Latest news with #bartenders
Forbes
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
5 Easy July 4th Cocktails That Will Wow Your Backyard Guests
4th of July Holiday background. Cranberry punch with ice and stars shaped apple pieces in glass ... More against background of old turquoise board and sun rays. Patriotic American Flag drinks. Mock up. Fireworks aren't the only thing lighting up the sky on the Fourth of July—your cocktail glass deserves a little sparkle, too. Whether you're grilling on the patio, lounging poolside, or watching your neighbors try to operate a questionable box of fireworks, the right drink sets the tone for summer's most celebratory holiday. Sure, there's always beer and rosé, but why not raise the bar (literally) with something a little more festive? A great Independence Day cocktail should be cold, refreshing, and easy to batch—or at least not require you to muddle herbs while everyone else is in the pool. Think citrusy highballs, bright spritzes, and classic American spirits like bourbon, rye, and rum given a seasonal twist. And yes, if it's red, white, or blue (or better yet, all three), that's a bonus. I tapped bartenders and spirits brands across the country for their go-to July 4th drinks—recipes that range from ultra-simple to firework-worthy showstoppers. Whether you're planning a low-key cookout or a full-blown backyard bash, these cocktails will bring the star-spangled spirit straight to your glass. Bonus: many of them can be scaled up for pitchers or coolers, so you're not playing bartender all day while everyone else works on their sunburn. From a fruity spritz to a bourbon-spiked lemonade worthy of your uncle's grilling playlist, these drinks deliver summer in every sip. So grab your ice bucket, stock up on citrus, and cue the patriotic playlist—it's time to celebrate America with the most American tradition of all: a good cocktail in hand. Summer Vacation Summer Vacation Ingredients: Directions: Combine all ingredients into shaker and strain into highball glass over ice. Garnish with a lime wheel and mint. All-American Rum Limeade All-American Rum Limeade Mixologist: Lee Corbett (@TheRogueBrusselSprout) Ingredients: Directions: Mix blue spirulina with a barspoon of water, stir in rum, and set aside. Add Campari and grenadine to a tall glass, stir, then fill with ice. Slowly pour in limeade to avoid mixing layers, leaving 1 inch at the top. Float the blue spirulina rum on top through a fine-mesh strainer. Garnish with strawberries, blueberries, and glittery star-shaped apple slices; serve with a straw. Peach Botanical Sptriz Peach Botanical Spritz Ingredients: Directions: Fill a white wine glass with ice. Add all ingredients, stir gently, and garnish with a peach or orange slice. California Spritz California Spritz Ingredients: Instructions: Fill a wine glass with ice cubes. Pour all the ingredients over the ice and stir gently. Garnish with orange wheels Kentucky Lemonade Kentucky Lemonade Instructions: Add all ingredients except soda to shaker tin. Add ice and shake. Double strain over ice in highball (collins) glass. Top with lemon lime soda. Garnish with mint sprig and lemon wheel
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘They tell you every minor inconvenience': bartenders on which generation has the worst behavior
Gen Z are used to headlines about the things they've 'killed': writing in cursive, getting their driver's licenses, knowing how printers work, wearing skinny jeans. Their latest offense, according to a recent New York Times article: opening bar tabs. Bartenders and drinkers alike spoke to the Times about young people's hesitancy to leave their credit cards behind the bar, instead preferring to close out and pay after every single drink – no matter how many rounds they order. The piece sparked conversations on TikTok and Reddit about gen Z bar etiquette, which some call nearly irredeemable. 'Working a bar that is almost exclusively Gen Z, we stopped opening tabs altogether because they're so bad at even remembering they have a card,' one person wrote on r/bartenders. But does gen Z have the worst bar etiquette? The Guardian spoke to bartenders across the US about which generation behaves best and discovered that younger folks aren't the horrible customers so many trend pieces set them up to be. Older drinkers often have worse manners – and they don't have the excuse of inexperience to let them off the hook. Michaela Giunchigliani works in Sonoma, California, at a boutique winery where she serves people of all ages. 'By far the most challenging, stressful, taxing – and I say this with love – are the boomers,' Giunchigliani said. 'I find that boomers [roughly those aged between 60 and 80] keep this keen eye on any little thing that they can glob onto and say: 'Well, you didn't bend over backwards for me.' Gen Z doesn't have that same entitlement.' Rachel Phelps, a bartender in Pittsburgh, agreed that the '50-plus' crowd wins the distinction of most demanding. 'They're going to want to pick where they sit, and they're going to tell you every minor inconvenience. I used to work at a bar that didn't have air conditioning, and it was always my fault, according to them.' Gen Z, meanwhile, isn't nearly as fussy. 'If I just perform like the bare minimum of what I'm expected to do, we're good,' Giunchigliani said. Since the legal drinkers of gen Z haven't experienced bar culture for that long (the oldest in the cohort are 28) many of them don't know or care about certain bar rituals. Chloe Richards, who tends bar at dives in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, said gen Z is blissfully ignorant of 'buybacks', the old saloon tradition of getting a free drink or shot after a few rounds. (In 2019, the New York Post eulogized the ritual, saying gentrification and higher rents killed it off.) But 'old heads', as Richards calls her gen X-and-up patrons, come in expecting the quid pro quo. 'They think that after every three drinks, I'm supposed to give them a free one,' Richards said. 'That's not a real thing or a hard rule: it's a privilege. If you're a good customer or a patron, of course, but I don't owe anybody free anything.' Bartenders also said gone are the days when the youngest drinkers wind up the most wasted by the end of the night. Gen Z came of age during a seismic shift in drinking culture: they're imbibing much less than previous generations. This means the getting-sloshed baton falls to an older crowd. 'People in their late 30s to early 40s usually have higher tabs, but it comes at a cost,' said Dimitri Gellis, who manages the Chicago sports bar Fatpour Tap Works. 'They think they can still drink like they're in their 20s, but they can't hang. They'll order whiskey on the rocks like pros, but after a few they're holding onto the wall and they don't take it well when you cut them off.' Gen Z may be drinking less, but that doesn't mean their bar hangs can't last for hours – even if they don't keep ordering. 'Something that drives me fucking nuts is when they get like one drink and use that as an excuse to sit at the bar for five hours,' said a Brooklyn bartender who goes by Priz. 'Why go to a bar? One drink is not access to unlimited space at a place. You have to do a little more.' Gen Z's anxiety manifests at the bar counter, too: some of them haven't yet nailed the quickest way to order a round. 'What's most annoying to me is when people order their drinks one by one when they're in a group, especially when they all have to think about it,' Richards said. 'For me it's like, let's get it going, because you're slowing down the process. Get it together first before you get my attention.' Most bartenders say they understand why gen Z has a hard time in bars. Many spent formative going-out years in the wake of Covid restrictions. 'They're learning how to do this a bit later than the rest of us did,' Richards said. She gets it, but also that inexperience can mess with her tips. 'I think young people are just guessing numbers,' Richards said. Ultimately, bartenders say that there's no magic age for an ideal patron – their work headaches come from people of all generations. Phelps, the Pittsburgh bartender, added that overall, gen Z's looking for 'experiences' on nights out – it's not really about drinking anymore. In some ways, that makes them easier to serve. 'They want to look cute and take pictures,' she said. 'The sloppy behavior is just not there the way it was for us when we were younger. It's definitely better for the people behind the bar. But also, I'm always like, 'Have some fun! Do something stupid.''
Khaleej Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Restaurant Review: African Queen at J1 Beach is laid-back luxury done right
Upon entering African Queen, one is immediately greeted by Clet, the affable and utterly charming head of security. It's rare to find a doorman whose warmth and charisma could rival the food, but Clet sets the tone for what is, surprisingly, one of the more relaxed and approachable spots in Dubai's glittering J1 Beach scene. A bit of St. Tropez transplanted into the city's most fashionable strip; it might seem like it belongs among the gilded beach clubs of La Mer, yet, African Queen stands apart, notably more humble, effortlessly cool, and with a refreshing sense of ease that many of its flashier neighbours lack. The service is superb and personal. On more than one occasion, I was greeted by staff who, with a gleam of mischief in their eyes, reminisced about previous visits. It could be unnerving if not delivered with such warmth and good humour, but it's this very charm that ensures you keep coming back. They've somehow mastered that rare art of being attentively familiar without feeling intrusive. As the sun sets over the glistening beach, the atmosphere is exactly what you hope for in a Mediterranean-style hangout. The bar is a particularly good place to start: a team of bartenders who need no menu, just a brief description of your whims, will happily concoct whatever your heart desires. Whether perched by the pool or lounging on one of the generously spaced sunbeds, it's all perfectly accompanied by the low hum of chill tunes that seem more like a soundtrack than background noise. The aesthetic is unmistakably colonial chic, with those revolving fans spinning lazily overhead, as if to remind you that relaxation is paramount. The furniture is sophisticated, elegant, yet somehow still homely, like an old Riviera restaurant where the hours stretch on in an endless, sun-drenched afternoon. The menu? Vast. Perhaps a bit daunting, but undeniably promising. We began our culinary adventure with the towering seafood platter — as formidable as it was delicious. Alongside it, a modestly simple kale salad that managed to be far more addictive than it had any right to be, and a side of beef carpaccio that offered just the right amount of indulgence without tipping over into excess. The prawn chimichurri, a dish that could so easily go wrong, was a triumph. Indulgent without being overly rich, it provided the perfect balance to the dover sole — an unexpected, but entirely appropriate choice in this part of the world. The fish was expertly cooked, delicately accompanied by baked potatoes and a cool, creamy sour cream. All told, the main courses exuded that elusive balance of decadence and restraint that defines the very best of coastal dining. Desserts were a bit of an anticlimax, though nothing to turn your nose up at. The sorbet was refreshingly simple and surprisingly reviving, while the pistachio tiramisu — I dare say it's their signature and earned its place on the menu with good reason. Not groundbreaking, but undeniably enjoyable. And so, with the meal complete, it was back to the bar stools for a final round of sundowners, watching the evening unfold as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. African Queen may not be the most show-stopping on J1 Beach, but it's certainly the most effortlessly inviting, and that's no small achievement in a city brimming with glitzy options.
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
‘No tax on tips' could backfire amid growing tip fatigue
Let's talk about tipping — again. Because just when you thought navigating who gets what and how much was complicated enough, Congress is about to make it even messier. The Senate's unanimous endorsement of the 'No Tax on Tips Act' — exempting those earning less than $160,000 — could ignite a whole new level of tipping resentment. Will consumers feel like they're subsidizing a government tax break? And what about the workers — wait staff, bartenders, delivery drivers, hair stylists, manicurists — who depend on tips to make ends meet. Will they face more scrutiny, even judgment, of their work? If this tax break makes it into the final federal budget, it could create a costly ripple effect for both the people who leave gratuities and those who pocket them, potentially leaving both sides feeling shortchanged. Here's how I see this playing out. A Bankrate survey last year found that Americans have taken an increasingly negative view of tipping, with roughly 1 in 3 calling it 'out of control.' 'There are so many people we don't tip for providing services,' one reader wrote after my column last summer on whether tipping had gone too far. 'We tip a taxi driver but not an airline pilot? We tip at the counter of a cafe but not a fast food joint? We tip waiters but not nurses? Even in states where the minimum wage has been raised to $12, $15 or $17, we're still tipping. The whole thing is dumb and, frankly, should be outlawed. Pay people an appropriate wage for the job they do, the product they deliver or the service they provide. The consumer should not be involved in the decision of how much an employee takes home.' Suspending taxes on tips will inevitably fuel customer frustration with the practice. 'If we hated 'tipflation' before, imagine what it would be now!' a Facebook user wrote. Many merchants now use cashless payment devices that default to a tip selection ranging from 15 to 25 percent. If you want to leave less, you have to use a custom tip option with the worker staring at you while you do the math. This can be awkward and intimidating for a lot of folks. In the Bankrate survey, 34 percent of Americans said they are especially annoyed by pre-entered tip options on payment screens. This proposed tax incentive will 'expand the use of tipped work — a system rife with discrimination and worker abuse — potentially leading to consumers being asked to tip on virtually every purchase,' according to an Economic Policy Institute report. Tipping transfers some of the responsibility of providing a living wage from the employer to their customers. This has caused resentment among many consumers who liken tipping to subsidizing employers. Some experts say employers might be more inclined to keep base wages low if a significant portion of an employee's income comes in the form of untaxed tips. This could shift a larger share of a worker's compensation onto customers, and create financial instability should tipping habits change. This measure also could undermine efforts to raise the federal minimum wage, which has stood at $7.25 an hour since 2009, the Economic Policy Institute said. 'Not taxing tips could further undercut efforts to raise compensation for rideshare, delivery, and other gig/app-based workers who receive tips,' the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank said in its report. Tip amounts are generally discretionary, which creates uncertainty for the customer and the service worker. Many consumers already are unsure about the appropriate amount to tip. With a new tax break, some my feel justified in tipping less, which could result in greater fluctuations in workers' earnings. There's a subreddit — r/EndTipping — for people who dislike or want to abolish tipping. It has 35,000 members, who often argue that tipping is an unfair and inconsistent way for workers to earn a living. They frequently call on businesses to pay their employees more instead of relying on customer tips. 'Now that it looks like the government in the US will effectively pass a 'no tax on tips', will this alter how much you tip in full service restaurants, etc?' one user posted recently. Here are some of the responses: Others suggested reducing the amount you tip to account for the tax-free income. Under the proposal, eligible employees would get a federal income tax deduction for cash tips up to $25,000 a year. However, it's important to note that many lower income families may not get a large financial boost from the tax break. 'About 4 percent of families report tips to the IRS, and those who do are disproportionately young, unmarried, and lower-income, according to an analysis of the proposal by the Budget Lab at Yale University. 'This means that many tipped workers do not pay income tax to begin with and would not benefit from a new deduction.' If implemented, the 'no tip on tax' proposal will amplify customer tipping fatigue, fuel frustration over wage subsidization, and further highlight a practice that is unpopular with many Americans.
Forbes
13-05-2025
- General
- Forbes
Best Whiskey For An Old Fashioned That Isn't Bourbon
The Old Fashioned is about as straightforward as cocktails come. Spirit, sugar, bitters, and a twist. That's it. No bells, no whistles—just a glass of something strong, stirred until it's just right. It's also the kind of drink that tends to inspire strong opinions. Ask a bartender what they use, and you'll either get a two-word answer or a ten-minute monologue that ends in, 'But don't use anything too sweet.' Bourbon, of course, is the traditional go-to, with its smooth edges and honeyed charm. But as any bartender worth their orange peeler will tell you, bourbon doesn't hold a monopoly on Old Fashioneds. In fact, swap it out and you might just end up with a cocktail that's even more interesting—spicier, drier, smokier, fruitier. Something that feels familiar, but not expected. So I asked a handful of bartenders and beverage directors across the country: if you're skipping the bourbon, what should you be using instead? Mention you're making an Old Fashioned with rye instead of bourbon and you'll likely get an approving nod from bartenders everywhere. 'The best non-bourbon whiskey for an Old Fashioned is a rye,' says Jim McCourt, Bar Director and Partner at Repeal 33. 'It gives a spicier, drier taste. The herbal notes offer great complexity, while also cutting through the sweetness of the syrup.' That balance is everything. Rye's trademark spice helps tame the sugar and bitters in a way bourbon often doesn't. 'Old Fashioneds can easily become overly sweet when mixed with the wrong spirit,' adds Sharon Iannotti of il Giallo Osteria & Bar. 'Michter's Rye is my favorite pick because it's spicy with a really nice profile.' Rye's punch also makes it perfect for high-proof builds. Erika Kraus of Midway Café notes, 'Rye spice holds up, it's more complex… and also because it's proofed at 110. In a cocktail with ice, liquors definitely tend to get watered down, so using a higher proof keeps the heat and the spice.' Others rave about WhistlePig 6 Year for its bold balance, or Chicken Cock Rye for the way it plays off citrus and demerara syrup. Even blends like Wyoming Whiskey Outryder have fans. 'It has the spice and depth of a rye, but drinks smoother like a bourbon,' says Kat Gentleman of the Mangy Moose. 'You get a bit of bite straight from the liquor itself, while still having a sweet maple and buttery finish.' Irish whiskey may not be the first thing you think of for an Old Fashioned—but maybe it should be. 'If you're looking for a great alternative to bourbon whiskey, I always recommend giving Irish whiskey a shot—literally,' says Arthur Valderrama, bartender at Sons of Liberty Alehouse in Livermore, CA. 'I love the bright fruit notes and subtle maltiness that Irish whiskey brings to the table. It's a refreshing twist on the familiar.' Arthur swears by Dunville's 10 Year for its elegance and complexity, and riffs on the classic using apricot liqueur instead of the usual maraschino. 'Just half an ounce does the trick and really plays up the stone fruit notes in the whiskey,' he says. 'A lemon twist to finish—my personal touch—and you've got a cocktail that's familiar but distinctly different.' Irish whiskey's smoothness also makes it a crowd-pleaser for drinkers who find rye too punchy. 'Here at The Irish Exit, we like Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey because it's light and approachable,' says Nate Myers. 'Its higher ABV gives it the strength to shine in cocktails without getting lost. The rum cask finish adds a layer of rich, tropical sweetness that complements Demerara syrup especially well.' Ciaran Harrison of The Parkgate in New York has even experimented with smoked Irish whiskey Old Fashioneds featuring Muff Irish Whiskey, calling it 'a unique twist that respects the tradition of the cocktail while introducing an exciting, modern element.' alcohol getty Scotch in an Old Fashioned? You'll find purists who call that sacrilege—and others who are already halfway through making one. James Grant, Director of Beverage at Fairmont Royal York Hotel, is firmly in the pro-Scotch camp. 'There are people who say you can't use single malt Scotch whisky in cocktails. I think they're dead wrong,' he says. 'A single malt can bring a gorgeous, prominent profile to your cocktails.' His go-to? Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year for its nutty, fruity elegance, or Glenfiddich Fire and Cane, a peated single malt finished in rum barrels that's 'absolutely incredible for tropical cocktails.' If you're feeling less experimental, blended Scotch like Johnnie Walker Black Label or Compass Box Artist's Blend offer a consistent backbone with smoky or orchard-fruit notes that are right at home in a stirred drink. Scotch adds character—and a little attitude. You'll still get balance, but with a whisper of smoke or malt that reminds you you're not sipping a standard bourbon build. Let's step outside the whiskey aisle for a moment. 'Old Fashioneds are delightful with mezcal,' says Olivia Fernandez, Lead Bartender at The Ballantyne in Charlotte, NC. The trick, she says, is in the bitters. 'The smokiness from the smoked agave is made more robust by muddling a sugar cube and splash of water. In the spring and summer, I prefer Crude Bitters: Orange & Fig. In the fall and winter, I prefer more of a spicy or chocolate approach.' Finished with amarena cherries and a flamed orange twist, her mezcal Old Fashioned doesn't just substitute the whiskey—it reimagines the whole drink. If there's one thing all these bartenders agree on, it's that the Old Fashioned is a cocktail built for experimentation. Alex Mirzaian, Food and Beverage Manager at Hotel Per La, put it best: 'The fun of an Old Fashioned is how a simple swap of spirit transforms the cocktail. It's a playground for flavor exploration.' So whether you're reaching for a spicy rye, a malty Irish dram, or a smoky mezcal, the Old Fashioned can handle it. That orange peel isn't judging.
