What's Your Poison?

What is up with this Summer weather in SPRING!? This Saturday night I had to resort to an evening laundromat visit to avoid bursting into flames. I stepped outside to break away from the hypnotic spinning of the washing machine where I met Steve (who has just moved out to Los Angeles via Indiana). He was hovering intensely over a booklet of sorts and clutching a pink highlighter. What lay before him?It was the National Bartender's School Course Guide and he was getting in some study time while he waited for his clothes to dry.


He flipped through the pages and showed me how much one has to learn to become a bartender! Not only do you have to know how to mix a drink but you have to know all the different names of drinks, the types of glasses each drink must be served in, the names of all those glasses, origins of the different types of alcohols, all types of garnishes, how your bar must be set up and organized, what supplies you need to have when bartending at a private party, bartender etiquette, and more!


Some things I learned while talking to him and flipping through his manual?

• a diet coke and rum is called a skinny bitch while a rum and coke with lime is called a cuba libre
  
• there is a drink called the "gorilla tit"
  
• ladies must always be served first (yeah!)
• darker rums are from Spanish speaking countries while lighter rums are from English speaking countries

Steve is taking a 2 week course and he is 1 week into it. He's got alot to study to be able to pass the test! How does one go about doing this?

• Answer at least 90 out of 100 questions correctly
• Prepare 12 drinks in 7 minutes or less

Out of curiosity, I asked if he has concocted a drink of his own and he shot out that answer faster than you can down a shot! It's called a Becky Sue: 1 oz vodka, 1 oz apple schnapps, and diet mountain dew. The drink is named after his ex-fiance since it was the cocktail they used to drink together. (Awww! Nice of him to give her the homage).

And, of course, I had to ask if he knew how to make a drink that requires an egg since it is something my friend Bryan always asks for at bars. Alas, Steve did not. Damn.

Books he likes to read when he's not studying to become a bartender? Alot of radio ad-sales books. The last fiction book he read was Lord Demons Delight by Gia Dawn, a book consisting of damsels, demons, and decadent delight.


What was the last "How-To" book you read? And...what is your poison of choice?