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October is infusion month, and what better way to kick it off than with the world’s easiest infusion?

This cocktail was intended to showcase one of the easiest infusions there is: making a tea syrup. It’s so easy that you might not even realize it’s an infusion!

How to Make a Tea Syrup:

First, make tea. Follow the directions on your tea package, but use 4x the amount of tea. This will increase the strength of the infusion without introducing bitterness.

Allow to steep for the time recommended by the tea package, once again. Don’t be tempted to let it infuse longer in search of a deeper infusion. While you may get away with a bit of extra time, it doesn’t take long for over-infused tea to become bitter.

I have to admit that in the past and through much of my professional bartending career, I have always discounted rum as a premium spirit. (I blame it on too many Captain Morgan and cokes or sugar-laden Daiquiris that I consumed in my misspent youth.) But over the last couple of years I have started to embrace the sugar cane distillate and explore the beauty that this spirit holds.

Rum is so rich in history and taste – few other spirits can hold a candle to it.

What is rum?

Let’s start at the beginning:

With today’s Piña Colada cocktail we are breaking out the blender, for the first time in a very, very long time. (Chris isn’t much of a “blended cocktail” guy.)  But if there ever was a cocktail to make you dust off that blender, it’s definitely this one!

Contested Origins

The origin of the Piña Colada (like many cocktail recipes) is contested. But what’s for sure is that it originated sometime between 1825 (with Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresi) and 1963 at the restaurant Barrachina. The Caribe Hilton in San Juan also claims to be the “birthplace” of this cocktail, claiming that,

“Ramon “Monchito” Marrero was the creator of the Pina Colada in 1954, during his time as a bartender at our resort. After three months of experimentation, Mr. Marrero finally settled on the recipe Pina Colada, which he felt captured the true flavors of Puerto Rico.”

Source: https://www.caribehilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/History-of-the-Pina-Colada.pdf

The Mai Tai is so often misinterpreted, it’s almost as misunderstood as the Old Fashioned. (Ok, maybe more!)  What started as a drink designed to highlight the rum it was made with, has devolved over the years a sugary, juicy, syrupy concoction that’s nothing like its original recipe. And while I’ll be the last to tell you what to like, I will always prefer to start with an original cocktail recipe.

Legend has it the name originated when its creator, Victor J Bergeron (AKA Trader Vic) served it to a Tahitian friend. He tried the cocktail and exclaimed, “Maita’i roa a’e,” which roughly translates to “out of this world!” The abbreviated name, “Mai Tai” stuck.

In the video below, you’ll see two very different versions of the Mai Tai – the classic, and one which is far more common today. I wish you could taste them with us – they couldn’t possibly be more different!

“Do you still work at the Malibu Pork Hotel?” I was asked at the start of a job interview. (There is no Malibu Pork Hotel. Names have been changed to protect the incompetent.)

“No,” I replied. “Not for a couple of years.” My resume stated the same.

“I’m confused. I called them today and they said yes, you still work there and they love you.”

This sort of thing happened a lot at the Malibu Pork Hotel. Do you get why I don’t work there anymore?

After 20+ years and forgot-how-many jobs, I’ve been on a lot of job interviews. Some have been doozies. I was once yelled at in an interview. (Didn’t get that job.)

It’s summer and if you’re a bartender who works private events, that probably means you’re working a lot of weddings. Here are some guests you’re sure to run into at your next gig. Special thanks to Robyn Spector McCallister and Thomas Pedley from the Bartender Facebook Group for providing some inspiration!

The bride’s mother who has one too many Pinot Grigio’s and must tell you all the things about her new son-in-law she’s excited to brag about — have you heard he’s a doctor?

The best man who worked at a bar for one summer after college and thinks he’s qualified to “help”.

The maid of honor who really is a bartender and finds a way to be helpful but not intrusive, by bringing you a coat during this random mid-summer chilly night.

You can’t buy it. You can’t stop it. You can’t travel forward or backward in it (without creating a troubling number of paradoxes.) What is it?

Time.

But you’re a bartender. You can make anything, right? You can make time.

Be more efficient. Streamline your actions, simplify your processes and you will make valuable extra time for yourself. Save five seconds a dozen times a day and – bang – you’ve just created your very own minute.