Chris The Bartender

My friend who first got me blogging three years ago told me never to apologize to your readers for not uploading content recently. He said that bloggers who begin every post with "Sorry it's been awhile" sound like complete amateurs. So, I'm not doing that....

However, what I will do is get excited about all the new things coming to ChrisTheBartender.com in 2010!! Now that football season is over I can finally use my bar again on Sundays to film new videos, which is what I have been anxiously waiting for. So for you loyal readers and bartenders, I promise that 2010 will bring at least twice as many flair instructional videos, new focus on exhibition flair and routine building, five times as many cocktail mixing tutorials, and new links to what's happening in the world of flair bartending. I'll also be adding some focus to teaching brand new bartenders the basics of the craft. After all, I love me some flair bartending, but I love me an intelligent, well-trained bartender even better.

If I can manage the back-end programming side of it, I'm also looking to create a forum or discussion board so that beyond just commenting on my posts, you'll now be able to communicate with other readers, pose questions of your own, and interact with the community at large.

Finally, I'll also be adding some sponsorship to the site. I've been very conscious about advertisements on the site, which is why there hasn't been any for the first three years. However, contrary to what one of my very few negative commenters thinks, I don't live the "life of luxury as a bar consultant." I sling drinks in a bar 4-5 nights a week, teach classes, train bar staff, and occasionally guest bartend. My goal with sponsorship is to subsidize my income so that I can work a little less at those endeavors and commit more time to bringing you great, helpful content on this website. My aim is to find products that I use and love, and sponsors that I can whole-heartedly recommend to connect you with. If you like them, I hope you'll support my sponsors. I'll be very cognizant of obnoxious or intrusive ads and I want to hear from you if you think any of the advertisements are too much. 

I'd appreciate any feedback you care to give. Ooh, and I'd like it even more if you tell a friend or co-worker!

I'll be filming and editing videos during the month of February. New stuff to come by March. And, as always, practice, practice!!

I've got the bar to myself from noon-3pm tomorrow to film some videos. I've got some exciting moves I'm anxious to break down and share with you guys: the multi-pour, some new glass moves, and finally, we'll start moving into exhibtion flair. This is when things get fun. If you've hung out with me this long, get ready for the real goods starting tomorrow. Get a helmet, get your practice bottles, and get ready to get funky.

Two weeks ago I started picking up two shifts per week at the local Hilton to help out my friend Josh, the manager there, while they search for a permanent full-time bartender. Turns out working 6 days and 60 hours/week hasn't left me with much time to get new videos up. I'm gonna schedule time to film some more flair moves and recipes this week and do my best to get them up Monday. Hang in there, more goods are coming, I promise. On that note, any drinks you'd like to see made? I'm going to do a Sex on the Beach, a Chocolate Martini, a Cosmo, and a few others, but I'm open to hearing about any of your favorites.

So far, I'm liking the Hilton - extra hours, extra money, new people - but I'm anxious to get back to spending more time on this site, as well as a few other projects I'm working on. So, if you're in the Madison, WI area, and you're looking for a full-time position at the absolute nicest hotel in town, stop by the Hilton and ask for Josh Foley. Great place to work, and I'd stay there myself, if I didn't already have a full-time job. That, and I have serious moral objections to working more than 40 hours per week....

Oh, and the absolute only negative thing I can say about the place is, they use jiggers!! What's up with that? After 10 years of free-pouring, I can pour exactly 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 1 1/4 oz, and 2 oz, on the dot everytime. I almost didn't know how to use the damn thing. Anybody else out there still using jiggers? Do you prefer them or is it a managerial thing? It's like having a calculator right in front of you but still using an abacus - drives me nuts. A good bartender with a Spill-Stop 285-50 can pour more acurately, more swiftly, any day of the week over some bottle-jockey with a jigger. Am I wrong?

Check back next week for some sweet new moves. I'll even throw in some extras to make up for lost time:)