Hints and Rules For Bartenders.

Written by the professor Jerry Thomas - The Bartender Guide of 1862

1. An efficient bartender's first aim should be to please his customers, paying particular attention to meet the individual wishes of those whose tastes and desires he has already watched and ascertained; and, with those whose peculiarities he has had no opportunity of learning, he should politely inquire how they wish their beverages served, and use his best judgment in endeavoring to fulfill their desires to their entire satisfaction. In this way he will not fail to acquire popularity and success.

2. Ice must be washed clean before being used, and then never touched with the hand, but placed in the glass either with an ice-scoop or tongs.

3. Fancy drinks are usually ornamented with such fruits as are in season. When a beverage requires to be strained into s glass, the fruit is added after straining; but when this is not the case, the fruit is introduced into the glass at once. Fruit, of course, must not be handled, but picked up with a silver spoon or fork.

4. In preparing any kind of a hot drink, the glass should always be first rinsed rapidly with hot water ; if this is not done the drink cannot be served sufficiently hot to suit a fastidious customer. Besides, the heating of the glass will prevent it from breaking when the boiling water is suddenly introduced.

5. In preparing cold drinks great discrimination should be observed in the use of ice. As a genera! rule, shaved ice should be used when spirits form the principal ingredient of the drink, and no water is employed. When eggs, milk, wine, vermouth, seltzer or other mineral waters are used in preparing a drink, it is better to use small lumps of ice, and these should always be removed from the glass before serving to the customer.

6. Sugar does not readily dissolve in spirits ; therefore! when making any kind of hot drink, put sufficient boiling water in the glass to dissolve the sugar, before you add the spirits.

7. When making cold mixed-drinks it is usually better to dissolve the sugar with a little cold water, before adding the spirits. This is not, however, necessary when a quantity of shaved ice is used. In making Cocktails the use of syrup has almost entirely superseded white sugar.

8. When drinks are made with eggs, or milk, or both. and hot wne or spirits is to be mixed with them, the latter must always be poured upon the former gradually, and the mixture stirred briskly during the process; otherwise the eggs and milk will curdle. This is more particularly the case when large quantities of such mixtures are to be prepared. Such drinks as "English Rum Flip," "Hot Egg Nogg " and "Mulled Wine," are sure to be spoiled unless these precautions are observed.

9. In preparing Milk Punch or Egg Nogg in quantity the milk or eggs should be poured upon the wine or spirits, very gradually, and continually beating the mixture in order to mix the ingredients thoroughly.

10. When preparing cold Punch, the bowl should be placed in a tin or metal vessel about the same depth as the height of the bowl, the space between the bowl and the vessel being packed with ice, and a. little rocksalt sprinkled over the surface, which has the effect of producing a freezing mixture, much colder than the plain ice. Towels may be pinned around the exterior of the vessel, and the exposed surface of the ice trimmed with fruit or leaves, giving the whole an attractive appearance.

11. In case brandy, whiskey, or other liquors are to be drawn for use direct from the wood, the cask should be placed upon a skid, a substantial stand made expressIy for the purpose, and kept in a place where the temperature is moderate and uniform.

12. Bottles containing liquor should be kept lying down, in order to keep the corks moist, and prevent the strength being lost by evaporation.

13. Casks containing Ale or Porter should be tapped before placing them on the skid, and then allowed sufficient time for the contents to settle and become clear before using.

14. Champagne requires careful treatment. It is not advisable to place more at a time on ice than is likely to be used, because if removed from the ice and again allowed to get warmer, a second icing injures both flavor and strength.

15. When champagne has been well iced, it requires a good deal of care in handling the bottles; cold renders the glass brittle, and less able to withstand the expansive pressure of the contents.

16. Bottles containing champagne, or any other brisk wines, must be kept laying down; if in an upright position for any length of time, the corks become dry, and the gas is liable to escape.

17. During the process of cooling sparkling wines, the bottles should not be placed in direct contact with the ice, because that portion of the bottle which touches the ice cools more rapidly than the remainder, causing unequal contraction and consequent tendency to crack.

18. When sparkling wines are served in the bottle, they should be put in an ice-pail, and the space between the bottles and pail filled with ice broken small. When the bottle is entirely surrounded by ice, the liability of cracking from unequal contraction does not exist.

19. When Champagne is in occasional use, being served by the glass or for mixing' beverages, it is a good plan to place the bottle on a rack, the neck sloping downwards, and insert through the cork a corkscrew syphon provided with a cut off or faucet, by the use of which a small portion may be drawn off at a time without allowing any escape of the gas.

20. Mineral waters contained in syphons should be cooled gradually, and not allowed to stand in contact with the ice. Although the syphons are constructed of very thick glass, this very thickness, while affording complete resistance to the expansion of the gas contained, is the more liable to crack from unequal contraction, when only one portion of the syphon is touching the ice.

21. Cordials, Bitters, and Syrups should be cooled gradually, and not laid upon ice. A moderate degree of coolness is sufficient for these preparations, as they are only used in small portions for mixing and flavoring.

22. Claret, Rhine-Wines, Sherry, Port, etc., require special attention. Their temperature should not be too cold; and, when poured into glasses, the bottle should be steadily handled, so that any sediment that may be in the bottom of the bottle is not disturbed. Bottles containing these wines, when laid away, should be placed on their sides, to keep the corks moist.

23. Whiskey is usually kept directly on ice, but brandy and other liquors require only a moderate temperature. Fine old Cognac loses its" velvet" when chilled.

24. The refreshing qualities and flavor of Lager beer depend very largely on the manner of keeping and handling. Casks or kegs containing it should be kept at a temperature of about 40° (Farenheit). Lager is always in its best condition when it comes from the brewer's icehouse. When carted through the streets on a hot summer's day, the temperature is quickly increased, and it must then be stored in a refrigerator for three or four days in order to reduce it to a proper temperature before using.



25. When the consumption of a keg of beer is sufficiently rapid, it is best drawn directly from the keg, the first glass drawn being rejected. The tap must be thoroughly cleansed before using; and, as soon as the beer ceases to run freely, a vent is placed in the bung. When, however, the keg has to stand in use for some time before it becomes empty, a considerable amount of gas will escape every time the vent is opened, and the beer will soon become" flat, stale and unprofitable" at least for the consumer. To obviate this, and to keep the beer tolerably fresh to the end, the vent is not used, but a tube is inserted in the vent-hole, leading to a receiver or cylinder containing air, compressed either by water-power or a hand force-pump. This exerts a continual pressure on the surface of the beer, and prevents the gas from rising. Too great an amount of air-pressure should be avoided, because the beer will be driven too forcibly through the tap, and fill the glass with more froth and less beer than a thirsty drinker would care to pay for. The air in the cylinder should be drawn from a pure source, by means of a tube, if necessary, leading to the open air. The air in a cellar or even a close apartment is rarely pure, and would have a decidedly unwholesome effect on the beer.

26. Bottled Beer should be kept in a cool place or in a refrigerator, not in contact with the ice. The bottles ought to stand upright, so that any sediment will settle to the bottom. It is, therefore, not advisable to pour the last dregs of the bottle into the glass.

27. Syrups are peculiarly attractive to ants, flies, and other insects; they should, therefore, be kept in closely corked vessels; and, when in bottles for use, be kept in a cool place, properly corked, a rubber cork being most convenient, and the bottles standing upright in water. In this manner the bottles will be out of the reach of insects of every kind.


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