The Aging Bartender

Cocktail Trends: 4.20.23

Happy 420! Light up a doob! I used to smoke a shit ton of weed in my youth but haven’t partaken in a really long time. I tried it a couple of times a year or so ago and all it did was make me super tired and groggy the next day like I took…

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  • Cocktail Trends: 4.20.23

    Happy 420! Light up a doob! I used to smoke a shit ton of weed in my youth but haven’t partaken in a really long time. I tried it a couple of times a year or so ago and all it did was make me super tired and groggy the next day like I took…

  • Notes on the Mezgroni

    “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” This quote has zero relevance to this post, I just wanted to say it. Mez is in, rum is out. With Don Ciccio e Figli’s Luna Aperitivo being discontinued (undistributed to the West Coast? No idea.) we’re going another route…

  • Notes on the Sidecar

    You can’t talk about a sidecar without first talking about a brandy crusta. I’ve never actually had one. I’ve heard of it, but never knew the specs until now. Again, it’s a cocktail with an impossible to find static recipe on the interwebs. Like the La Louisiane, each site I visited has something different and…

  • 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…

  • Requiem for the Fatty Crab

    I wear a stained t shirt that drives Jo crazy. It’s too small, there’s a giant oil blotch right in the middle, it only accentuates my ever growing dad bod. We have a rule now where I’m not allowed to wear anything stained or with a hole in it but this one remains. My old…

  • Facing Down the Banquet Hall Bar (A Wedding Rehearsal Survival Guide)

    Last night, faced with a dire cocktail situation, I drew a total fucking blank. Yes, I’m talking about the dreaded banquet hall bar. The people behind the scenes obviously didn’t read my post from a few months back, The Eight Bottle Bar. They went 7/8. Pretty close to my recommendations. But can you spot the…

  • The Lost City of Gratitude

    My first thoughts this morning turned to my previous post. A bit snarky, poking fun at people, and a part where I ranted a bit and seemed ungrateful for my lot in life. Well, I’m here to tell you, that’s not the case. Maybe I woke up feeling a bit sappy, the wind knocked out…

  • Insanity on Wednesday Night: 4.12.23

    The hits keep on coming. Fellow bartender, @ordonorulez dm’ed me this morning, saying “No more feces touch for you!” Yeah, I guess not. We had a guest chef sort of thing last night…Ish. Abra Berens from Granor Farm in Three Oaks, MI. She just came out with a new cookbook, Pulp: A Practical Guide to…

  • New Cocktail: Splitsville

    I’ve officially named this part of the season, “The Inbetween.” Slow, shitty weather, no stone fruit yet…Basically just super depressing. Yay! But, but! There is always a silver lining if you dig through the dismal thoughts, crawl through the sewer pipe to salvation. Slowness means more time for experimentation. Oh yes, there’s all kinds of…

  • 97 in a Row…

    This blog began out of necessity. On January 4, 2023, I started writing at home instead of at the local coffee shop in the mornings. This was partly to save money ($5 a day adds up) and mostly to be a help around my son, (who is a total hellion) so Jo, my fiance, was…

  • Obscure Cocktail Alert: La Louisiane

    New Orleans is well known for what I call the stellar stirred, the Dynamic Duo. Two of my favorite cocktails of all time. The Vieux Carre, a simple, split base mash up of a Manhattan but with the addition of Benedictine, a French herbal liquor, and the Sazerac, (the official cocktail of The Big Easy)…

  • New Cocktail: Nobody’s Fool

    A lot went into this cocktail, ingredients, not thought, and like all the good ones…It just sort of happened. The ingredients were there but it was entirely unplanned. A love child born of all kinds of weird shit…Scraps…Different cocktails…Infusions…Luck…Timing…And one of our all time favorites, the Be somebody. Yeah, when you come up with a…