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Expanded Story Background: How to Keep Your Story Straight!
Not all drinks in bartending schools (or elsewhere) have memory “cheat” devices provided for you. And for those that do, there’s no glassware, garnish, or fractions of ounces. Sometimes that “Kills Bad Guys” B-52 drink recipe acrostic itself leaves too much to guesswork. Does that “G” in “Guys” stand for Grand Marnier? …Goldschläger?? Golden Rum even???1
While I (and others, including Dr. Anthony Metivier) think that the best way to memorize is not to rely on other people’s elaborative encoding examples2, but to augment, change, or even entirely replace theirs for whatever is most meaningful for you. (That includes some of what I’m going to be showing you in my examples. If you can find something better more powerful and meaningful to you, use it.) Some authorities (Mnemonics for Study, 2nd ed. Study Skills, Book 2 by Fiona McPherson, Wayz Press) think “It’s often suggested that a mnemonic you’ve thought up yourself will be stronger than one that is given to you, but there is no evidence for this in relation to keywords. Indeed, much of the time students do better if they’re given the keyword, rather than having to think it up themselves” This is true if you’re not being taught how to create mnemonics as you are here. That same source also says “What is clear from the research is that instruction in the technique is vitally important. Indeed there is some evidence that effective use of the keyword mnemonic requires individual instruction (as opposed to group instruction).But I don’t think this is the crucial ingredient to effective instruction. I think that the difference between experiments where the keyword mnemonic has been clearly superior, and those where it has not, comes down to how much direction the students have been given in how to use the technique.”
Keeping your story straight
In the case of the B-52, part of keeping my story straight, I have three ingredients and an airplane. The B-52 airplane (aka Flying Fortress) was an American bomber and transport used in WWII. The Liqueurs are from Mexico (Kahlua) an American Ally, from Ireland (Bailey’s) an American Ally, and from France (Grand Marnier) another American Ally.
That’s important to me because I know that none of the three ingredients come from German speaking countries. I know that Goldschläger isn’t one of the ingredients. I also know that Galliano isn’t part of the drink, because Mussolini’s Italy was on Hitler’s side while Mussolini lived.
So similar to getting a story straight when writing a book, elaborative encoding makes sure you’ve thought a bit more in depth about what you’re memorizing, and when you’re stuck deciding between Goldschläger and Grand Marnier, you instantly narrow down to Grand Marnier becaus “No Germans were on those planes!”
If at first you don’t succeed- Keep Encoding!
Sometimes you’ll hit bedrock the first time you try, and won’t have to even do much rehearsal, or any at all. Depending on your focus, skill, and luck (SPAM was perfect for instance!) you will have varying successes. You will find out during recall rehearsal whether you need to repair, reinforce, or back it up with a secondary fallback. Usually I find that when I have to go that far, that one of the secondaries becomes the primary.
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.
Footnotes 👇
- Noobs! Yeah, no, it happens to veteran bartenders too sometimes, even the best of us. Ask any bartender who went back to work 5 months after the Covid-19 outbreak if they forgot any well known recipes. Answer: yes, or they’re working shot and beer places and didn’t know many recipes to start.[↩]
- Elaborative encoding is a type of mnemonic in which new information is made memorable in order to be able to recall it more easily. It is making information more elaborate and complex in order to be more likely to remember it in the future.[↩]