The Aging Bartender

Bar Program Year in Review: 2023

Well everyone, here we go. 2023 was an interesting year for many reasons. Produce wise it was a bit challenging due to the intense amount of rain and the uncharacteristic cold we had here in Southern California which delayed stonefruit until almost the end of May whereas we usually see some cherries trickling in sometime…

Read more

Recent posts
Recent photos

  • Bar Program Year in Review: 2023

    Well everyone, here we go. 2023 was an interesting year for many reasons. Produce wise it was a bit challenging due to the intense amount of rain and the uncharacteristic cold we had here in Southern California which delayed stonefruit until almost the end of May whereas we usually see some cherries trickling in sometime…

  • Interview with a Cherimoya

    “Tell us a little about yourself.” “Where do you want me to start?” “Where are you from?” “I grew up in Peru and moved to Ecuador for a while. Nowadays I spend most of my time in the same type of sub-tropical regions such as Central and South America but I’ve been all over the…

  • Bar Hack: Apple Sherbet

    Yes, we use a lot of sherbet around here. Sue me. If you’re low tech and want to make the most of your citrus then you should do this. Why? Because it’s fucking delicious. Jeez. Don’t ask dumb questions. This is some bartending 101 stuff here. Take a pile of your fave citrus, peel, add…

  • Nog Thoughts…

    Anyone else notice how popular egg nog was this year? Shit, every company, even goddam Eggo came out with a nog. It seemed to replace pumpkin spice during the 2023 holidays. Every bar manager with any sand has a nog, and probably a damn good one. It’s one of those things that’s pretty hard to…

  • Through the Looking Glass…

    Some profound thoughts upon waking this morning…Just gonna go full stream of consciousness here…Not much of it pertaining to my jobs, cocktails, buildings, all of that. I stretched myself a bit, wanted to write something with meaning about the cocktail world but the problem is that it isn’t profound…Cocktails aren’t life changing but not much…

  • Christmas Movies Ranked

    Yes, it’s that time of the year…No, not just Jesus’ birthday coinciding with so many nogs coming out of the woodwork (did this happen last year?) but the annual ranking of best Christmas movies. Once finished you’ll notice many not on the list and I’ve left notes for those after as well as the why…But…

  • Sometimes They Come Back: Glass Hammer

    There’s a literary technique called a peripeteia which refers to a sudden reversal of circumstances or change in fortune. The device can take many forms but you’re probably most familiar with it in one of it’s less common forms where a character will leave and then come back right at the end to save the…

  • A Few Steps Down the Hot Drink Rabbit Hole…

    Yes, most drinks are cold. Why is this? Well, because they taste better that way, dumb dumb, and we’ve also been conditioned over the years to think it’s normal. Think about a warm Coca-Cola. Not so appetizing eh? But now pour that same coke over ice and we have ourselves a nice time. A cold…

  • Citrus Season Approaches…

    Just like that, a snap of the fingers, a blink of the eye, and we’re almost into 2024 which, to me, means blood oranges, tangerines, kumquats, pomelos (pummellos?), and of course, Meyer lemons. Yeah, it’s raining, dismal, and depressing out there. Grim. Foreboding. Wet. Beyond, beyond the colorful, knobby oil filled orbs we await cherries…

  • Notes on the Hot Toddy

    Here we go again. Some say the hot toddy originated in India in the early 1600s, other sources state it was Edinburgh, Scotland, and then some go back again to India, but with a specific, printed recipe date of 1786. In my own unpolished opinion I think people have always enjoyed themselves a warm bevvy,…

  • Movie Review: Boyz n the Hood

    Watching Boyz n the Hood as an upper middle class, middle aged white male, instead of a privileged white suburban teenager, was an entirely different experience but probably not why you think. Back when the movie was released in 1991, it provided a glimpse of life in a place most people in the U.S. and…

  • Garnishes Revisited…

    For whatever reason I decided to dig up this old saw once again. I attempted to make some headway on the subject of garnishes early in this blog’s life here. I chose not to reread my own words from March but instead offer a different take on how people dress up their cocktails. I said…