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Creativity

I tend not to get involved these days in many online discussions around ‘controversial’ topics not because I am not interested and engaged in them but these days its too easy for those with too short an attention span or a tendency to pigeonhole to miss the opportunity to discuss opinions different to their own and to critically examine the whole issue. But I wanted to start a discussion about a topic that I feel needs to be examined – the over fetishization of Creativity.

So I am big fan of creativity and have been for as long as I remember. My first computer my family had was a Macintosh and I bought Google Glass when it came out. I have championed fashion designers like Maharishi and Bikkemberg and Vexed Generation. I love listening to my Boards of Canada and Kaki King. I just bought two bottle of Howl and Loer and loved my Mackmyra Intelligens and Empirical Spirits and am actively looking to get some Trakal. I am desperate for the Metaverse to happen (and by that I mean the Neal Stephenson/William Gibson version not the Mark Zuckerberg one). But increasingly what I realise is that I am a bigger fan of Innovation and I am concerned about how Creativity could negatively impact our industry.

(Just so we are clear Creativity is the act of conceiving something new, whether a variation on a theme or something wholly new. Innovation is the act of putting new things into practice.

Roughly 25 years ago I started educating and training bartenders all over the world. One of the first things I used to do was discuss the “skills” of the Modern Professional Bartender so that my students understood how to get better. I used to explain that there were four areas to study and improve – Knowledge, Efficiency, Style and Service. Over time tho I use to  increasingly get asked about Creativity and if it was an essential trait for the MPB.  I used the analogy of music in that a great musician could read music, play expertly and understand musical theory but did not have to write new music to be considered great and so it was with bartending. I would discuss the Mr Potatohead school of mixology and David Embury’s theories and Flavour Thesauruses’  and even examined what made a drink a Modern Classic but that rarely led to the creation of the next Cosmopolitan or Penicillin or Green Basil Smash.

I am a fan of creativity but I am also a fan of hard work. But I am not a fan of the fetishization of hard work because it becomes excessive and toxic when unexamined. And nor am I a fan of excessive creativity. It is rapidly becoming the ‘fast fashion’ of our industry and as such needs to be critically scrutinised.

At BCB recently we had the chaps at Crucible in London present on the various pieces of equipment they were seeing in modern bars and bar programs and that they had in their business. From Rotovaps to Centrifuges to Sonic Preps to Freeze Drying Machines and beyond. What I was struck by was how they did not gush about them but instead examined them critically, basically saying that they had such potential but so many people did not understand that potential or use them effectively despite their growing popularity. Yes they opened up new vistas for bartenders (vistas normally reserved for scientists, distillers or chefs) but that from an all round sustainability aspect they were problematic.

 I mentor a variety of people around the world and increasingly I am faced with bartenders who feel stressed about the pressure of coming up with ‘new drinks’ for a menu or creative presentations for competitions or for Instagram. Or I am dealing with owners who have a clientele who expect NEWNEWNEW on every visit  – the old bartender inquiry of “Same again?” seems to be dead and buried. This is leading to long hours and expensive mistakes and general anxiety on many levels. 

Financial sustainability – an increasingly significant problem these days – is also a consideration. Firstly to be truly creative these many machines are a must and they don’t come cheap and nor does the training to use them. Secondly each hour used to experiment and then create the required mis en place must be costed into drinks thirdly as all of these run not on passion but on electricity the carbon footprint (or carbon shadow) of these bars is increasing. Throw in the staff shortages of suitably trained and skilled staff and you see why recent articles about the “Return of the Classics in Top Bars”  or the renaissance of “Off the Shelf Drinks” are becoming more frequent and make more sense

Drinks brands, big and small are also falling into this trap and throwing gasoline on the fire. The last 20 years have seem some amazing liquids come to the market and I have drunk and enjoyed many of them. But for every Compass Box Orangerie or even St Germain there is a Crown Royal Salted Caramel or Liquorists Bubblegum gin. Vodka shot itself in the foot a few years back with its confectionary flavours and the rest of the industry seems intent on putting ‘innovation’ above quality.

Its not all the industry’s fault tho. The Guest is complicit by seemingly placing the creativity and ’gramability of the product over the service and ambiance of the venue – hence the “fast fashion” comment above. They order and seemingly enjoy a drink and then ask “Whats next?”. They will go to the newest and the latest bars and not go back to bars they merely enjoy. Good bars fail or drop down Top 50 lists not because they aren’t good but because they aren’t new anymore.

Now as I said I am a fan of creativity and the potential for the human mind to think of new things but I just want to inject a note of caution into making new drinks the be all and end all of our industry. Drinks are just one part of the experience of bars and now perhaps is the time to explore creativity in service as much as the product we serve. And also we need to ensure we have the right mechanisms to make the good ideas work for all and not just for now. 

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Owners & Managers

The Bar Manual

            It has often been said that successful catering is all about theatre, consistency and experience. This has never been so true in bartending today. The modern bartender can be compared to an actor using props (the liquids and the tools of the trade), an audience (the expectant guest), a script (the banter between drinker and server) and even a director (the bar manager or owner). But often we rely on the skill of the players and we assume that they are suitably equipped and trained. But even actors must go  through acting class and have talented directors and a great script. Thus is it with bartenders but we have it easy… all we need is a good Bar Manual.

            It is constantly surprising that bars do not have a solid manual. Where else can bartenders learn about the products that they stock, know how it is served in that bar and know in what style the owner wants it served? What about cleaning rotas, till systems and all the business end of catering. The editor of this magazine once told me she liked going to bars with no ‘stars’ or ‘celebrity bartenders’ because you weren’t disappointed by not being served by the Faces/Names and you could gauge the bar team as whole and the back of house support they got and the training they had received. Much of that will be down to the quality of the bar manual they adhere to.. so what should the ideal bar manual consist of?

            In an ideal world it would have three sections. As a chain is as only as strong as its weakest link the manual should be understandable by both the newbies and the old hand – in fact far too often we assume that the experienced bartender is also a knowledgeable one… and we all know what happens if you assume…the manual should also be updated regularly with feedback from all involved parties.

            Section one should be a basic bartending training manual. This section would cover everything from what alcohol is to the techniques used to serve it in its many wonderful guises. The mechanics and tradecraft of drinks serving; the health and safety of food and drink handling; the legal aspects of the job and the venue I which it is served. Not only how a cocktail is shaken but why and the do’s and don’ts of those techniques. This can be updated as new techniques become more relevant and important (muddling has become an integral part of bartending where 15 years ago it hardly featured and ‘throwing’ drinks may be the next must know skill…) This section will mean that server becomes a craftsman with a detailed knowledge of the physical skills and necessary responsible requirements of their job. It should also outline every team member’s role in the smooth running of the bar and their individual responsibilities.

            The second section should be a product knowledge guide to provide as much knowledge about the actual bottles that the bartender is serving to allow them to ‘sell them’. The Sauce Guides are a wonderful and much-to-be-admired but to be frank the detailed tasting notes about various Poteens or £500-a-bottle tequilas are near-as-dammit useless to most readers. Your manual should have in depth knowledge about the products you sell and the questions you would ask the guest when they ask for it or the variety of interesting was to serve it to the un-initiated. Can I serve it neat? Frozen? On the rocks? With a mixer? In a Classic Cocktail? In a signature drink? For the higher levels you may have a tasting matrix of does it go with certain still mixers or certain carbonates but those long and detailed tasting notes never get repeated and merely clog up the brain. Be specific, be relevant and be concise.

            The first two parts of the manual can pretty much be copied from any one of the plethora of drinks magazines or bartending books on the market today with judicious editing. Section three you will have to write yourself. This is the unit specific section. From the mundane (what times shifts start, where the rubbish goes and what you are expected to wear) to the service style (what you garnish your cokes and diet cokes with and how to serve absinthe… or even why you don’t serve absinthe) to the subtle nuances that is behind the owner’s vision for their bar and operation. This will have your recipes for both the must know drinks that you may not have on your list but every bartender should know how to make to your specifications and also all your new and funky drinks. Every drink must be the same regardless of the bartender who makes it and this can only be accomplished if the owner or bar manager writes it down in stone. As with acting ad-libbing or ‘improv’ is great if done well but appalling if done badly.   

            Section three can also be where the experience of the owner or bar manager can be expounded on. The purpose of, and lines to use while, upselling; greetings and farewells and ways to start conversations to make the customer start feeling like a guest; methods to learn and remember drinks and the ‘fluffy’ side of catering all live in this section. As more and more bars and restaurants open so the business side of an operation increases in importance. As the typical guest becomes more discerning and more educated so the role and importance of one’s staff increases. A good bar manual will engender consistency, set standards and make sure that every staff member has the tools to treat every guest as tho’ the writer/owner is doing it themselves…