It’s Called Speed Pouring For a Reason The Pro Bartender – Tips For Life
Pouring with both hands accurately and efficiently is possible
In this video you’ll see just how second nature it is for an accomplished bartender to pour varying measures precisely and at will while carrying on a conversation with the camera.
One of the techniques needed for one bartender to be able to take the place of two. (One more is in the post on “The Mechanics of Building a Drink“)
Speed Pouring is called speed pouring” because of the pouring technique used involving a carefully practiced count. Simply pouring a four count ounce isn’t going to allow for other factors and conditions during the life of the contents of the bottle to be considered unless a significant amount of time is put into practice.
For instance, factors which can affect flow rate include:
How empty or full is the bottle? The liquid in bottles which are at or below 20% full flows more slowly because the column of liquid is shorter and thus lighter and the pressure at the nozzle pourer end is less (think of this column of liquid as a water silo which, when high enough, can provide enough pressure for a fire hose). Also, if you’re pouring with your right hand and spinning/turning your body to the right the centrifugal force of the liquid speeds up the flow due to the added pressure of acceleration (the same as when a car accelerates quickly and you’re pushed back into the seat by g-force – so more g-force is added to the flow of liquid). Also there’s an initial “gush” of force when the bottle is first inverted which hastens that first quarter ounce or so coming out of the pourer as the liquid is forced through the narrowing neck of the bottle and into the pourer spout. This effect is similar to how an eel trap on a river works where the rocks are placed in a V shape forcing the water to move more quickly as its volume narrows toward the end of the funnel. It is the initial gush and weight of the fluid column free falling within the bottle which causes the extra force behind the first fraction of a second before the liquid settles in the upside down position of the pour. In physics, this first quick motion as it applies to moving a bottle with liquid in it in a busy bar is reffered to as a surge. To put it in technical terms, in physics, jerk, also known as jolt, surge, or lurch, is the rate of change of acceleration; that is, the derivative of acceleration with respect to time, and as such the second derivative of velocity, or the third derivative of position. For our purpose, the term surge is most accurate in describing what’s happening in the first second of the pour.
The first half ounce, three quarters of an ounce, and ounce will work alright with the four count method, but when you get past one and a quarter the constant pour rate of a full bottle will kick in fully and the count may have to be adjusted with the addition of the word “lift” at the end of the pour if you aren’t comfortably able to slightly lengthen and slow your count down. At two ounces you may find it necessary to use a “lift, lift” added to the eight count just to make your pour work.
Practice makes perfect though – just as in music, target shooting, or any other sport or skill. Through fine tuning a few times a week you can adjust accordingly to remain accurate and be able to pour two handed without the need of a jigger in one hand, without having to rinse off that jigger in between vodka and kahlua (for instance), and without having to run to the spill mat looking for the jigger to measure and pour each drink.
To those who argue that once speed pouring is learned there’s never any need to practice, first get yourself several varying sized shot glasses and do your own blind pour test a dozen or so times before making a judgement.
Bar owners, you may want to test all of your bartenders periodically (using water) and start assigning shifts based in part on how accurately each bartender you’ve hired can pour.
One other factor (besides personality etc) you may want to consider is how well each bartender knows their recipes. Provide an individual test to each bartender to take at the beginning of a meeting. On it have several drinks listed such as:
Rum Runner
Singapore Sling
Zombie
Mai Tai
Bahama Mama
Caribbean Rum Punch
Tell them to write down PRECISE amounts of each ingredient. Tell them that because there are many versions of each drink there’s no “right” answer (but the house may settle on one version as best) so they should relax and not feel nervous about anything.
Then have your meeting. Maybe even do the speed pouring accuracy check during this meeting. Now, after half an hour or so when the meeting is coming to an end give each bartender the SAME TEST AGAIN!
What you’re doing here is checking to see if the precise amounts they had written down the first time match the precise amounts they wrote down the second time. If they do match then the bartenders actually “know” the recipe they’re making and not just what ingredients are in it. If however the exact quantities they write down the second time don’t match up with what they wrote down the second time – they don’t “know” how they made the drink the first time and are just guessing “a little of this, a little of that” which means your bar guests have no idea how their next drink will taste.
The set of six clear green/yellow “Pour Check” cylinders (I showed one of them in the video) are available at http://BarProducts.com and are relatively inexpensive. They have other products for bar owners and bartenders as well. NOTE: I am not selling this product and have nothing to do with the company that manufactures or sells them.
POURERS WITH STAINLESS STEEL BALL IN THEM:
To those who think speed pouring is a thing of the past now that there are pourers with a metal ball in them, don’t be fooled. Take a glass and begin pouring by holding the bottle horizontally. The liquor will pour and not stop even after eight ounces have come out. By varying the pitch angle of the bottle a bartender can thus pour as much liquor out of the bottle into the glass and nobody will be the wiser as to how come the liquor is still not right when inventory is done.
If you’re using those STAINLESS STEEL BALL POURERS to keep your bartenders honest, don’t bother. They won’t work no matter who you have watching them.
TO PROSECUTING AND DUI DEFENSE ATTORNEYS:
My court services as an expert in the alcohol industry are available locally in central Florida and elsewhere with per diem expenses. I am able to question witnesses on the stand, be questioned and provide supporting testimony, conduct testing, and provide council with questions necessary for either defense or prosecution. Additionally I am ServSafe Alcohol Advanced Alcohol Certified, as well as Aramark TEAM Certified in stadium alcohol service. Please feel free to contact me at 813 650 1035
Site Author, David J. Curtis: David Curtis, a seasoned professional with decades of bartending and bar management experience began his career in Midtown Manhattan, NY, tending and managing bars before diving into Manhattan’s bustling nightlife club scene. Over the years, he has mastered high-volume, high-pressure bartending as the lead bartender in iconic Midtown clubs and tended bar briefly in the Wall Street area, generating over $1,350,000.00 annually in personal drink sales. He has since extended his expertise to establishments in Georgia and now Tampa in Exclusive Platinum Service Awards Clubs, Florida. David’s roles as a Bartending Instructor at the American Bartending School in Tampa, while maintaining a second job bartending, and his years experience of managing bars, and working as a Brand Ambassador along with his extensive professional library of over 1,000 bartending books, highlight his dedication to continually refining his craft. He holds a diploma in Bar Management and is BarSmarts certified by Pernod Ricard.
