Thanks to Pernod-Ricard USA for bringing me down to Tales of the Cocktail this year, and for sponsoring the Spirited Awards event.

Thanks, too to everyone involved with me being awarded the Helen Davis Lifetime Achievement Award.  I couldn't be more honored and humbled.

Here's a list of the other prizewinners from Saturday.  Congratulations to one and all!

American Bartender of the Year

Joaquin Simo

 

Best American Brand Ambassador

Jim Ryan

 

Best American Cocktail Bar

The Varnish

 

Best Bar Mentor

Steve Olson

 

Best Cocktail Writing – Author

Dave Wondrich

 

Best Cocktail Writing - Non Book

Liquor.com

 

Best High Volume Cocktail Bar

Eastern Standard

 

Best International Brand Ambassador

Angus Winchester

 

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book

PDT Cocktail Book

 

Best New Product

Cognac Pierre Ferrand 1840 Formula

 

Best Restaurant Bar

Slanted Door

 

Helen David Lifetime Achievement

Gary Regan

 

International Bartender of the Year

Alex Kratena

 

World’s Best Cocktail Bar

The Connaught Bar

 

World’s Best Cocktail Menu

Callooh Callay

 

World’s Best Drinks Selection

Salvatore's at The Playboy

 

World’s Best Hotel Bar

Artesian at The Langham

 

World’s Best New Cocktail Bar

The Zetter Townhouse

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Mindful Bartending

Excerpted from the Annual Manual for Bartenders: 2012.

Anger and Forgiveness

Ram Dass also taught me lots about anger and forgiveness recently, and this is something that I had, and still have, a hard time coming to terms with, but if I don’t learn how to cope with anger, and how to truly forgive others, then I am hurting myself, and I’m not walking the path of the Mindful Bartender.

I was listening to Experiments in Truth—an audio book that’s comprised of eight significant lectures that Ram Dass gave before his stroke in the late 1990s—and during one of these presentations he talked about having a particular hatred for a certain politician.

In order to rid himself of this hatred, Ram Dass took a picture of the politician and placed it on a table alongside some of his greatest heroes. Every time he paid homage to these heroes of his, he paid homage to the politician, too.  It’s not enough, you see, to not react with anger, it’s important to get rid of the anger altogether.

I recently (today as a matter of fact) had a run-in with a guy who used to be a friend but in recent years he’s taken to not liking me very much.

The man in question sent me a pretty insulting email, and he said things that really upset me.  It was tempting to fly off the handle at him—my anger being based on the fear of being disrespected—but I held off from replying until I got my anger under control, which I did by reminding myself that I was being insulted because the guy in question had insecurities that he couldn’t deal with.  It took a lot of doing but I actually wrote that although I didn’t agree with what he said, there would be no hard feelings from my side.  I got another insulting email in return, but this time his words didn’t anger me, mainly because I now knew that this was all about him, not me.

This man has presented me with a challenge.  I’ve managed to choose not to get angry when this guy to insults me, but now I have to learn how to love him, and the only way in which I’ll be able to do this is to love him for giving me this challenge.  It’s the only way I can grow.  If I can love him for helping me live a more harmonious life, then I don’t have to forgive him, I have to thank him, instead.

It might be a good idea for you to think about this concept of forgiveness and see if you can incorporate true forgiveness into your life by thanking those who make you angry.  It’s a tough one, that’s for sure, but I’m finding that it’s well  worth the effort.

I’m turning the rest of this chapter over to you guys, more or less, by bringing you news and views on Mindful Bartending from bartenders all over the world.  If you practice Mindful Bartending, and if bringing that practice into your craft has had an impact on your life, please drop me an email at gaz@ardentspirits.com and let me know about it.

Here’s asking for peace, love, and huge tips cups during the coming year.

Continued next week

Buy this year's Annual Manual for Bartenders HERE

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Coley's Corner

Ada "Coley" Coleman was a celebrated early twentieth-century bartender at London's Savoy Hotel, and she was a woman who got her fair share of the limelight. 

When she announced that she was about to retire, in 1925, The Daily Express quoted her as saying, "I made cocktails for Mark Twain when he came in the Savoy, Diamond Jim Brady, Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, James Corbett, 'Mr A.', the Egyptian Princess - yes, and the Prince of Wales," and noted that she was "known to thousands of men all over the world."

In "Coley's Corner," then, we bring you links to stories about bartenders all over the place.  We think it might make Coley smile.  In this issue we're featuring:

• Stephon Scott shines in Brazil

• Setting the bar high When only the best will do: Neil Virgil's exceptional service and cocktails win hearts

• Auckland bartender set to shake up international competition in Beijing

• Top Manly bartenders have the right mix for national bar awards

• A Bartender's Antidote To Sweet And Citrus? Bitter Bark, Myrrh And Secrets

• Bartender Buddha: Kenny Burton of Donahue's Beach Grille in Madison

• On the Job in Jackson with Connie Merling, server and bartender at Ground Round

• More serious bars and small companies are making their own bitters for creative cocktails

• Bartender of the Week: Tim Cosover at Bethlehem Brew Works concocts an ice cream sundae martini

• Bartender of the Week: Mike Scafuro, Osteria La Civetta

• Bartender Ian Reilly gets us buzzing

• The cat5 bartender of the week is a pretty Penn

Highlights from Tales of the Cocktail

• Party Absolut-ly cool at Tales of the Cocktail

• Drink Tales of the Cocktail's 10-year anniversary edition of 'Tales of the Cocktail from A to Z'

• Tales of the Cocktail founders grateful for 10 years

• Tales of the Cocktail experts find fresh flavor in gin and tonic

• New Orleans' cocktail culture attracts bartending talent from across the country

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gaz's Cocktail Book

Copy and paste these babies to get yerself a very complete cocktail book.

North Beach

Adapted from a recipe by Lance J. Mayhew, 50 Plates / Beaker & Flask, Portland, OR

30 ml (1 oz) Bombay Sapphire gin

30 ml (1 oz) Aperol

30 ml (1 oz) fresh lemon juice

30 ml (1 oz) simple syrup (1:1)

1 lemon twist, as garnish

Shake over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the garnish.

North Beach Caprese Mary

Adapted from a recipe by David Nepove and Marco Dionysos, Enrico’s Sidewalk Cafe, San Francisco.

5 turns of the mill of fresh black pepper

5 leaves of fresh basil

10 ml (.3 oz) balsamic vinegar

15 ml (.5 oz) lime juice

45 ml (1.5 oz) Skyy vodka

60 ml (2 oz) tomato juice

10 ml (.3 oz) Fernet Branca

5 dashes Tabasco sauce

pinch of salt

1 cocktail skewer adorned with a cherry tomato, a basil leaf, and perhaps some marinated mozzarella, for garnish

In a mixing glass muddle together the basil, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and lime juice.  Add ice and the remaining ingredients and pour the mixture back and forth between the glass and the metal tin of a Boston shaker until the drink becomes integrated.  Strain into an ice-filled collins glass, and add the garnish.

Nouveau Carre

Adapted from a recipe by Jonny Raglin, bartender, Absinthe Brasserie & Bar, San Francisco.

Winner of the 2006 Best Beverage containing B&B for Bastille Day competition.

45 ml (1.5 oz) Herradura añejo tequila

22.5 ml (.75 oz)  B&B liqueur

7.5 ml (.25 oz) Lillet Blanc

4 dashes Peychaud's bitters

1 lemon twist, for garnish

Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Add the garnish.

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