·
This week we talk to Joe Raya, owner of the Gin
Joint in Charleston, South Carolina.
He & his wife also make delicious syrups for bartenders called Tippleman’s. There are 6 varieties and they are all awesome:
o Burnt
Sugar
o Island
Orxata
o Falernum
o Ginger
Honey
o Lemon
Oleo Saccharum
o Barrel
Smoked Maple
·
Its Bartender Journey Podcast # 129 !
·
First lets do a cocktail of the week! Its a Bourbon/Maple Old Fashioned using
the Tippleman’s Barrel Smoked Maple syrup. The syrup is made using barrels from Willett Distillery. I
used about ½ oz. I happened to
have a lovely bottle of Willet Pot Still Reserve Bourbon, so I figured lets use
that in our Old Fashioned! It’s a
pretty incredible Bourbon and it’s tempting to just drink it neat or with one
ice cube, but I used it anyway -- 2 oz of Willet Bourbon in my quite decedent
Old Fashioned. I used Basement
Bitters from Tuttletown distillery.
These are the guys that make the great Hudson Whiskey among other things
and their bitters are great!
·
If you don’t have any Tippleman’s syrups yet, consider
ordering some at tipplemans.com. But meanwhile, try experimenting with a
good quality maple syrup in your old fashioned. Grade B is what is recommended for using in cocktails. You might consider mixing it with a
little hot water to make it easier to mix into your cocktail. And if you don’t have the Basement
Bitters, try substituting other aromatic bitters – Angostura is of course an
awesome choice and widely available, but perhaps try experimenting with a few
other brands too!
·
To make an Old Fashioned – mix the sugar (or
syrup in this case) with the bitters in the bottom of your Old Fashioned or rocks
glass. Add the whiskey and some
ice – ideally one big hand-cut ice cube and a twist. Usually it would be an orange twist in an Old Fashioned,
especially if it were a Rye Old Fashioned, but I used lemon in this case. A little extra citrus “zing” from the
limon goes better with the Bourbon and maple flavors.
·
Book of the week is Its All About The Guest by Steve Difillippo.
·
The subtitle of this book is Exceeding
Expectations in Busines and in Life The Davio’s Way.
·
Steve is a great businessman. In his book he has lots of great
lessons for us, including: “every decision you make: is this going to make
things better for the guest?”
·
There will always be demanding guests who are
ready to get upset about nothing.
They will require a lot of attention, but you can’t let that distract
you from the other guests.
·
Figure out how much it costs to make what you
are selling, otherwise you may be loosing money without even knowing it.
·
Its not just WHAT you do, its how people
PERCEIVE what you do.
·
Our Toast this week: ‘tis better to spend money
like there's no tomorrow
than to spend tonight like there's no money!
