Places Where There Should Be A Bar

Have you ever been some place and thought that it would be a nice place to put a bar? I’ve done that in bars. That’s an old joke only true beer enthusiasts would understand. Anyway, there are some places that don’t have bars and would definitely benefit from the presence of one.

Lawyer’s Office

I am glad that I live such a life that visiting a lawyer only comes every great once in awhile. But, it still is a grueling experience. You are about ready to put your life in the hands of someone who could literally screw it up royally. A bar is in order.

Doctor’s Office

Once again, you find yourself putting your life in the hands of someone who could accidentally leave a scalpel in your hip or a sponge in your side. But, that comes later. The doctor’s office itself is a crazy place where people come when they are sick. They read old magazines and look at each other miserably. The experience calls for a drink. You wouldn’t be so miserable if a few of you were doing cheers in the corner.

Grocery Store

For those of you who are single, you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about. Plus, I’ve been sent to the store on my own and there was no need for a grocery store then. But when my wife and I go together, on those regular occasions about once a week, up and down every aisle is not my idea of a way to spend my day. I would love to let her go at it. Take the checkbook. I’ll be over at the bar.

Airplanes

Of course, the flight attendants bring you drinks when you’re on a flight. But, I’m not talking about having a beer at my seat while I’m sitting beside Happy Napperson on one side and Gummy Flapper on the other. I’d rather have my drink at the bar.

My Bedroom

I have wanted a bar in my bedroom since I was a kid. The closest I ever got to that dream was when I was in college and we put a makeshift bar together with milk crates and a door for a counter. My wife has allowed me to put a beer tap in the room. But, she says that’s as close as I am ever going to get to having a bar in the bedroom

It works out great actually. I have a beer tap in every room in the house where I might possibly want to sit and relax. I run all the beer lines down to the kegerator system I have setup in the basement. It works out pretty good most times. There is always tweaking to do. But, you can’t be a beer enthusiast and not have crazy dreams.

I have purposely left out some of those places that seem a bit more obvious than the ones I even mentioned. I know that there are times when I have been in a place and uttered those words, “This would be a great place for a bar.” But out of reverence for those people who might get offended, I left it up to the imaginations of the beer enthusiasts who know exactly what I’m talking about.

How to Stock a Home Bar

A good debate for bartenders and beer enthusiasts is what items are most important in a bar…

Of course, it depends on the bar.  Bartenders would give you a list of items that you wouldn’t even consider or need for a home bar.  That’s because there is a customer service issue that home bars just don’t even need to think about.

So with that issue hot off the top of our minds, what items do you find most essential.  Take our survey and don’t forget to cash in on our Facebook Like Giveaway…details are at the end.

If you’d like to read more about how to stock your home bar, read How to Stock Your Home Bar…

If you visit our Facebook Beertaps.com Page and Like Us with the Facebook Like Button so that all your friends know, we will add a gift with your next order from Beertaps.com.  Just make sure that you put the word Like along with your Facebook Profile Name in the comments section on your next order!

How to do Bartending Tricks

In the bartending industry, they call it flair. It looks good and it makes people want to buy more drinks. That’s great if you own a bar. But, some flair is still nice to know for your home bar tricks when you’re entertaining friends and family.

Get a Feel

The first thing to do is get a feel for the bottles you’ll be flipping. Pick up the tin and flip it in your hands. Grab different sized bottles and flip them, making sure you notice the different weights and measurements. You can condition your brain to immediately recognize the feel of a certain bottle if you hold it long enough and try a few tricks with it.

First Trick

This basic trick is what they practically teach everyone first when they go to bartending school. Hold the bottle in your right hand and the tin in your left. You can switch it later if you want, but learn the fundamentals first.

Swing the bottle under and around to your left arm. At that point, you are going to release it and flip it back over to its original position where your right hand should return to immediately. It’s a simple flip and you should do the motions a few times before you actually let go of the bottle for your first time.

Beer Bottle

Beer bottle opening can be quite interesting if you have a bottle opener that is long and flat. This will allow you to have a handle you can use for various tricks. With the beer bottle sitting on the bar, take your bottle opener and hook it to the beer cap.

This is done the same way that you would when you normally open a beer bottle with a bottle opener except that when you get tension, use that tension to do your tricks. Pick the bottle up with the bottle opener. The tension created between the bottle opener and the bottle cap will give you enough stability to be able to lift the bottle. Get a feel for it and you are ready!

You can learn different tricks to do, but my favorite is around the head. You can twirl the beer bottle around the back of your neck and then quickly pop the cap before handing your amazed friend a beer. It’s beautiful flair and when worked on enough, you can create your own sense of style when it comes to twirling beer bottles with bottle openers.

Flairing the Ice

Even something as simple as putting ice into a glass can be interesting. You need an ice scoop to really make this one fun and show your friends an exciting time. This is the kind of trick that if you pull it at just the right moment, you’ll have your friends wondering if they actually saw something cool or if their eyes were playing tricks on them.

Have your glass upside down when you perform this trick. Grab it in the upside down position and scoop ice out of the ice bin at the same time. Pull the scoop up to the glass. The palm of your hand holding the glass should be pointing upward, in the perfect position to now flip the glass around in a circle with the scoop still at the top of the glass to make it a bigger presentation.

But, add a step. Once you’ve done your flip, make sure to keep one last piece of ice in the scoop that you can flip behind your back and catch in your glass. All in one motion, that is a beautiful trick that will catch your friends off guard.

Bartending tricks have been around since bartending. For everything we do, we try to add a little flair to our jobs and make them as interesting as we can. That is especially when we know we are being watched. You may not be much of a bartender. Having a home bar doesn’t mean you have to learn. But, you’ll have fun and your friends will enjoy it right with you.