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Get your “Rocks” off with
the Black Russian,
Old Fashioned & Daiquiri
| Bar management expert Bob Johnson
examines some of the most popular “Collins” glass
drinks including the Long Island Ice Tea, the Tom Collins
and everybody’s favorite hangover cure, the Bloody Mary. |
| “Collins” glasses are usually
12-16 ounces, and these glasses can be used for a variety
of drinks. Here are some of the more popular drinks served
in a Collins glass. |
| Long Island Ice Tea |
This drink has been a consistent big seller
in the 19 to 35 age group. It’s a “quick”
drunk. Customers who order Long Islands need to be carefully
watched. How fast are they drinking the Ice Tea? How long
between re-orders?
The traditional recipe for the Long Island Ice Tea is:
Collins glass filled with ice; 1/2 shot of Vodka, Gin, Rum,
and Triple Sec; Sweet and Sour mix to 4/5 of the glass; add
coke to the top; shake;
garnish with a lemon wedge/straw.
There are many variations, including:
(1) Use Tequila in the recipe. Many Midwestern bartenders
will tell you that a Long Island Tea with Tequila is a “Texas
Tea.”
(2) Consider using non-alcoholic Triple Sec. It’s cheaper
($3-4 per bottle) as compared to the Triple Sec that contains
alcohol ($7-9 per bottle).
Triple Sec is nothing more than a flavoring agent. When mixed
with other liquors and ingredients, the presence of alcohol
in Triple Sec is meaningless. All we care about as mixologists
is the orange flavor we get from using Triple Sec. Triple
Sec is |
the domestic substitute for Cointreau.
(3) Make an Ice Tea using Blue Curacao instead of Triple Sec;
it’s now a “Blue Tea.”
(4) Use 7-Up (not Sprite) and cranberry juice instead of Coke
and it’s now a “Long Beach Tea.”
Also, if you’re measuring 1/2 ounce shots, use the small
side of the jigger (3/4 oz.) and pour below the top of the
jigger. Put in 1/2 shots of Vodka, Gin, Rum, Triple Sec into
small side of
the jigger. Or simply have your bartenders “freepour”
1/2 ounce of liquor one at a time directly into the glass.
Bartenders who pick up and pour the four bottles at the same
time make the drink wrong. Usually more of one liquor comes
out. Great “show,” but a lousy drink. Instead,
consider premixing the four liquors into a separate container
along with the sweet and sour mix if you get a lot of calls
for this drink. If you’re high volume, your bartenders
could save valuable time by-passing the steps of picking up
each of the four or five liquor bottles. Definitely pre-mix
the liquor for the service bartenders. |
| Vodka/Tom Collins |
Anything can be a Collins, but “Vodka”
and “Tom” (using Gin) are the two called for the
most.
Make this drink directly in the Collins glass. Fill it with
ice. Put in one shot of vodka/gin. Add sweet and sour mix
to 3/4 of the glass. Shake. Add club soda to the top and garnish
with a cherry/orange (flag). |
Many bartenders do not shake a Collins, nor
do they put in the club soda. There are no laws that say you
have to do either, but traditional mixology should prevail
for this kind of classic drink.
The original recipe calls for club soda,
and you must always shake any drink
that contains sweet and sour mix. |
| Bloody Mary |
The Collins glass is the traditional
favorite for this fading but still popular bar drink, always
in the top 10 in popularity. Make the drink directly in the
glass if you’re making them one at a time, step by step.
First, a shot of Vodka, then fill the
glass with tomato juice. Then put in a
dash of salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Add
a lime wheel for the garnish. Customer preference could dictate
adding any one, or all, of the following additional ingredients:
celery salt, cocktail onions, A-1 sauce, cubes of cheese,
beef bouillon, pepperoni,horseradish, shrimp, Angostura bitters,
pepper rings, celery stalk, onion rings, lime wheel, pepperoncini,
etc.
When a customer appears to be
“picky” about how spicy he wants the
drink, give him the tabasco sauce “on
the side.” Let him put in his own.
In my opinion, don’t waste your time
making a Bloody Mary from scratch
using tomato juice and all the condiments. It takes too much
time and you don’t know your customer’s personal
taste preferences. Instead, go with a Bloody Mary pre-mix.
Or, make your own house pre-mix. Here are a couple of batch
recipes for one gallon of premade Bloody Mary mix:
Two 46 oz. cans of tomato juice
1 3/4 oz Worcestershire sauce
1 3/4 oz. A-1 sauce
1 oz. celery salt
1 oz. celery salt
1/2 - 1 oz. tabasco sauce
2 oz. lime juice
6 oz. beef bouillon
1/2 - 1 oz. tabasco sauce
6-8 dashes of pepper
Stir thoroughly
Horseradish or Angostura bitters
could be added to the above ingredients. Or use a can of Picante
Sauce in place of the same amount of tomato juice. Consider
putting a |
kosher salt rim around the glass,
like the original Bloody Mary.
For a garnish, consider a couple of
medium, boiled shrimp along with the
lime wheel. Maybe a couple pieces
of pepperoni, Swiss cheese, green
pepper, a spicy asparagus stick, a beef jerky and a cocktail
onion or two. How imaginative do you want to get?
Whatever variations you decide,
make sure all the bartenders make the drink the same way,
using the same pre-mix and garnishes.
If pre-mixing Bloody Mary mix by the
gallon is not profitable for you because you don’t sell
enough of them, here are some interesting options:
(1) Sacramento makes a Bloody
Mary mix in a six-ounce can. It’s excellent and there
is no waste because of the six-ounce can portion. Refrigeration
is not required. The can sits on the shelf until it’s
used.
(2) Use Spicy Hot V-8 juice, also available in six-ounce cans.
This makes an outstanding Bloody Mary mix. Don’t let
the customer see you putting V-8 in his drink. Add it underneath
the bar. Many a bartender will tell you that the most compliments
received for Bloody Mary mix was not from tomato juice, but
from Spicy Hot V-8 juice.
If you store opened Bloody Mary mix overnight, make sure it
is checked and tasted before opening the next day. Bloody
Marys are popular at lunch-time. Make sure the mix is good
before you get somebody sick! If the mix tastes “marginal,”
throw it out! This is why the six ounce cans of tomato juice
are cost effective and convenient— no spoilage!
Three very good Bloody Mary Mixes I recommend are Whiskey
Willy’s, Zing Zang and Kelly and Gonzalez. Purchase
through your local distributor. |
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