your personality. Green Almond Sour “Amazake” Orgeat 2 cups sliced green almonds 1 cup koji…
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Yeah, I Like Tea
The old adage goes like this; Don’t sit down and order tea at the bar. Any bar. On my side, behind the bar, it’s ok though becasue tea is stellar in cocktails. All you have to be mindful of is the tannins. So, black teas like Earl grey, etc. if misused will sometimes will impart…
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When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Strawberry Campari
Sometimes the old tricks are the best ones, that’s why they’re old. They’ve been around the block. They’re tried and true. Call ’em all the names you want, but they last because they still work despite how decrepit they are. Hey, kind of like me. One of the big ones on the block is the…
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Bar Hack: Berry Syrup
A lot of these guys out here make their berry syrups by cooking them in a pot or putting simple syrup and berries in a vacuum sealed bag and sous viding the whole thing at yada yada temp for yada yada amount of hours. Sorry, no time for that shit. Plus, I’ve got to say…
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Bar Hack: Bomb Strawberry Clarified Milk Punch
Clarified milk punch is to bartenders what pork fat used to be to cooks. Weak analogy. I’ll think of another. I haven’t had the correct dosage of coffee yet. The boy came in our room and woke us up at 3:00 a.m. Nightmares, who knows what else. A child’s nightmare soon becomes a parent’s nightmare.…
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Bar Hack: Mint Syrup
As a budding bar manager who detested muddling, I tried everything under the sun or at least as much as my feeble brain could muster–infusing the mint into the tequila, pureeing mint with simple syrup, etc. All the techniques I used produced a great result…For a day or so, and then everything went brown. Yeah.…
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Bar Hack: Spicy Phlegethon Bitters
Lo! Where would Southern California be without the spicy margarita? For those unaware, in other parts of the world, the spicy margarita is both king, queen, and jester here. Yes, it’s a bit basic but also delicious. Salt or no, it matters not. There’s a reason why the classics still have punching power this far…
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Bar Hack: Calpico and the Birth of Beelzebubba
You can’t deny the greats: The White Russian, Egg Nog, Mudslide, Ramos Gin Fizz, Brandy Alexander, oh and let’s not forget clarified milk punch. Yeah, dairy. What is it about dairy that keeps us coming back for more? Where would we be without it? A sad life without cheese and butter. A long list of…
The Aging Bartender 