Yeah I've tried pretty much everything. I mean, I can and will do shots, but the taste is never enjoyable enough for me to want to sip on it.

Way too much triple sec imo

I like 4:2:1

That's fair. A bit too much lime juice for me personally, but I could see going 2:2:1. I like 'em strong.

That sounds better, I also drizzle grand manier over the top (grand gala for lower end) to cut out SOME of the lime taste and it is also a good substitute for Sweet n Sour mix

I can have a drink here and there. I've had a couple glasses of wine, and champagne when he was born, obviously. But I haven't really been anywhere to order actual liquor.

it wouldn't be a hijack, as this thread isn't just meant to be an ask me, but also just general bar talk. it would be great to get owner perspective (you, diablo, KJS).

but anyway, thanks! if you open a bar in Tahiti, say, let me know...

CQ, if someone came in and ordered a Cuba Libre and then told you that you didn't make it right because you didn't use Bacardi, what's your plan of action?

A friend of mine who used to bartend said that whenever somebody asked for a Cuba Libre, he'd just charge them $2 extra for a rum and Coke.

If you're sitting at a not terribly busy bar and you need a fresh drink, should you have to say something to get the bartender's attention? In my recollection, at every decent bar I've ever been to, the bartender will ask me if I need another one with either no prompting or eye contact. But I'm not sure if this is a standard, or just something I've gotten used to.

Dude, limes ain't cheap! Fair markup, imo. (Unless your friend did not actually include fresh lime juice in the Cuba Libre, in which case - wth!)

oh yeah that's not with lime juice

half gallons of sugar free margarita mix are god's gift to drinking at home

I don't order a lot of mixed drinks, but do mixers really comprise enough of the drink to make the calories they contribute worth worrying about?

vodka and water with a big slice of lime and lemon in a highball

See that's not a cuba libre. A cuba libre has fresh lime pieces muddled with cane sugar, crushed ice and then a good quality dark rum and coke. If I asked for that and got a rum and coke I would smile, push it back to the bartender and ask him to make me the drink that I requested.

It's standard for decent bars only.

OI! STANDARD FOR DECENT BARS, RIGHT? AM I RIGHT, LADS? PISS ON THESE RUM CULLIES.

(ee! ee!)

steady mobbin' sugar free

steady mobbin' sugar free

(ee! ee! ee!)

Have you ever made a flying livingston? I'm a huge fan of this drink but a lot of bartenders don't know of it.

When you've been refused service because you're too drunk and you grab the sopping wet bar mat and wring it out into your upturned mouth in front of everyone and then vomit on your own face, get back to me.

don't know of it. please elaborate imo

it's a livingston with red bull

I live in a small Midwest town where a Budweiser costs $2.50. I usually tip a dollar every time because I feel like leaving the 50 cents change from three bucks is bad form, and I don't like the idea of not leaving a tip with every drink. But I'm also poor and would rather not tip 40 percent.

If you worked and lived in an area where prices were lower, would you have a problem with a tip in quarters? Is it okay to tip every other drink?

Ok, well I set up, owned and ran a late night bar in a mountain tourist valley in Italy for 4 years. Before that I had worked in bars full time from when I was 18 to about 24, including managing some.

Setting up and successfully running a bar is way more complicated than people think. I had to talk a friend of mine out of doing the same thing earlier this year in Australia, (he already owns and runs a very successful pizza place). It was obvious to me and another good friend who owns two big bars here that this guy was going to lose his 200 grand investment in about 6 months tops.

He thought that running a bar would be easy as there is no prep work, (as compared to food), and all you have to do is give people drinks. It took us a good few months to get him to realise how wrong he was. This attitude is very common and the biggest factor in why so many new bars go belly up in the first year.

Most important factors when setting up a bar or buying an existing one:

Know your target clientèle and how you will target them.

Understand ever aspect of décor, including lighting, bathrooms, capacity, and ratio of clients sitting to standing. For example, the mirrors in the female bathrooms must make them look better than they actually are. This way when they go into the bathroom for the little hair check they will think "wow I look awesome" and will stay in your bar thus attracting male patrons who will spend all their money trying to pick them up.

Music is huge, way bigger than you realise, as is your sound system.

Do not fall into the trap of setting up the bar that YOU would like. Set up the bar that your identified patrons will like. There is a big difference.

Get great bar staff and keep them. Very hard to do.

There's so much more but that's just a start.

I've been looking for a bottle of 20 year Pappy Van Winkle bourbon for a gift for someone and can't find any anywhere. Do you have any tips or tricks as to where I could buy one?

Thx

adsman - cool post - if you wouldn't mind, could you walk us through your decision making based on your own bar? Like what target clientele, how you targeted them, what kind of music worked for them etc.? Hm - that's a lot of stuff but any info would be interesting to hear.

I have a friend (more a friend of a friend actually, but we talked pretty extensively a couple times) who has opened up several successful bars here in LA. What I was surprised by was how detailed he got on every aspect of the bar - food cost breakdowns, drink cost breakdowns, what can go wrong, what shouldn't go wrong, decor etc. etc.

As someone who thinks about the drivers of success for businesses a lot, it's great fun talking to him about how he approaches operations and execution. He's also pretty passionate about what he does, always respect that in any entrepreneur.