:: the financial reality of pursuing (and sticking with) your passion ::

This article was first published on the USBG National site in April 2018 and slightly adapted here.

A podcast by T. Cole Newton and Steve Yamada a little over a year ago broached the subject of how doing what you love sometimes does not pay the bills. In one instance, they interviewed Nick Jarrett who I have grown to know through his recipes due to his amazing palate. He lamented the fact that craft cocktail bartending makes it a challenge to earn a living, so he currently splits his time between Cure, the preeminent cocktail destination in New Orleans, and a pair of dive bars there where he makes most of his money to live.

This was a topic that was rather poignant for me at that moment for I had just left a craft cocktail program for a more volume establishment. The bottom line became apparent that making fancy drinks with perfect technique and garniture was not especially scalable, and in fact, it made it impossible to pay my bills for this and other reasons more specific to the establishment, its design, and its location. I traded my Instagram-able drinks with fancy imported glassware for less splendor but an hourly take-home that was literally double what I had been making doing things that I was proud of.
This is not an uncommon story of people opening or joining a high concept bar program only to leave a few months later due to not being able to pay the rent or enjoy luxuries in life like eating a meal out at a restaurant themselves. I remember years ago being surprised when I heard a friend discussing why he left a famous cocktail lounge here in Boston. He described how the $50-70 in tips each night minus the cost of dry cleaning his outfits would not allow him to live in the city. This was in the opening few months of this multi-award winning establishment’s life, but it does frame the cost of being involved in these top-notch programs. There are definitely models that have succeeded with the right location and price points to allow the bartenders to make money by bringing in the clientele looking for that experience. Sometimes this is hit upon right off the bat, or more likely, adapted over time to fix the issues. Some mix their craft drink making with volume moments by being located next to sporting venues or business districts, or they are better known for their high-end food that allows some leeway on having a high quality but low volume cocktail program.

There are definitely some bartenders who stick it out for the training and the hope of where the experience could lead them -- all with the diminished wages being the cost of education and accreditation. Others stick it out with an optimism that things will get better. Either way, savings are often burned or credit card debts rack up.

An issue that lead to this poor profitability can be the amount of time necessary to set up the bar for service. One place in town doing more tropical drinks had the whole bar team show up 3 hours before open to start with their juicing and syrup making program that ranged from preparing standard citrus to more complex fruits like pineapple. Other challenges there included that the drinks were so involved that the bartenders had less time to deal with their guests (and sometimes needing an extra bartender in the tip pool just to handle the labor), and the ones making most of the sales and hence the money were the servers who could move the drinks and the food faster to a greater number of seats. Pricing the time, effort, and expense of these drinks can also out-price them for the market. Guests may show up for a single round before continuing their night at a lower key and less expensive venue. Moreover, if there is a kitchen, they may skip the pricy food or only order an appetizer instead of a full meal. Even with a solid beer and wine program, a place known for its cocktails will have a harder time to get guests to order these easy to prepare options.

Are there ways of getting the best of both worlds? In terms of the dynamics, there are many ways of batching drinks and utilizing draft systems or bottled cocktails to speed up the delivery during service with more of the work being done on the backend before guests arrive. Properly set up stations with bottles, tools, refrigerators, and sinks in close proximity can also make or break the equation. Many of the other options such as less complex garniture and the like come at a cost of the finished product, but it may mean the difference of moving more drinks and having staff that will not be perusing the job boards on the regular. Financially, pooled house situations or higher server tip-outs can help, but often there are some servers who will coldly protest this maneuver. And I have met servers who used to be bartenders, but they saw serving as more money in fewer hours and less work. Campaigning for a better bartender hourly or a prep staff so bartenders spend less time doing things other than facing guests and making drinks are options; however, management often enjoys the thrills of cheap labor and actively resists that. Some of my bartender friends are lucky enough to have wages and sometimes benefits that show that the owners care for their situation, but this is more of a rarity from what I gather.
It can all boil down to whether the management can be reactive enough to look out for their staff instead of solely keeping an eye on the sales and other numbers that look more at how the house itself is doing. Does the management look into whether their bar staff can earn a competitive wage given the program? Does the bar manager ask too much of the team in order to make their own name at the others’ financial expense? Uncompromising vision can lead to high turnover if the numbers do not work out for the staff despite the local media, Yelp, and perhaps international bar associations singing praise and gifting awards all along the way. It can seem like a trade off at times of being proud of your program versus getting paid for your labor.

Many seek out middle of the road quality vs. volume establishments or mix the highs with the lows (in both volume and quality) akin to Nick Jarrett’s decision to work a craft cocktail and a popular dive bar that I mentioned above. Cross-training like this can provide valuable lessons in bartending. Working in a lesser quality bar program will teach both humility and how to get people to like you for you and less so about the fancy drinks or arcane beer knowledge you possess. I have also witnessed some comrades stick it out while trying to work 6 or 7 days a week to make what their peers can do it 3 or 4. Others have done the high quality-low pay route for a time to make a name for themselves before bailing on the profession for more lucrative jobs like sales reps and brand ambassadors.

I am still trying to figure things out as I strive to pay my way in a city that seems to get more expensive to live in by the year. And it seems that I have more observations than answers here, so please feel free to join in conversation in the comment section below with your thoughts and advice.

prizefighter

1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
2 sprig Mint
1 pinch Salt

Shake with ice and double strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint sprigs and add straws.
Two Thursdays ago, I stopped into Spoke and asked bartender Daniel for the Prizefighter. Offshift Spoke bartenders California Gold and Sam Karachi described to me how the drink was created by Nick Jarrett at a recent Tales of the Cocktail. The original called for muddled lemon wedges but the staff at Spoke decided to simplify the recipe for expediency purposes. Once mixed, the mint bouquet contributed greatly to the nose. A lemon, grape, and caramel sip led into Fernet Branca swallow that was modulated by the Carpano Antica and was followed by mint notes.

Postnote 09/15/17: I found the recipe that Nick posted on the Barnotes app.

Prizefighter No. 1
N. Jarrett original from Clover Club, 2010; Mr. Boston's Official Bartender's Guide, 75th anniversary edition.
• 1 oz Fernet Branca
• 1 oz Carpano Antica
• 3/4 oz Simple Syrup
• 1/4 oz Lemon Juice
• 6-8 leaf Mint
• 3-4 wedge Lemon
• 1 pinch Salt
Muddle lemon, mint, and salt in simple syrup. Combine other ingredients in tin, whip shake. Fine strain over crushed ice, garnish lavishly with mint. Two straws.

:: fred's picks for the top cocktails of 2017 (in) ::

I will round out my eighth annual trilogy of year end wrap up posts by selecting my favorite recipes we tried at our home bar this year. Given my schedule of working nights, I find myself having the home bar as the only drinking option available, so I definitely have put a bit more focus on my closest and dearest bar with my posts. This list is dedicated to the best recipes created by bartenders living, deceased, and unknown from around the world all brought to me at my home bar (where luckily there is no last call).

January: January's Winter doldrums were assuaged by a number of Tiki drinks including the vanilla and molasses riff on the Piña Colada, Wicked Wahine's Blackstrap Betty. For runners up were a duo of elegant potations, Jupiter Disco's quirky sparkler Negative Space and Death & Co.'s spiced tequila Alaska called Alto California.

February: Elegance this time stole the month with the Canon Cocktail Book's Daisy Royale with sparkling wine, Yellow Chartreuse, pineapple syrup, and a duo of base spirits. Tiki was definitely strong with the 12 word drink name, The Facts Concerning the Late Van Hagen & The Thirsty Man's Safari, that appeared like a riff on the Mr. Bali Hai, and my other runner up was more Caribbean-themed with Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars' Cubanola that reminded me of a Hawaii Cocktail with a hint of Painkiller.
March: The Canon Cocktail Book came through with another Champagne cocktail winner with the Liliko'i Royale that utilized the passion fruit-Campari pairing that Boudreau taught me with his Novara back in 2011. Also worthy of the nod were the Oaxacanite from Sasha Petraske: Regarding Cocktails and the Yankee Skipper, a rye-rum Liberal from Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars.

April: The pisco Martini variation gracefulness of the Sweet Hereafter from Death & Co. was quite amazing. A duo of Tiki numbers warmed my heart and soul with Rafa Garcia Febles' Papa Hogo and Pagan Idol's Pagan Breakfast #2.

May: Another Jupiter Disco recipe got my approval with the 100 Year Old Cigar, one of Maks Pazuniak's recipes that got into the Brooklyn Bartender Book. Like April, tropical fraternal twins gave me some joy with the Apricole Swizzle from Matt Pietrek of CocktailWonk and By Way of the Dodo as a Tiki Last Word riff by Matt Rose at his Watson and the Shark nights.
June: I'm having a hard time picking my favorite from two Brooklyn Bartender recipes, so let's call it a tie between the smoky Scotch-maple Daiquiri called Mr. Howell and the Singapore Sling riff pictured above dubbed the Brooklyn Sling. For tropical delights, I rather enjoyed the Tiki Bowl that came across like an orange for grapefruit Navy Grog with shades of a Volcano Bowl.

July: My pick for July had me running out to my mint patch for Chad Arnholt's 3's Away first crafted at Trickdog. The runners up were a duo of orgeat-laden tropical libations, namely Humuhumunukunukuapua'a from Smuggler's Cove and the smoky Scorpion Reef.

August: The drink we returned to for its magical tequila, cucumber, and absinthe combination was the Hole in Cup from Sasha Petraske: Regarding Cocktails. Noteworthy were Eryn Reece's smoky and vegetal rye drink the Intrepid and Zac Overman's crafty Three Scots and a Dash.
September: Dirty Dick's Polynesian Remedy as Paris' answer to a tropical of a Penicillin was rather delicious. The secondary nod goes to a duo of flavor extreme drinks of the Fernet-laden Golden Gate Swizzle and Nick Jarrett's lesser known Prizefighter No. 7 (lesser known since most people only have heard of the first of this series).

October: Martin Cate's 3 gin (gin, Genever, sloe) Zombie, The Modern Prometheus, was a mighty note of October. Ian Kearney's Mambo #5 with tequila, Swedish punsch, Campari, and orgeat, and the pear-Genever delight of Billy Helmkamp's Church Key at the Whistler in Chicago were worthy libations for the month.
November: The agave Grand Street of sorts from Jason Eisner called the Mero Mero was perfect nightcap material. As runners up, the well-balanced Genever punch of Ricky Gomez at Teardrop Lounge, the Weirding Way, and the pisco-based Hemingway Daiquiri meets a French 75 from Death & Co., the Muccho Picchu, helped to make November a champ!

December: I was impressed by the elegant sparkler, Cleopatra's Champagne Cocktail via the 2016 Waldorf Astoria Bar Book for its red apple notes. Worthy to mention were the smoky riff on the Red Hook called the Meat Hook from Vancouver's L'Abattoir and the tropical Haole's Downfall by Nick Feather at San Francisco's Restaurant Skool.

For trends, I have enjoyed the resurgence of sparkling wine-containing cocktails at my home bar quite a bit; they have crept in both as crafty riffs and as unique creations and sourced throughout the decades. Tiki and tropical drinks are still going strong at my home bar in both modern and historical forms, and these gems brings some great dignity to the genre. It is good to see Genever getting more action here after the cocktail world's interest in it plummeted not too long after the Bols Genever release. Moreover, smoke appearing through Scotch or mezcal in intriguing split spirit pairings was also a solid trend at home and in my drink creations at work.

cutman

1 oz Malört (Jeppson's)
1 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
3/4 oz Apricot Liqueur (Giffard)
3-4 wedge Lemon
6-8 leaf Mint
1 pinch Salt

Muddle the lemon, mint, and salt. Add the rest, shake with ice, double strain into a double old fashioned glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish lavishly with mint.

After having Nick Jarrett's Prizefighter No. 2, I was inspired to riff on it like I did after imbibing his Prizefighter No. 7 with my Cornerman riff. For a bittering agent to be mollified by the salt, I opted for Malört, and I figured that apricot liqueur would pair rather well with it. For the third element, I was going to go with the more traditional sweet vermouth until I remembered how well Swedish punsch works with apricot -- something that I learned from the classic Havana Cocktail that I utilized in the Tainted Love, Gunwale Punch, and other drinks. Finally, the name Cutman came to me the last time I riffed on the Prizefighter series, and I kept it in mind for the next time. Indeed, a good cutman is invaluable in the corner to minimize the effects of absorbed strikes and thus prolong the fighter's unobstructed vision and breathing, and in the end is not as gruesome as it sounds.
The Cutman began with a mint and apricot bouquet gifted to the nose. Next, lemon and orchard fruit on the sip gave way to woody, lemon, and mint flavors with a tea-like finish. As the ice melted and diluted out the salt, the flavors got a bit more intense on the swallow. Finally, Andrea commented that the combination as a whole "tastes like really delicious iced tea."

magic julep

1 oz Fernet Branca
1 oz Angostura Bitters
1 oz Simple Syrup
8-10 leaf Mint

Muddle mint leaves in simple syrup. Add the rest of the ingredients and crushed ice, stir, and add more crushed ice to form a cone on top of the drink. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Two Fridays ago, I plucked some mint from the garden to make a drink I spotted in Gaz Regan's 101 Best New Cocktails email called the Magic Julep. With an heavy dose of Angostura Bitters, Giuseppe Gonzalez's creation at Suffolk Arms reminded me of a bit of his other works including the Stormy Mai Tai, and the Fernet in the Julep reminded me of Ryan Lotz's Thin Mint Julep and Nick Jarrett's Prizefighter.
The Magic Julep's mint donated heavily in the aroma department. Next, the sip gave forth a sweet caramel combination, and the swallow was rather herbal with mint, gentian, and menthol notes. Despite the extreme ingredients in the mix, the Magic Julep was not overwhelming and rather easy to enjoy (relative to my palate, that is).

el rey

2 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
2 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)
2 dash Boker's Bitters (Jerry Thomas Decanter)
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain over ice, and garnish with an orange-cherry flag.
After making the Royal Street Royale, I wanted to keep things on the lighter side, so I opted for a sherry recipe that I had spotted on the BarNotes app. That drink was the El Rey crafted by Nick Jarrett at the Clover Club in 2010 as a sherry egg white Sour. Once prepared, it gave forth a nutty sherry and orange peel aroma that led into a creamy, semi-dry grape and lemon-flavored sip. Next, the Amontillado's oxidized nuttiness came through on the swallow with a lightly spiced finish. Overall, it was light and playful yet elegant.

northern lights

2 oz Malört (Jeppson's) (*)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with crushed ice, and garnish with mint sprigs.
(*) Perhaps 1 oz each of Malort and Bourbon would work well here too for a slightly less bitter-herbal balance.

After seeing the recipes for the Port Light and Starboard Light in Trader Vic when I made the Pinky Pincher, I still had the structure in my head two days later. For some reason, I decided that instead of whisk(e)y, what if I were to replace the spirit with Malort? I might have made the connection when I misremembered making a riff of Nick Jarrett's Prizefighter that included Malort and passion fruit; in the end, those were two different drinks: the Cutman and the Cornerman, respectively. For a name, I was considering the Nordic Light akin to the Nordic Toddy, but the Northern Lights seemed rather nautical especially for boats a bit further north.
The Northern Lights welcomed the nose with mint and passion fruit aromas. Next, a creamy lemon and honey sip transitioned into a bitter herbal and passion fruit swallow. Overall, the egg white and honey worked to mollify the Malort's bitterness and the passion fruit seemed to modulate it into something a bit more fruity and pleasant.

pugilist

1 oz Cardamaro
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Cardamom Syrup
6-8 leaf Mint
2 wedge Lemon

Muddle lemon wedges and mint, add rest of ingredients, and shake without ice. Strain into a rocks glass, fill with crushed ice, garnish with mint sprigs, and add straws.

Two Wednesdays ago, I paid a visit to Sarma just as the dinner crowds had begun to subside. There, I was greeted by bar manager Vikram Hedge who was surprised to see me in Boston instead of New Orleans and was glad to make me a drink. The cocktail that caught my eye was the Pugilist which seemed like a take on Nick Jarrett's Prizefighter. Vik supported my assumption and described how he wanted to craft a variation that was less Fernet Branca forward than the original.
The Pugilist's mint garnish contributed greatly to the drink's bouquet. A fruit-driven lemon and grape sip gave way to a more complex bitter, herbal, mint, and spice swallow. Indeed, the Pugilist was less controlled by the Fernet Branca for the other ingredients rounded out the flavor profile.

prizefighter no. 3

1 oz Fernet Branca
1 oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry (Oxford 1970)
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
6-8 leaf Mint
3-4 wedge Lemon
1 pinch Salt

Muddle the lemon, mint, and salt. Add the rest, shake with ice, double strain into a double old fashioned glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish lavishly with mint.
Two Wednesdays ago, I returned to Nick Jarrett's Prizefighter series. The one I decided upon was the third one that varied from the first Prizefighter by calling for Pedro Ximenez instead of Carpano Antica vermouth, and I was curious to see how it turn out as it headed in the Sherry Cobbler direction. Once prepared, the Prizefighter No. 3 donated a raisin, menthol, and mint bouquet to the nose. Next, lemon, grape, and caramel notes on the sip swung at raisin, mint, and menthol flavors on the swallow. Indeed, the great depth of flavor from the Pedro Ximenez sherry made for a more complex drink than the sweet vermouth original albeit with a less herbal focus.

rook racked

1 1/2 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quina
1 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac (Couvoisier VS)
1/2 oz Tanqueray Gin
1 tsp Gilka Kümmel (Helbing)
3 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)
4 dash Absinthe (1/2 bsp Kübler)

Stir with ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass (coupe), and garnish with a lemon twist.
Two Saturdays ago, I was perusing the BarNotes app when I spotted a curious drink by Nicholas Jarrett called the Rook Racked that he crafted at Brooklyn's Dram in 2011. With Bonal, Cognac, and absinthe, it reminded me of the Quinquina Cocktail, but with the additional herbal elements from gin and kümmel instead of fruit ones, it reminded me of some of the drinks in Beta Cocktails. Once prepared, the Rook Racked offered up a lemon oil aroma over anise and caraway notes. Next, a grape sip gave way to brandy, juniper, caraway, and cumin flavors on the swallow with an anise finish.