Guest NoCalMike Report post Posted June 10, 2003 I heard you pour the alcohol into the shot glass over a spoon. I am also wondering if buying the plastic pour spouts would help out as well. There is a Beverages & More store in town that sells all the alcohol and accessories, so I just need to know what to get. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Spicy McHaggis Report post Posted June 10, 2003 From DrinkStreet.com: Tending Bar: Shots & Layered Drinks Once you know how to pour shaken cocktails, most shots become quite easy - you simply shake the alcohol and strain into a shot glass. Layering alcohols on top of one another, however, is much more difficult. Building layered drinks requires a steady hand, patience, and a peaceful environment where you won't be bumped and the table won't vibrate. The recommended equipment for layering drinks is a bar-spoon and a pousse cafe mug or pony glass, but you can also layer drinks in a shot glass or any other narrow glassware. Additionally, you are best off if you also have a serving pitcher in addition to your glassware. When layering a drink, be sure to always pour in order from heaviest to lightest. We list several alcohols in order of weight here. Layering a drink is easiest if you measure each successive liquor into a measuring glass, and then use the measuring glass to pour the liquor along your bar spoon and into the serving glass. The bar spoons twisted handle will allow you to slow the progress of the alcohol from the measuring glass to the serving glass and minimize the amount that your two ingredients will mix. The goal is to pour the successive ingredients so gently that they don't break the surface tension maintained by the previous ingredient, which should mean that the two liquids won't mix at all. There are two ways to use a bar spoon, and we explain both here. Method one: The bowl of the spoon under your finger Take your bar spoon and flip it both horizontally and vertically from the way that you would normally hold a spoon so that the bowl of the spoon is in your hand opposing your index finger. Nestle the twisted portion of the spoon over the pouring lip of your measuring glass, and place the end of the spoon against the inside of the pousse café glass. Holding the concave spoon portion of the bar-spoon will make it harder to use it to eat your Cheerios, but should give you more control over the speed of the pour and the orientation of the bar spoon. If the alcohol is not already pouring along the length of the spoon, slowly increase the angle of the spoon and measuring glass until the alcohol begins to trickle down the length of the spoon into the drink. If this is done slowly enough, your second layer of alcohol should have trickled onto the top of the first and should float lightly on top. If the drink you're making has more layers, continue to use the measuring glass and slowly pour the drink. As you gain experience, you will be able to speed up the process a bit, but you'll never be able to build layered drinks quickly. Method two: The bowl of the spoon in the serving glass The other way to use your bar spoon is to push the flat back of the bowl against the inside of the serving glass, but to otherwise use the spoon in the same way, slowly pouring the liquid down the handle and now onto the bowl. The idea is that the alcohol will slide and spread out on the back of the spoon and, more spread out, will not strike the lower layer of alcohol as quickly. Although this method proves more difficult as you have less control over the spoon, it also offers a faster way to pour these challenging drinks. Link Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest NoCalMike Report post Posted June 11, 2003 thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MarvinisaLunatic Report post Posted June 12, 2003 I had to do that in my mixology class as one of the tests. Granted the alcohol and all was fake colored water/other liquids of varying density, but it was still hard. It looks real neat, but its too much trouble for a drink that someone is only going to look at for a few seconds... One other part of the test was to do 20 mixed drinks in 10 minutes, including washing the bar tools after each drink and replacing the bottles back in their original positions before moving on to the next drink. So basically you had to memorize where all the different types of alcohol are, what order to pour them, how to efficiently wash 2 or 3 things at a time while garnishing the drink appropriately, least of all remembering what is in each drink. I think I got a 16, which was actually a pretty good score considering that there were some who got real low scores even though I don't think they deserved them..The Professor (affectionately called the Bar Nazi..eh..) was extremely strict on the time limits and whether or not everything was done to the letter..Im amazed I got 16 myself.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Grand Slam Report post Posted June 17, 2003 Ah... bartending... I loved it while I did it, but as a day bartender, the tips were crap. Thus, I had to move on and get a real job. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
