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Despite the demise of the Three Martini Lunch, the bar remains a profit center capable of generating significant revenue for a restaurant. The amount of profit a bar contributes depends [...]

Keeping Tabs As a restaurateur, yours is a fairytale existence, right? Like Hansel and Gretel, your bookkeeper leaves a breadcrumb trail to track inventory movement; liquor bottles follow your Pied [...]

Bar management is about satisfying expectations; the owner's, the customers' and your bartenders'. Management expects the bar to run efficiently and produce a consistent level of profits. Customers expect quality [...]

As every bartender knows, the secret to a world class Bloody Mary is in the mix. The vodka may be the fuel, but the mix is the delivery system. It's [...]

Whisky enthusiasts are different than your average spirits drinker. They're more prone to try new releases and sample products from unconventional sources. Whisky aficionados are driven by the sense of [...]

I confess that when I was younger I didn't quite get it. I mean, why would a restaurant develop a beverage campaign directed exclusively to kids? Now that I've joined [...]

Rum possesses every characteristic necessary to ignite the collective imagination. It is imported from exotic locales, there are scores of different styles, and it takes well to aging in wood. [...]

Sex in the City has only confirmed what veteran lounge lizards already know, that when it comes to cocktails the one to be seen with is the Cosmopolitan. The drink [...]

They're as real as overcast, freezing rain, and grungy slush. They're the late-winter blahs, that pervasive depression that strikes in the early part of the year when our minds begin [...]

Mention the name Bloody Mary to someone over the age of 30 and the image of Sunday brunch will most likely pop into his or her mind. It is perhaps [...]

Give the Russians most of the credit. They and their Eastern European neighbors were the first to hit on the notion that spirits taste much better if given a flavor [...]

Vodka is the best selling distilled spirit in the United States, if not the world. As its popularity continues to grow, so seemingly does the number of labels entering the [...]

Elegant and sophisticated, Cognac is arguably the noblest of brandies. With our society firmly entrenched in a return to pleasure and small indulgences, consumer interest in Cognac has never been [...]

If nothing else, the good ol' Nineties were a bumper decade for spirits. Recognizing the 'drinking less but better' megatrend, producers kicked out all of the stops and released the [...]

In Mexico, it is referred to as Tequila Puro. In the United States, we know it as 100% agave tequila. These tequilas have captivated the imagination of the American drinking [...]

NO ONE CAN MAKE OR break a place like the manager. It takes a lot of savvy to manage a bar or restaurant well and, frankly, not just anyone can [...]

Coffee-based hot drinks are popular as spirited drink specialties to warm people up during the winter season. These beverages are made by combining coffee and an array of liquors and liquers such as brandy, rum and whiskey. Some of the more popular coffee-based drink recipes include Keoki Coffee, Irish Coffee Royale, Caribbean Dream, Calypso Coffee, Bay Area Garter, Peter Prescription, Aspen Coffee, Tight Sweater, International Cappuccino and Louvre Me Alone., As your customers are forced to contend with howling winter winds and frostbitten extremities, crank up the heat with spirited drink specialties. Dust off the coffee grinder because your clientele [...]

Coffee comes in a variety of mixes, is brewed in several ways and is served with different accompaniments such as sugar, cream, milk, hot chocolate and even liquor. Various terms are used to distinguish one kind of coffee from another. Some of the language used in coffee include cafe Au Lait, breve, americano, espresso, caffe latte, doppio, skinny, mochaccino, dry, half-caf, red eye and caffe freddo., Years ago, if your customers ordered a cup of coffee 'regular' they'd expect one laced with cream and sugar. Now, if someone asks for a cup of regular coffee they [...]

Chefs, be forewarned. Your resident mixologists may well be raiding the walk-in searching for fresh ingredients to incorporate into their cocktails. High on their hit lists are cucumbers, chopped cilantro [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Whether your personal favorite is Bosco, Ovaltine or Hershey's hot cocoa, signature drinks are outrageously delicious and a trend worth following. Laced with spirits and liqueurs, and often [...]

If real men don't eat quiche, then real cowboys don't drink bottled waters and middle linebackers don't sip smoothies. Or so went the conventional wisdom not too long ago. Society [...]

Adding a fine spritz to a drink is a marvelous thing, a centuries-old practice. Today, however, mixologists and bar chefs no longer think in terms of committing a splash of [...]

Sodas and carbonated drink ideas play an integral part in everyday life in this country. They're effervescent, flavorful and Americans love them. Imagine an office building or public venue without [...]

The big news in the beverage industry continues to be the robust growth of spirits. Last year the consumption of distilled spirits grew for the seventh consecutive year, a jump [...]

Summer is the beverage season in the sun. There's nothing like heat and humidity to make people belly up to the bar. Summer is also a season ripe with marketing [...]

Consumption of tea in the United States is skyrocketing. According to the Tea Association of the USA, annual sales in the U.S. increased from $1.8 billion in 1990 to an [...]

A new generation of cocktails for the new millennium has appeared on the scene. Although as luscious and as elegant as the cocktails of many decades ago, this new breed is different in a number of ways. The modern cocktails are lighter, drier and have a wider range of taste. While the cocktails of old usually consisted of a base spirit, a modifier and a base mix, the new cocktails have an additional ingredient, such as a splash or dash of juice or liqueur. Some of these new cocktails are the Cosmopolitan which consists of Absolut Citron, Cointreau, Rose's and cranberry juice, and the Hennessy Martini, which features Hennessy Cognac, fresh lemon juice and a lemon spiral garnish., Most social historians claim the '20s and '30s were the golden age of the cocktail, Clearly they need to get out more often. Forget the good old days; we're basking [...]

The Manhattan is a whiskey cocktail that may be enjoyed by everyone. It has three versions, namely Manhattan, Dry Manhattan and Perfect Manhattan, which incorporates every kind of vermouth and is further enhanced by a twist of lemon. It may also be modified by using a different type of aperitif wine instead of vermouth, adding small amounts of liqueur, such as Chambor, Frangelico and Amaretto, and using borboun of higher quality., The popular resurgence of bourbon has prompted a renewed interest in the most classic of whiskey cocktails, the Manhattan. The drink is smooth, aromatic, and has a thoroughly satisfying flavor. [...]

Honestly, wouldn't you rather be someplace idyllic like Hawaii, the Seychelles, or Martinique? Perhaps lounging about in Cozumel, or soaking up the rays on the beaches of Mauritius? Paradise is [...]

Robert Plotkin is a beverage operations consultant and the author of numerous books on bartending and beverage management. N.J. Vitale is an editor/writer for P S. D. Publisbing with years [...]

Robert Plotkin is a beverage operations consultant and the author of numerous books on bartending and beverage management. N.J. Vitale is an editor/writer for P S. D. Publishing with years [...]

Americans are turning to tea in record numbers, which has sent its sales skyrocketing. The World Tea Expo reports that the tea market in the U.S. was $6 billion last [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The secret to the Manhattan's enduring popularity can be largely attributed to the natural affinity between spirits and fortified wines. These wines are imbued with tremendous flavors and [...]

The family owned and operated Sweet Life is a casual slice of heaven. Located at the posh Snowmass ski resort in Aspen, CO, The classy little eatery attracts its beautiful [...]

Slaking thirst is the accepted mission of this country's legions of mixologists and bar chefs. It's a good thing, because between the hole in the ozone and summer's dry sense [...]

Water is integral to almost everything we do in the food and beverage business. It is the essential element in every alcoholic beverage, every mug of coffee and every cup [...]

Hemlines are up and flavor served piping hot is in. This holiday season specialty coffees devilishly laced with liqueurs and fueled by espresso can be seen at all the right [...]

Although Eastern Europe and Russia have a franchise on most of the major high volume labels, the United States is beginning to forge a considerable lead when it comes to [...]

Few people understand how to better quench thirst than Janos Wilder, celebrity chef and owner of Janos and the J Bar, two of Arizona's most acclaimed restaurants. 'Tucson has become [...]

Like our Pagan brethren of centuries past, we welcome the onslaught of summer with open arms. Bathe our faces in sunshine and let us bask in the heat, humidity and [...]

Now, 132 years after its inception, the Manhattan is undergoing a renaissance, fueled to a large degree by the resurgence in popularity of its featured performer, bourbon. Unlike the Martini, [...]

We should all have futures as bright as the one ahead for tea. George Jage, president and founder of the World Tea Expo, cites an industry estimate that sales of [...]

The Mosaic Restaurant is an elegant slice of heaven ensconced in the rolling desert hills of North Scottsdale. AZ. Over its four-year existence the Mosaic has evolved into an acclaimed [...]

Hot cocoa may well be the bar's magic bullet. It's a classic American beverage-warm, satisfying and universally appealing. Hot cocoa is a main component of any alcohol-free program, as well [...]

Americans love coffee. We guzzle it like a vampire sucks in plasma. Despite its year-round appeal, we often think of coffee specialty drinks as cold weather fare. The continued proliferation [...]

Born from water, air, earth and fire, no purer representation of time and place exists than the quintessential eau-de-vie, vodka. Its transparency and brilliant character are an intriguing combination, two [...]

We tend to take for granted that which is within reach day after day. It's the 'familiarity breeds contempt' thing. Such is the lowly regard in which juices and waters [...]

What you really don't want to have happen is for your guests to order your restaurant's signature drinks, only to find that there's nothing special about them. The natural presumption [...]

Some 4,700 years ago. the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was boiling water when leaves from a nearby camellia sinensis plant--now known as the black teashrub-landed in the open pot. Intrigued [...]

When 5:00 p.m. rolls around, the kid in all of us does a Fred Flintstone: We race to gain separation from work, and to begin enjoying the rest of our [...]