Earlier this week, the National Post published a story entitled “Are you going to drink that tequila or just talk about it?”, which has prompted more than a little bit of discussion within the Canadian bartending community. The article’s author talks about suffering through a tequila tasting in Toronto, claiming that the hosts spend too much time talking about how the spirits are made, and not nearly enough time shooting them back. Canadians, he claims, don’t care to learn more about what they’re drinking or about what makes it superior – they want to just skip to the shot.

He goes on to describe the bartender as “hapless”, and the discouragement to the profession has left more than a few bartenders feeling more than a little upset, but does he raise a good point? How many extraordinary bars or bartenders have you heard of within Canada? Sure there are a few Canadian headliners, but compare that to the news coming out of New York, or San Fransisco, we don’t even come close to the same notoriety.

Bartending in Canada can be significantly more difficult than in other parts of the world, for many different reasons — the most significant of these reasons being our government. Unlike New York State, whose Liquor Authority, which deals with license issuing, and Liquor Store Association, which oversees liquor retailers, each Canadian province has their own, government-run liquor store. What this means to bars and bartenders is that any product introduced to Ontario is subject to the approval of the Ontario government. The result of this is a market dominated by the brands with the biggest budgets, leaving little room for the smaller spirit and liqueur companies to make headway.

How long have Domaine de Canton and St. Germain cocktails and competitions been making news across the United States now? We still don’t have those products here in Ontario. The only reason I have them, along with products like Cherry Heering, G’Vine Gin, and Maraschino Liqueur is that I smuggled them back into Canada when I was at Tales of the Cocktail this summer.

With that said, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is the single-largest purchaser of wine and spirits in the entire world.. yet our variety and our quality offerings are minimal. Hell, the only spirit-based bitters you can purchase in Canada right now are still simply Angostura Aromatic. Head on over to Liquid Revolution and ask Shawn Soole about the nightmare he’s had trying to set up “House of Bitters” as a Canadian bitters supplier.

So what does it take to succeed as a bartender, especially in Canada? A whole hell of a lot of passion, and a persistence and commitment to the craft that’s sure to drive everyone around you nuts. Anyone can make drinks – it takes very, very little to stand behind the bar and pour wine, beer, and rum and cokes all night. To take that step beyond, requires more than a head full of drink recipes, and a cocktail shaker at hand. How you progress beyond that point depends directly on what the National Post suggests Canadians don’t do – care about what you drink.

Help us prove them wrong.

In case you missed the post on my facebook profile, here’s a copy of my response to the editor of the National Post.
My name is Nick Nemeth, and I’m an incredibly passionate bartender from Niagara Falls, Ontario. Recently, one of my peers from New York City pointed out one of your articles that, even now, I find difficult to craft the appropriate response to.

Besides myself, across Canada there are an ever-growing number of bartenders building a career out of providing exemplary service and quality cocktails to our guests. With that said, there are a good number of us that feel Adam McDowell was phenomenally out of touch with his article discussing a recent tequila tasting, published in the “Happy Hour” section of your newspaper…. See More

Speaking as one of the so-called “hapless” bartenders that Mr. McDowell refers to, I find it incredibly discouraging to think that someone in an influentially significant position like his would talk down about a career that so many of us are working so hard to elevate.

The “great” cocktail cities like New York, San Fransisco, and London (among others) cast a fairly large shadow on the beverage industry, often eclipsing the talent of many equally talented Canadian bartenders. Pair that with the legal red tape and limitations our government-run liquor stores impart on us, and it’s very difficult for an upstanding Canadian bartender to succeed.

Be that as it may, there are a rapidly growing group of professionals across Canada who have built careers out of tending bar. We’ve found much more within that glass of tequila than simply a shot to suck back, and there are a good number of us who are baffled as to how a beverage writer could be so ignorant to the quality cocktail culture flourishing around him.

Popularity: 77% [?]

Wine to Water reached out to me quite some time ago on Facebook and Twitter, but I hadn’t really sat down to look at their organization until this past week. Founded in 2004, the non-profit organization focuses on providing clean water to countries throughout the world, and has already made a huge difference in countries including Sudan, India, Cambodia, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Haiti.

The organization was founded by former North Carolina bartender, Doc Hendley. In January of 2004 the first fundraiser was held and by August of that same year Doc was living in Darfur, Sudan installing water systems for victims of the government supported genocide. From their website:

“When the idea came to me to start Wine To Water the only real world job experience I had was tending bar. I dreamed of building an organization that fought water related death and disease using completely different methods than anyone else. So I started raising money to fight this water epidemic the best way I knew how, by pouring wine and playing music.”

And so far, Wine to Water has made a huge difference throughout the world. Earlier this week, I received a message on Twitter from Doc that peaked my curiosity:

“Need a HUGE favor. We are 3 weeks away from the end of CNN Heroes. Please take 2 seconds, follow link & vote for Doc http://bit.ly/1J9CHo“

On November 26, for the third year in a row, CNN plans to honour the efforts of everyday people making a difference. Each of the top 10 CNN Heroes will receive an honorarium of $25,000, and the CNN Hero of the Year, making the biggest impact will receive an additional $100,000 in recognition of their efforts to better the world.

Through Cocktails and Cordials, I promise I won’t ever ask you to donate to me or the website, or any other cause for that matter, but I sincerely hope you will take the two minutes to recognize the extraordinary efforts of one of our own to make the world a better place. Doc Hendley is doing an amazing job, and I certainly count him among my own heroes. Please vote for him at:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/vote/

For more information, or to find out how you can get involved, please visit:
http://winetowater.org/

Popularity: 62% [?]

While quality cocktail bars around the world have embraced the idea of fresh, quality juices paired with premium spirits, much of the rest of the world has been slow to follow. While it may seem like a no brainer to most of you reading this, the idea of using quality ingredients for a superior cocktail has often been trumped by the idea of “cheaper”, ready made substitutes to make the bartender’s job faster, and more cost effective.

The truth is, the cost of a fresh cocktail program can often be on par with, if not cheaper than, post-mix “bar lime” or margarita mixes that are now all too common in bars across the world.

The next time you get in the “fresh cocktail” debate, here are some facts and figures that just might help you provide your guests with that quality cocktail.

Assumptions / Omissions
*This is the price I currently pay in my bar. In a seminar at Tales in July, Dale Degroff quoted a cost of $15 / 220 limes from his supplier, which brings the cost down to $0.06 per ounce of juice
**This assumes that each lime yields approx. 1 ounce of juice
***Omits the cost of simple syrup (sugar & water) to balance sour (approx. $0.01 per ounce)

Comparing Costs: Then and Now
When I took over the bar at Johnny Rocco’s here in Niagara Falls, the margarita was blended, using the Island Originals Margarita Mix and a ready-made, low quality tequila and triple sec combination. When we launch our new restaurant and cocktail menu, we’re going all fresh, and here’s the difference it’s going to make.

*Note: To get a full picture of the cost of a cocktail, factors such as labor cost, ice, cost of cleaning glassware, and more must all be considered as well

Which cocktail do you think will sell better? Providing a better quality drink and experience for your guest doesn’t have to be more expensive or inconvenient to you and your bar staff. With the proper preparation, and education of bartenders, we can all expect a little bit more value from our next drink.

Popularity: 91% [?]

As the use of popular tools like Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites becomes increasingly prevalent, bars, bartenders, spirit makers, and cocktail enthusiasts are using the unique opportunities social media provides to leverage their business, and with few exceptions, the list of people and companies I follow on Twitter are almost exclusively cocktail related. While I finish preparing my article on the bartender’s use of social media tools, here’s a list of 25 bartenders you need to follow, who use their Twitter accounts to communicate on a regular basis.

Popularity: 13% [?]