You're 86

Hello again! I wanted to do another short recap with some tips for COVID-era hospitality. I hope you are all faring well through these challenging and weird times. It has been around three months since this all started to directly affect our industry, and things just keep getting weirder. Extended quarantine orders, protests and violence, murder hornets—It's all just a lot to deal with right now and I don't think anyone is really thriving. That's ok though, just remember to take a few moments to pause and breath, and check in with yourself about what you need. It's also ok to ask for help sometimes, we can't do this alone. Fortunately we have an amazing community of helpful people in the hospitality industry. We are realizing new challenges and problems resulting from this world crisis day by day, and we are also coming up with new and creative solutions. Some of the biggest challenges are related to uncertainty of the situation, constant change, struggles with motivation and not knowing what to do next. If you haven't checked out the most recent episodes, they deal with those very topics, so definitely go back and listen if you have a chance. In the meantime, you can check out this recap of the main points in the player or wherever you get your podcasts. If you can, please consider supporting the show on Patreon or picking up some cool merch from the shop . You're 86 is made possible by the support of listeners like you. Be sure to also check out our homepage for much, much more, and stay tuned for next time. Cheers!

(Post contains affiliate links) Hello again! The COVID-19 crisis has shown us how fragile and unsustainable our career and industry can be, and has many of us questioning what to do next. Let’s face it, things are not going to go back to the way they were. We've learned how easy it can be for our source of income to evaporate over night. Unlike people who work in offices, we can't work from home, but perhaps using our bartender skills online can open up new opportunities and sources of income for us. But where do we begin? My guest today is Shana Race, she’s been in the industry for more than 15 years, and she’s the host and creator of the Talk Tales podcast, online cocktail classes and more. She had a lot to say about her journey from behind the bar to new directions online. Since I know you like bartender podcasts, be sure to check out Talk Tales in your favorite podcast player or on their homepage. You can support their show through their Patreon page or by leaving them a tip with Venmo (@talktales_podcast).  Be sure to visit our homepage as well, and if you'd like to help support You're 86 you can leave us a tip or pick up some You're 86 merch in the shop. Also, if you are interested in podcasting, you're going to need a media host. You're 86 is hosted on Blubrry and I've been very happy with the service. If you sign up for hosting on Blubrry through my link, you'll get your first month free and help support this show. Thank you so much for your support, I'll see you next time!

Hello again! Are you going stir crazy yet? With shelter in place orders being extended across the country and around the world, it’s hard to say when we’ll be out of this. The uncertainty of this crisis is what makes it so difficult to deal with. If we knew the end date, it would be much easier to plan for. Staying positive and creative in quarantine in whatever way works best for you is very important. With so many of us out of work and stuck at home, I wanted to chat with another bartender and hear about there experience. Even though many of us are physically alone, we are all in this together. My guest today is Phillip Kim. He is a bartender here in San Francisco at 15 Romolo, and he's also worked for The Keystone. Phillip has always been one of the most positive people I’ve known in the industry. It's always lovely to go visit him when he's behind the bar and see the creative projects he's getting into at work, so it was no surprise to hear that he is staying positive and creative at home too. He is also spending some time thinking ahead about what the industry will be like when our bars reopen. If you would like to help Phillip and his colleagues at 15 Romolo, you can donate to their Go Fund Me campaign. You can also get 15 Romolo cocktails to go right now if you are in the Bay Area. Every little bit helps. Listen to our conversation in the player or wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to visit our homepage for much, much more. You can also follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  Stay tuned for next week, we have more exciting stuff coming your way. Thanks so much for tuning in and I'll see you next time

There’s a pretty good chance you’re also stuck in your house and not working behind the bar right now. Without our normal structure, it’s easy to fall into unhealthy habits, but it’s also an opportunity to form new ones. It's easy to start small and practice new health and wellness habits during quarantine. Preparing one healthy snack a day or doing five minutes of breathing exercise when you wake up can vastly improve your wellbeing, especially during this challenging time. These are things you can carry forward into your daily routine when we are allowed to go back to work again. My guest today is Amie Ward, aka The Healthtender. She’s a Chicago based industry veteran and an ACE certified health coach. When not behind the bar at Neon Wilderness, Amie travels the country to help educate bartenders on how to care for themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. She had a ton of advice about simple things you can do to stay healthy and form good habits during this crisis. From preparing healthy snacks and short exercise routines to keeping a food journal, it's easy to start forming new healthy habits.  Listen to our conversation in the player or wherever you get your podcasts to find out more about quarantine health and wellness for bartenders. Don't forget to check out our homepage for much, much more, and stay tuned for more great conversations during this challenging time. Thanks so much for tuning in! I'll see you next time.

We are living in uncertain times. Running a bar in a pandemic is one of the biggest challenges we've ever faced as an industry. As restaurants and bars across the world are being forced to close or pivot to pickup and delivery sales only, many are struggling to survive. One of those bars is Paper Plane in San Jose, Calif. in a county that has seen both the earliest and highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state. My guest today is Mary Palac, bartender at paper plane. She’s been in the industry since she was 15 and holds such accolades as Season 7 Ms. Speed rack California, two time Bar Mania champion, president and founding member of USBG Silicon Valley, and much more. She’s been a huge inspiration to me, and she had a lot to share about how she and Paper Plane are handling this crisis. One of the things that impressed me the most about Paper Plane was how they didn’t react immediately and they instead took the time to do things right, and that’s really paid off for them. With circumstances changing daily, it’s really important to slow down a little bit and do things safely and correctly. If you'd like to help Mary and her colleagues at Paper Plane, you can donate to their employee relief fund, or order food and cocktails to go from their Tri Force menu. Check out our conversation in the player or wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to visit our homepage for much, much more. Thanks so much for listening, stay safe out there and I'll see you next time.

So this is a pretty weird time to be a human in society. I’ve been struggling with it, as I’m sure you are as well. First of all, apologies for the radio silence. It’s been a bit of an adjustment for me too. I typically do in person interviews, but as you can imagine, that’s not possible right now, not to mention everyone in our industry is a little preoccupied. I'm working on a system for remote interviews, and hopefully we’ll have some conversations in the coming weeks about how people are handling this crisis. In the meantime I wanted to just share some of my thoughts about what's going on, how it relates to our industry and some internal work we can all do.  As you might expect, both of the bars I work for are closed, which is a bit of a reality check. I usually feel like, “Well, if things go sideways I can always pick up shifts." And now here we are. I know this is a scary time, and one of the scariest things is the uncertainty of it all. It’s such a bad feeling to be powerless and have no control over the situation. Will we have to shelter even longer? Will we have a job to go back to if and when this ends, will we get sick? Will someone we’re close to get sick? What is the world going to be like on the other side of this?  It’s scary to think about and we want to do something about it, but there really isn’t anything we can do, on the outside anyway. Hoarding toilet paper and pasta isn’t going to change anything, except maybe the amount of available space in our closets. What we can do is work on what’s going on inside of us. I’ve done a few episodes about different mental tools that help us get through our shift behind the bar, and those are absolutely applicable to our current situation, even though we are not at work. Listen to this episode in the player below and Episode 31,  Episode 24, Episode 22 and Episode 19.   One thing that has really been helping me is focusing on all of the positive things I see, and you aren’t going to see those things in the news. That’s just not what the news reports. So if you must read the news, it’s important to keep in mind that all of the news is going to be bad. It doesn’t mean that everything happening in the world is bad though. In fact, I believe there is a lot more good happening that we think. I’ve seen a lot of positive things and I’m kind of excited for the potential for positive change because of this. I mean, there’s nothing like a common enemy to bring us all together. I've seen so much generosity, humor and creativity especially. I’ve seen things like Dani and Jackie’s virtual happy hour, where bartenders are showing folks at home how to make cocktails, and the bartenders can get tipped out for it. Maybe you want to try something like that for regulars at your bar? I’m really grateful for those things, and that’s another thing I’ve been doing too, focusing on what I’m grateful for. I mean, I have a home that I really love to shelter in. Some of us aren’t so lucky. Another thing we’re going to have to do right now is to practice patience. We’re all concerned about money. I mean it’s really scary to suddenly lose our jobs or worry about losing our businesses. It’s just adding to the uncertainty. But we have to try to be patient, compartmentalize our emotions and worries. Our unemployment checks are going to come when they come and there’s nothing that we can do about it. In California alone, the Employment Development Department has received more than one million unemployment claims in the past two weeks. It’s like those times at the bar where a bus load of 40 people all walk in at the same time and then the dishwasher breaks. There’s only so much they can do. A lot of our guests on the show have mentioned meditation practice as something that helps them, and myself as well. Just 5-10 minutes a day can make a world of difference. Here is a quick TEDx talk with a simple guided breathing meditation.

Things can get dicey when we borrow elements from other cultures for our bar programs.  Is it ok to use ceremonial fabric as a tablecloth or put tropical drinks in cups shaped like religious icons? Cultural consideration in bar programs is very important, but it is challenging when we don't have an understanding or even exposure to those cultures. It's easy to misrepresent someone else's culture when you don't have any knowledge about it, even if you are well intentioned. My guest today is Samuel Jimenez. He has been in the industry in the Bay Area for many, many years. He is currently the bar manager at Novela in San Francisco, and he was recently chosen as one of Imbibe Magazine’s 75 People, Places and Things that will shape the way you drink in 2020, after spending 2019 educating the beverage world about Polynesian culture and history and how it relates to tiki. Samuel believes that the key to running more thoughtful bar programs is having a better understanding of the cultures you're representing. As a fist generation Samoan American, Samuel has a deeply rooted connection to Samoan culture, which many Americans have little understanding or exposure to. Samuel had so much to say about cultural consideration in bar programs and the importance of knowledge and cultural exchange. Listen to the episode in the player or wherever you get your podcasts, and don’t forget to subscribe and stay tuned for more. Also be sure to check out our homepage for more great advice on some of the biggest challenges in our industry. Cheers!

Many of us, myself especially, wonder where to go next with our careers. One exciting option is to start an import business. It seems like an exciting career of traveling to far away places and shaking hands with bearded men in exotic marketplaces. While there is some measure of that, becoming a wine importer is not without its challenges, particularly when international trade disputes happen. My guest today is Ian Adams, Director of Spirits and Fortified Wines at Merchants of Thirst, an importer of wines and spirits from Europe. Ian has been in the hospitality industry for more than 15 years managing bars and restaurants, including 15 Romolo. A couple of years ago he and some colleagues started Merchants of Thirst, and he had a lot to say about what he’s learned along the way and how he’s facing obstacles like the tariffs that were imposed in October on goods from the EU. Check out our conversation in the player or wherever podcasts are found to hear what Ian learned about becoming a wine importer. Be sure to also check out our homepage for much, much more, and don’t forget to hit subscribe and stay tuned. I’ll see you next time!

Light Spanish wines are perfect for recording recap episodes Welcome back! Thanks so much tuning in to another recap of what we've learned in the past few episodes. We had four amazing guests this month who shared many useful tips for bartenders and industry professionals. Listen to the episode in the player or wherever you get your podcasts for some of the most important things we learned. In Episode 28, we learned all about how competitive bartending can make you a better bartender, with recent Speed Rack winner Jessi Lorraine. In Episode 29, we heard from Absinthia Vermut about starting a craft spirits company and the value of writing a business plan. In Episode 30, we heard from Mike Miranti about the challenges of high end restaurants. Finally, in Episode 31, we got to sit down with Hubert Tang and hear how he stays positive on the floor. That’s all for this week, but be Sure to also visit our homepage for much, much more. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list while you're there. It’s another way to stay up to date with all of this great information. I'm sending out the next newsletter soon, so don't miss it! I’ll see you next time!

Hospitality is our number one job. It is literally the name of our industry, but it’s often hard to be hospitable when you have other challenges going on in your life. Difficult customers, trouble with family or partners or simply being exhausted from work all make staying positive during service a big challenge. With a few good mental tools, however, we can learn to stay positive with our customers no matter what is going on in our lives. My guest today is Hubert Tang. He has been in the industry his entire life, as his parents worked and owned restaurants, so he really understands the industry. Him and I currently work together at High Treason where we recorded this interview, and he is exceptionally good at staying positive and hospitable to customers no matter what’s going on. Check out my interview with Hubert in the player or wherever podcasts are found, and hear what he had to say about staying positive during service. Visit our homepage for more and be sure to hit subscribe in your favorite podcast player, we have new conversations every week. And please share us with your friends and colleagues in the industry. This is such great information for everyone. I'll see you next time.

Fine dining and high-end casual restaurants can be very exciting and lucrative places to work. You get the chance to work with well respected chefs and staff, the pay is usually higher and the media attention is exciting too. But the unique challenges of high-end restaurants can make working in that environment exhausting if you're not prepared for it. High-end restaurants are often more complicated and more stressful. Solid teamwork is a must in that kind of environment. If the operation isn't firing on all cylinders, things can fall apart quickly. My guest today is Mike Miranti, he’s worked and managed several high-end restaurants in New York, including Becco and Sen Sakana. He’s currently head server at Feroce in Manhattan and he is also a co-host of the Not a Foodie Podcast. Mike shared a lot of great advice about the challenges of high-end restaurants, including a time when the sewer overflowed into their bathroom. Be sure to check out our conversation in the player or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget to hit subscribe. We have new conversations every week about some of the biggest challenges in the industry.  Be sure to visit our homepage,  and if you haven't already, sign up for our mailing list. It's a great way to catch up on anything you missed. Thanks so much for listening! I'll see you next time

Have you ever thought about starting a craft spirits company? Many of us working behind the bar wonder where our careers will lead us next. Although I do believe one can have a long career in service, many people just don't want to. Starting your own spirits brand is an alluring career move, especially since we're so familiar with the market and the products that are available. Many bartenders have started brands or consulted with producers to create products that work better in cocktails or to bring back products that were unavailable. Absinthe, for example, didn't start to become widely available in the US until after the laws were amended in 2007. At the time, domestic production was almost non existent. Starting your own company and creating a new product can be an extremely rewarding career, but it also comes with a lot of hard work and challenges to overcome. My guest today is Absinthia Vermut, founder of Absinthia's Bottled Spirits. Absinthia fell in love with the category in the late Nineties and began bootlegging absinthe at home. In 2013 she founded her company and began working towards bringing her organic absinthe brand, which is absolutely delicious and I'm not just saying that because she sponsored this episode, to market. Absinthia had a lot to share about the challenges she faced starting her company, everything from legal nightmares getting the label approved with the TTB to marketing a still widely misunderstood product category. Check out our conversation about starting a craft spirits company in the player or wherever you get your podcasts. Also be sure to visit our homepage and check out Absinthia's website to learn more about her story. She's also started a new podcast about absinthe, so be sure to subscribe to that as well. Thanks so much for listening, I'll see you next time!

Welcome back! I Hope 2020 is treating you well so far. Have you ever thought about competitive bartending? It can be an amazing way to learn new skills and move forward in your career, but it’s not without its challenges, everything from balancing training time with your daily schedule to finding support for your cause, and some you may not even expect. Competitive bartending is definitely one of the more exciting directions you can go in this industry. My guest today is Jessi Lorraine. She has been in the industry for more than seven years at bars like Absinthe and Bon Voyage, and she’s the winner of the most recent Speed Rack competition in California. Speed Rack is an intense, all-female, high-speed bartending competition which has raised more than one million dollars to date for breast cancer research. Jessi has competed in other competitions as well, such as Bacardi Legacy, and she also manages Elda, where we recorded this interview. Jessi had a ton of amazing insights about competitive bartending and some excellent advice for anyone interested in getting into competitions. Listen to the episode in the player or wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget to subscribe and stay tuned for more. Also be sure to check out our homepage for more great advice on some of the biggest challenges in our industry

Wow! it's been a long and crazy year. So much has happened here at You're 86, and here we are almost into the 20s again! Fortunately we don't have prohibition this time around.  We've covered a lot on the show this year and I wanted to give you my 2019 top 10 tips for bartenders. These are my favorite bits of knowledge from all of the interviews this past year. They are things that have definitely helped me, and I hope they help you too. Listen to the episode in the player or wherever podcasts are found. Be sure to share with your friends in the industry too. Read on after the break for the list of my top 10 tips for bartenders. 2019 top 10 tips for bartenders 1 - From Episode 0: One of the easiest ways to spot a counterfeit bill is by looking for the vertical security thread. All US currency notes of denominations of $5 or higher, printed after the early 90s will have this thread. You'll spot it easily when you hold the bill up to light. I recommend using the light of your POS screen to discreetly check out the bill. 2 - From Episode 2: Nurse Andrew Campbell advised, when you cut yourself, rinse the cut with water and apply pressure with clean gauze. If necessary, wash the area around the cut with soap and water. Putting soap, rubbing alcohol or anything else in the cut itself can actually cause more damage. 3 - From Episode 4: Beverage Director Andrew Meltzer recommended, when you have to cut someone off, plan ahead, be clear and offer alternatives. Use it as an opportunity to provide further hospitality. 4 - From Episode 5: Founder of Jigger and Dash Tanya Clark suggested finding the type of exercise that is right for you and that you're excited about. If you don't like running, no one is making you go running. There's something out there for you. 5 - From Episode 10: Beverage Director Enoch Tonatiuh recommended taking a vacation after opening a new bar. As soon as the dust settles and your operation starts to get into a groove, take a few days off for yourself. Opening a new bar is both exhilarating and incredibly stressful. 6 - From Episode 12: Mark Goodwin of The Pin Project had so much to say about our relationship with alcohol as bartenders. One of his recommendations for those times when you're offered a shot but don't want to take one is to take a shot of grapefruit juice instead. Not only will the sugar in the juice help appease the part of your brain that wants alcohol, you’ll still be taking part in the ritual of taking a shot with friends. 7 - From Episode 17: Hannah Chamberlain of Spirited LA stressed the importance of greeting every guest that walks in. Prepare a greeting that works for you and your bar and use it every time anyone walks in. 8 - From Episode 18: Joanna Lioce, long-time bartender at Vesuvio Cafe, has had to kick out a lot of drunken guests in her tenure there. She recommends not making it personal and not taking it personally when you have to eject a misbehaving patron. 9 - From Episode 21: Saving money can be difficult when you work in the industry, but personal finance expert Sarah Brady says the easiest way to save money is to make the process automatic. With your bank, set up an automatic transfer of part of your paycheck to a savings account every month. Choose whatever amount works for you. 10 - From Episodes 23 and 26: Both Keli Rivers and Rebecca Hopkins recommended the best way to not get to drunk at industry events is to not finish your drink. Take a sip and then casually leave it somewhere. There you have it, my 2019 top 10 tips for bartenders. Thanks so much for listening and stay tuned for more great advice in 2020! Be sure to visit our home page for all of our previous episodes and much more. New episodes every week, so don’t forget to hit subscribe.  Happy holidays and happy new year! I’ll see you next time.

This is probably the craziest time of year for all sides of our industry, and surviving that holiday stress isn't easy. Our jobs are extra busy with company buyouts, we have to manage expectations of family and friends, we have holiday parties to host and attend, and that's on top of all the usual end of year stress. Despite all of the bright and cheerful decorations, this can be an incredibly dark and hopeless time of year. My guest today is Rebecca Hopkins. She's been in the wine industry for more than 25 years, she's currently Vice President of Communications and Partner at Folio Fine Wine Partners based in Napa, CA. In 2018, Rebecca founded and launched A Balanced Glass, which is a wonderful website providing education and resources on health and wellbeing for our industry. She recently published a couple of pieces about surviving holiday stress, and she had a lot of advice to share. Listen to our conversation in the player or wherever podcasts are found,. Please share this with your friends and colleagues in the industry too. This is advice that can benefit everyone and it's really important to support each other during this crazy time. Be sure to also check out our homepage for much, much more. And don’t forget to hit subscribe and stay tuned for more. I’ll see you next time!

Handling drunken holiday crowds is a challenging inevitability in our industry.  Days like St. Patricks Day, Cinco de Mayo and New Year's Eve can bring massive crowds of imbibers to your bar. Often, these are groups of people who have already been drinking elsewhere, and it can be hard to tell how much they've had already. This can be a dangerous challenge when you are extra busy with the high volume of customers and your awareness is lower. So how do we survive these crazy drinking holidays? My guest today is barman Eddie Chann. He has worked in the hospitality industry for more than eight years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Eddie is no stranger to big crowds of drunken revelers. In addition to all of the usual holidays, one of Eddie's former bars, Blind Tiger in Oakland, Calif., was a popular bar crawl destination during the monthly First Friday event. Eddie shared some great advice about how good communication, careful observation of your coworker's movements, practiced efficiency and how simply slowing down a little bit when something bad happens can help you get through even the toughest and craziest crowds. Check out our conversation in the player to learn about Handling drunken holiday crowds, and don’t forget to hit subscribe and check out our homepage for more. We have new conversations every week, so stay tuned.  Also, if you want to get some holiday shopping out of the way, we've got new items in the shop. I’ll see you next time!

Some perfectly serviceable Crémant d'Alsace from my corner store. We've learned a ton of great stuff this month, and it's a lot to remember. Which is why I like to do these quick tips for bartenders episodes. It's sort of a recap of the past four episodes. And as has become tradition, I drink a bottle of wine from my corner store. This month it's a perfectly serviceable Crémant d'Alsace. This month, we had financial expert Sarah Brady talk about personal finance for bartenders in Episode 21.  She suggested many simple changes you can make to improve you financial wellness. We also talked with counseling psychologist Brenna McHugh in Episode 22 about mental health in the bar industry. Brenna gave some excellent tips that you can use daily to improve your mental wellbeing. In Episode 23, I got to sit down with brand ambassador Keli Rivers and learn about the ins and outs of her career and how she made the transition from behind the bar. Finally, in Episode 24, I talked about the importance of taking breaks during this busy holiday season. I offered some advice on what has helped me feel more calm and grounded during my shifts. Be sure to check out this episode with all of these quick tips for bartenders like you in the player or wherever podcasts are found. Don't forget to hit subscribe, as we have new episodes every week on some of the most important topics in our industry. That’s all for this week, but be Sure to also visit our homepage for much, much more. Also, let me know what you think or if there’s anything you want to hear more of. Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a message through our contact page.  I’d love to hear from you! Be sure to sign up for our mailing list as well. It's another way to stay up to date with all of this great information. I'll see you next time!

It's important to take breaks, especially when it's busy. It's important to take breaks while working at the bar. Our jobs can be very stressful and fast paced, especially during the busy holiday season. Marathon weeks of holiday buyouts coupled with the general holiday frenzy and our own personal end of year woes create an unpleasant cocktail of stress, exhaustion and anxiety. And because we're so busy with work and everything else, it's easy to let other healthy habits of eating, drinking and exercise slip to the bottom of our priority list. If we don't give our minds and bodies time to catch up, the long term effects can be serious or even fatal. Many different studies show a significant increase of coronary related death during the holiday season. When you do take a break, it's important to really take a break. Standing in the walk-in and continuing to worry about what's happening on the floor isn't really taking a break. Your mind and body are still in a state of stress and anxiety. This is something I personally struggle with as well. For most of us, it's really challenging to let go and truly take a break. Although it may not feel like it, it really is ok to just stop thinking about the floor for a couple of minutes. Worrying about it isn't going to help the situation, and it will actually make things worse for you. And honestly, stepping away for a couple minutes isn't really going to affect service very much. Everything will still be there when you return, but you will be much better prepared to handle it because you gave yourself a chance to catch up. Check out my advice about taking breaks in this shorter episode, in the player or wherever podcasts are found.  I know this holiday season is busy, so I'm giving you some quick advice to help get you through. You can even listen to this episode on your break if you want to. Be sure to visit our homepage for much, much more, and let me know how this is working out for you. You can leave a comment or send me a message through our contact page. Thanks so much for tuning in, and I’ll see you next time.

Where do you go next in your career? It’s a scary question to ask. With so many directions to go in, it's hard to know where to begin. It's a question I’m also trying to figure out myself. One of the many options is to become a brand ambassador. It’s a dream that a lot of us have, and it can seem like a pretty magical career. Have you ever been to a brand sponsored event for bartenders? The brand ambassador is like a rockstar sometimes. But the job isn't all parties and company credit cards, it's a lot of hard work too. My guest today Keli Rivers, she’s been in hospitality for 26 years, all over the world. She helped open many bars including Whitechapel here in the city, and she’s now the brand ambassador for Sipsmith Gin. Keli shared a ton of great advice about how she navigated the transition from behind the bar to representing a brand and category that is really important to her. Hear what she had to say about her career and how she made the decisions that led her to where she is today. You can listen to our conversation in the player or wherever podcasts are found. Don't forget to hit subscribe and check out our homepage for much, much more. I'll see you next time!  

We've talked quite a bit about mental health in the bar industry on this show recently, and I don't think it's a subject we'll put to rest anytime soon. Bartending can be an incredibly taxing job. The sheer number of interactions we have with people every shift is mentally exhausting enough, not to mention all of the other challenges we face on top of that. Long, odd hours, low pay, physical labor and alcohol abuse can lead to mental health problems if we don't take care of ourselves. But what can we do, and how do we begin to change? My guest today is Brenna McHugh. She's worked in the industry for more than ten years as a bartender, national spirits judge and brand ambassador. Recently, Brenna completed her Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA, with the specific goal of supporting mental health and career longevity in our industry. She currently works as a counselor at an inpatient substance abuse treatment center and leads talks and events about industry-wide mental health issues. Brenna shared so much helpful advice on mental health in the bar industry. So be sure to listen to our conversation in the player, or wherever podcasts are found. Please share this with your friends and colleagues in the industry too, this is advice that can benefit everyone. Check out our homepage for much, much more and don't forget to hit subscribe. I'll see you next time!

Personal finance is something that many bartenders struggle with. It's a pretty terrifying subject that many of us, myself included, don't even want to think about. Most of us don't make a lot of money and we live in places where everything is expensive. Our financial struggles are further complicated by an unpredictable tip-based income that is often delivered to us in cash.  This all traps many of us in a seemingly inescapable paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. It's really difficult to save any money, and if we have some kind of emergency situation, we are forced to make difficult decisions. It's hard to even know where to begin saving and moving towards more financial stability. My guest today is personal finance and credit expert Sarah Brady. Sarah worked as a server in San Francisco for many years. She now works to help people in our industry improve our financial wellness. Sarah writes for Credit Karma and Lending Tree, teaches workshops and offers one on one coaching to help build budgets, improve credit and buy affordable housing. Check out our conversation in the player or wherever podcasts are found, and challenge yourself to try out one piece of advice that Sarah suggested. I guarantee you will thank yourself in the future. Sarah will be sharing more tips on money management for industry folks on Wed December 4th. The event will be hosted by Jigger & Dash and sponsored by Woodford Reserve. Check out jiggeranddash.com for more info and be sure to check out our homepage for much, much more. Thanks so much for tuning in, I'll see you next time!

I may have enjoyed the depth of field more than the wine, but that's ok. Another great month with some important advice for working bartenders. We discussed: The guest's perspective, kicking people out and some mental tools for a more peaceful mind. I wanted to do another quick recap of what we learned so far. After all,  repetition is the best way to remember something. But if you haven't listened to the past few episodes, make sure you do. We've had some amazing guests on the show. In Episode 17, we learned from content creator and professional bar goer, Hannah Chamberlain, the importance of welcoming your guests and other things we might not have noticed from our side of the bar. In Episode 18, we learned about industry veteran Joanna Lioce's experience kicking people out of one of the oldest bars in San Francisco. And in Episodes 19 and 20, I shared some mental tools that help me stay even when dealing with challenging guest interactions, including compassion for others and remembering that this particular situation will pass. Check out this recap in the player or wherever podcasts are found. There's a lot of great advice for working bartenders in there that you can use on a daily basis at your bar.  We have some great stuff coming up too, including an episode about personal finance, so be sure to hit subscribe and stay tuned for that.   That's all for this week, but be Sure to also visit our homepage for much, much more, and let me know what you think or if there's anything you want to hear more of. Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a message through our contact page.  I'd love to hear from you! Also, be sure to sign up for our mailing list, I'm going to start doing more with that, sending great advice to your inbox about once a month. Cheers!

Some mental tools to keep in your well. Hey everyone! I thought I'd do another quick episode on some more mental tools that can help you get through your shift at the bar. Last week we talked about using compassion as a tool to help you handle situations with rude customers, but this can be a difficult tool to grab when customers are really behaving badly. It's hard to have compassion for someone when you are very triggered. In these cases it's helpful for me to use another tool. Basically, I ask myself if I'm going to remember this situation a few days from now and then remember how I've forgotten all the other situations like this in the past. The idea is to just slow yourself down a little bit so that you don't have to be overcome with stressful feelings which will wear you down over time. Outside circumstances will never be exactly what you want them to be. Even if they get close, ideal situations won't last forever. This is especially true in the ever changing hospitality industry. Check out my advice on my own experience with this in the player or wherever podcasts are found.   Be sure to hit subscribe and stay tuned for more, we have new episodes every week. Make sure to also check out our homepage, and please let me know how this or any of the other advice in this show has worked out for you. Leave a comment or shoot me a message on the contact page. Thanks so much for listening, I'll see you next time.

Maintaining a calm mind takes practice and the right mental tools. Compassion is one of the best tools for a calmer mind. Our job behind the bar is not only hard on our bodies, it's hard on our minds. Humans are naturally reactionary creatures, we're wired for fight or flight and it's very hard to not react or get stressed out when a challenging situation arises, even if there isn't really any danger. All of that stress can build up and eventually burn out our mind the same way physical stress can burn out our bodies. While physical exercise can help maintain our bodies,  mental exercise, like breathing meditation can help maintain our minds. When things get really stressful though, it's important to have the right mental tools to handle the situation. The same way we reach for a Hawthorne strainer when we need to strain a cocktail, we need to reach for the right mental tool when we are presented with a stressful situation. Listen to this episode in the player or wherever podcasts are found to find out how we can use compassion to maintain a calm and peaceful mind when things get tense with customers. Listen to the episode in the player or wherever you get your podcasts and learn some new tools for a calmer mind. Be sure to visit our homepage for much, much more, and let me know how this worked out for you. You can leave a comment or send me a message through our contact page. Thanks so much for tuning in, and I'll see you next time.

Kicking people out of your bar isn't very fun. It's often a challenging and delicate situation that can sometimes even turn violent. It's important to not take the situation personally, and also not make it personal so that things don't escalate. My guest today is Joanna Lioce, she's worked in the industry since 2001, and for the past 16 years she's worked at Vesuvio Cafe, one of the oldest bars in San Francisco. The bar is famous for 86ing the likes of Gregory Corso and Van Morrison, and Joanna has had to kick out plenty of other characters in her time behind the bar there. Check out our conversation in the player or wherever podcasts are found to hear about some of Joanna's craziest experiences kicking people out of the bar, including the time she had to 86 a customer for sexually harassing her grandmother. Be sure to also check out our homepage for much, much more. And don't forget to hit subscribe and stay tuned. I'll see you next time!

So what do your customers really think? We've talked a lot about things like empathy with customers, customer interactions and customer experience, but so far I've just had a bunch of bartenders on the show. I thought it might be a good idea to talk to a real live customer who doesn't work behind the bar, and actually get their side of the story. My guest today is Hannah Chamberlain. She runs Spirited LA, a bar and cocktail Instagram feed and blog that focuses on beautiful, creative and delicious cocktails, as well as cocktail culture and more. Hannah is essentially a professional bar customer. She visits tons of bars all over the world and it was really enlightening to hear about her experience on the other side of the stick. Hannah gives especially excellent advice about being greeted. If there's one takeaway from this episode, it's to greet every customer that walks into your bar. Do this in whatever way makes sense for your establishment, but be consistent about it and your customers will have a much better experience. Check out our conversation in the player, or wherever podcasts are found. Also, be sure to visit our homepage for much, much more and let me know what you think of the show or would like to hear more of. You can leave a comment or send me a message through the contact page. I'd love to hear from you! Also, apologies for all the radio silence lately. I had to do some traveling and then my laptop died a horrible death. I'm finally getting all of the pieces back together, and we're now back to our regularly scheduled program! So stay tuned for more and don't forget to hit subscribe. Thanks so much for listening, I'll see you next time! Cheers!

Don't go to Korea if you don't like spicy food and light beer. Hello again! Another month, and some more quick and dirty tips for bartenders. This time I'm coming to you from Busan, South Korea, so apologies for the poor audio quality. I'm on vacation eating lots of spicy food and drinking lots of light beer, but I wanted to get this recap out to you. Definitely eat everything if you go to Korea, particularly the cold noodles if it's summer time. Oh, and you should take a vacation. You deserve it! Anyway, we had a lot of great discussions this month about issues that we face almost daily at our bars. I talked to Simone Mims about awkward guest interactions, Maura Passanisi about the challenges women face in the wine industry, Chris Tunstall from A Bar Above about career movement, and I shared some of my own advice about handling dogs at your bar.  I wanted to hit some of the main points with this recap episode, so you can have a few new tools to help you at your bar or restaurant. Check out this episode in the player or wherever podcasts are found for these quick and dirty tips for bartenders, and please hit subscribe in the player of your choice to stay up to date with our weekly conversations with bartenders about all kinds of different challenges. Subscribe to our mailing list too, I send a newsletter out about once a month, with even more great stuff. I'll see you next time!

This dog is providing a foot warming service. What to do with service dogs? this seems to be one of the most contentious issues in our industry. I actually don't have a guest this week because everyone I talked to about this immediately got heated about the issue. I understand there are a lot of feelings around the issue. There are a lot of misunderstandings, fears about discrimination, fears about the health department, confusion about the laws, customer's not knowing the rules, people lying about their dog's status, entitlement. This all leads to bad service interactions and unhappy staff and customers. This is one of those issues, however,  that has a very simple solution. When someone comes into your bar with a dog, you have to have the right intention of good service. The dog may indeed be a service animal that is necessary for a medical condition, or the customer simply may not know or understand the laws. It's our job to explain and clarify things in the same welcoming manner that we explain our wine list or today's happy hour specials. Listen to this episode in the player or wherever podcasts are found to hear what I do when someone comes into my bar with a dog, and read on after the break for more information about the laws involved. We are not allowed to have live animals in our bars and restaurants for health and safety reasons. In California, the Health and Safety Code lays out the various rules and exceptions around having animals in a food facility. Most other states and countries have their own sets of rules, but they are generally the same: Animals are not allowed in food facilities unless they are trained service dogs. The Americans With Disabilities Act protects people who have service dogs for medical reasons, and dictates what we bartenders are allowed to say and do when a customer brings a service dog into our bars. When someone comes into your bar with a dog, a conversation has to happen to determine whether or not the dog is legally allowed in your bar. This does not have to be complicated, you can have the same simple discussion every time this happens, and you won't have an awkward or bad interaction. The helpful flow chart below walks you through how the conversation should be: If the customer tells you it's a trained service animal, you have to let them have the dog in your bar. However, the dog must be leashed and under control, and with the customer at all times. Dogs are typically not allowed on the furniture, and if the dog becomes a legitimate nuisance and is bothering other guests, we are within our rights to ask the customer to take the dog elsewhere. Generally, real trained service dogs won't be an issue and the people who have real trained service dogs know these rules as well. If the customer does not have a trained service dog, you can politely and courteously ask them to take the dog elsewhere. This includes "emotional support animals." There's a lot of confusion around emotional support dogs because they are legally allowed in certain places like office buildings and transportation, but they are not allowed in food facilities in most places. Again, you don't need to bring any anger or negativity into this situation, it's not worth having a bad interaction and there's no reason this has to go badly if you follow these steps. I hope that clarifies things. This is the conversation I have every time someone comes in my bar with a dog, and it always goes well. Be sure to visit our home page for much, much more and don’t forget to hit subscribe and share us with your friends in the industry. We have new conversations every week, I’ll see you next time. Cheers!

Sometimes we may feel like we can work behind the bar forever. I mean, what an amazing job? We get to bring the party and make people happy every night. It's great! But chances are even if you could physically work behind the bar forever, likely you won't want to. Whether you're burnt out mentally, your industry schedule doesn't work well with the family you are trying to start or you're just inspired to try something different, stepping out from behind the bar and doing something new can be incredibly challenging. There aren't many good resources about career movement for bartenders either. My guest today is Chris Tunstall. In 2003, like many of us, he started out as a bar back at a restaurant.  Many years later, after a lot of challenging but rewarding work, Chris and his wife Julia now run a successful business of their own. They are the hosts of The Mixology Talk Podcast, they run A Bar Above, an educational resource for working bartenders, and have their own line of bar tools designed specifically to meet the rigors of the modern bar. I got to sit down with Chris and learn about all of the challenges he faced, what drove him to start a business and how he's stayed connected to the industry we all love so much . Check out our conversation in the player to learn about career movement for bartenders, and don't forget to hit subscribe and check out our homepage for more. We have new conversations every week, so stay tuned. I'll see you next time!

As in many different careers, women face a unique set of challenges on all sides of the wine industry. Whether it's harassment from clients and coworkers or simply the fact that there isn't a sanitary bin in the employee bathroom because the men who designed it didn't think about installing one. This is an incredibly challenging and nuanced issue. More recently, the industry seems to be moving towards a place of equality and understanding, but there is still a long way to go. My guest today is Maura Passanisi. She's  a Certified Specialist of Wine and a WSET Advanced sommelier. She has worked in just about every aspect of the industry, from service to production, and she is the co-founder of the Della Donna Women Winemaker Festival. The festival is happening this Sunday, July 21st in Oakland, Calif. Click the link here for tickets and more info. Maura has had a ton of experience handling many of the toughest parts of the wine business and had some great advice about navigating those challenges day to day. Check out our conversation about the challenges women face in the wine industry in the above player or wherever podcasts are found. Visit our home page for much, much more and don't forget to hit subscribe and share us with your friends in the industry. We have new conversations every week, I'll see you next time. Cheers!

How do you handle awkward guests? Usually our interactions with guests at our bars are fun and positive. After all, our job is to provide people with alcohol in a jovial environment, what could be better? But sometimes things don't go as planned. Guests can be socially awkward, weird or just downright rude and we still have to provide them with good service. That can be challenging at best. My guest today is Simone Mims, and she's spent the last 22 years behind the bar and had no shortage of awkward interactions with guests. Simone has worked at some incredible bars in both New York and San Francisco, including Blackbird, Nico Restaurant and Che Fico, and she had some amazing advice about not taking anything personally and providing even the weirdest and rudest guests with the best service possible. You can follow Simone on Instagram to find out what she's up to, and she is also a bar and beverage consultant, I've definitely tried some of her cocktails and they're amazing. Check out our conversation about how to handle awkward guests in the player below and don't forget to hit subscribe and share us with your friend's and colleagues. We have new episodes every week about some of the biggest challenges in our industry. We'll see you next time!

It's not a good idea to keep glasses of wine next to your laptop and recording equipment. Hello again! Another month, some more easy tips for you and another bottle of inexpensive Spanish wine from my corner store. I don't know why I started this tradition, but I'm into it. It's working for me. Anyway, we had a lot of important discussions this month about issues that we face almost daily at our bars. I talked to Celia Camacho about what to do when guests hit on you, Enoch Tonatiuh about the challenges of working at new bars, Mark Goodwin from The Pin Project about our complex relationship with alcohol, and I shared some of my own experiences dealing with annoying customers at my bar. As usual, I wanted to hit some of the main points with this recap episode, so you can have a few new tools to help you at your bar or restaurant. Check out this episode for more easy tips in the player below or wherever podcasts are found, and please hit subscribe in the player of your choice to stay up to date with our weekly conversations with bartenders about all kinds of different challenges. Subscribe to our mailing list too, I send a newsletter out about once a month, with even more great stuff. Cheers!

Bartenders have a complicated relationship with booze, to say the least. We sell it, we love it, we hate it, we know more about it, the way it's produced, its history and it's effects than most other people, and we are constantly surrounded by it. Sometimes this relationship can become extremely difficult, particularly when we get caught up in this routine of being the life of the party, that is quite literally our job. It's hard to put things in perspective and it's hard to find personal balance in an industry that is so completely saturated with alcohol. It can be a massive challenge to discover our own connection to booze and what it really means, and sometimes that requires taking a step back and not drinking for a while. A task that I know from personal experience is easier said than done. My guest today is Mark Goodwin, he's been in this industry since 2014. He began his career at Trick Dog here in San Francisco and he now works behind the bar at Coin Op. Mark really came to terms with his own relationship to alcohol almost 11 months ago, and made the decision to stop drinking. During this time of sobriety he's created The Pin Project, which directly addresses the challenges of alcohol consumption bartenders face in this industry. The Pin is a small symbol you can wear on your lapel during your shift behind the bar, that lets your coworkers and customers know that you have made the choice to not drink during that shift. The pin allows you to make that choice without facing scrutiny or awkward conversations about why you're not drinking. There are plenty of reasons to not drink, everything from addiction problems to having to pick someone up from the airport later, and the pin helps you make that choice silently and easily.   The pin will be available very soon for $15, so you can get one for yourself or your team. Make sure to check out their website and sign up for updates. All proceeds from the pin support The Pin Foundation, a community driven charity focused on improving wellness, health and understanding in regards to sobriety in the working life. The Pin Foundation’s main focus is to connect mental health and substance abuse counselors with those in need, as well as financially sponsoring treatment. Check out my conversation with Mark in the player above or wherever podcasts are found. Don't forget to hit subscribe and please share us and The Pin Project with your friends and colleagues in the industry. We'll see you next week with more conversations about the biggest challenges in our industry. Cheers!

Completely happy with this $12 bottle of corner store Rioja. Hey everyone! Unfortunately I don't have a guest this week, you know how it goes working at a bar, things happen, people have emergencies. I didn't want to leave you hanging though, so I thought I would buy another cheap bottle of wine from my corner store, tell you a little bit more about myself and talk about dealing with annoying customers. Now, by no means am I an expert at this, but it's something I experience and think about a lot and I wanted to share what's worked for me. It's one of the most frustrating things we deal with on a daily basis and it can burn us out very quickly. But if we start to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers, find the humor in it all and focus on why everyone is there in our bars and restaurants, we can all start to have an easier time. Check out this episode in the player below or in your favorite podcast player. Also, I'd love to hear from you! Send me a message through the contact form or leave a comment below. I'd love to know what you think of the show, what you'd like to hear more of, or even just who you are and where you're from. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time.

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about all of the challenges of opening a new bar. But after the doors are open, what is it like working at brand new bars? It can be the old adage, out of the frying pan into the fire. Everything is new. The staff is new, no one knows where anything is yet, no one has the muscle memory to be perfectly efficient yet, problems you could never have anticipated arise, you have to change things every day. It can be extremely stressful, but also incredibly rewarding if you really believe in the program and love what you're doing. My guest today is Enoch Tonatiuh. Originally from Oaxaca, he's worked in the industry since he was 15 years old and over the past four years he's been on the opening team of four new bars and restaurants in San Francisco. Enoch is currently at the brand new Angler restaurant, and he also helped open Whitechapel, Charmaine's and The Beehive. Although he didn't set out to just be a bartender at new bars, Enoch has found that he loves the challenge and excitement, and he has grown and learned so much over the past few years. Check out our conversation in the player below or wherever podcasts are found. We have new conversations every week, so don't forget to hit subscribe if you haven't already. And share us with your friends and colleagues in the industry, this is great information for everyone. We'll see you next time!

What do you do when customers hit on you? It's a common occurrence for bartenders, particularly female bartenders, and in the context of service and hospitality it can be a very tricky situation. It is often the kind of attention that is unwanted and inappropriate, but it is also very nuanced and complex. There is a lot of emotion involved, ideas about consent, thoughtfulness and understanding. It's an opportunity to teach someone what is right or wrong, and it's also a situation that could potentially end very badly. My guest today is Celia Camacho. She has worked in the industry since 2010 at some incredible bars including Blind Tiger and Trick Dog, and she has had a lot of experience dealing with being hit on at work. Celia had many bad experiences to share, but also a many situations that ended up being positive. She also had great advice about how to take care of yourself when these things happen. Check out our conversation in the player below or wherever podcasts are found. Make sure to hit subscribe and share us with your friends in the industry. We have new conversations every week about some of the most challenging situations behind the bar. Cheers!  

My neighborhood corner store has some surprising wine selections. Including this Rhone blend. Hey guys! It's been a busy month as per usual. Lots of amazing guests and a ton of great information. I wanted to give you some more quick and easy tips to remember. We spoke with Tanya Clark, founder of Jigger and Dash Wellness about how to lead a healthier life in the industry, Suzu about how to stay fresh and creative in your career, Todd Carnam, beverage director at The Interval about empathy in customer service, and Simi Grewal, co-founder of DECANT SF, about how she started her own business. I wanted to do another quick recap episode for you all, it's hard to remember everything and repetition is your best friend when you're trying to learn. I'd love to hear from you all about what you think of the show or what you would like to hear more of. You can leave a comment below or shoot me a message on the contact page. You can listen to this episode in the player below or wherever podcasts are found. Be sure to hit subscribe and share us with your friends in the industry. We've got some exciting stuff coming up, including: A conversation about how to have a career as a bartender when you have a family, what to do when guys hit on you while you're working, all the challenges of working at a brand new bar, and more!  Be sure to also check out our homepage for even more great tips to remember. We'll see you next time!  

So you want to open your own bar? Many of us, myself included, have this dream, but the idea can seem daunting, even impossible. Where do you begin? How do you fund a project like that? How will your life change when you run your own place? Is it even right for you? Starting your own business is one of the most challenging things you can do, but it can also be one of the most rewarding. My guest today is Simi Grewal. She has worked in just about every capacity in this industry, everything from line cook to sommelier at award winning restaurants, and that experience helped her open her own bar. Earlier this month, Simi and her business partner Cara Patricia, an equally accomplished industry veteran, opened the doors to DECANT, a beautiful new wine bar and retail shop in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. Check out my conversation with Simi about the joys and struggles she faced along her journey to opening her own business in the player below or wherever podcasts are found, and don't forget to hit subscribe and share us with your friends and colleagues in the industry. Be sure to visit our homepage for much, much more. Thanks so much for tuning in. We have brand new episodes every week. I'll see you next time.  

Customers are people too, just like you and I, though often it's hard to remember that fact. Our job, by necessity, separates us from the people we serve. This separation tends to invoke an 'us versus them' attitude, which is especially reinforced  when we are super busy. It is extremely difficult to see customers as unique individuals with different needs and emotions when 30 of them all show up at the same time and expect service, but we still have to make it happen. My guest today is Todd Carnam. Todd is the beverage director at The Interval in San Francisco, where we recorded this interview. Him and I used to work together before he was in that role. Todd and I had a great conversation about empathy in the context of service, and how to use those ideas when you find yourself in challenging situations with guests. Check out our conversation in the player below or wherever podcasts are found, and please hit subscribe in the player of your choice to stay up to date with our weekly conversations with bartenders about all kinds of different challenges. Read on after the break for more. If you find yourself with a challenging customer, take a second to think about where they’re coming from, why they are there and why you're there. It may seem weird, but when we start thinking about the happiness of others instead of only focusing on our own happiness, it actually just makes everyone happy. That’s all for this week! It was a pleasure talking with Todd and hearing all he had to say about guest interactions. Thank you so much for tuning in and checking us out! Be sure to hop on our mailing list to stay up to date with everything happening here. You can also like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and share us with your friends and colleagues because that’s what You’re 86 all about: Sharing knowledge so we can all improve together as an industry. Stay tuned for next week’s episode. Cheers!

It's easy to get burnt out in this industry. So much of what we do is mere drudgery. It's repetitive and it can wear us down after a long time. It is difficult to stay inspired and creative when you work behind the bar. One way to stay inspired however, although maybe not the easiest, is variety and movement. My guest today, Suzu, is an expert at career movement. Suzu has worked in the industry since he was a child, helping out around his grandparent's family restaurant in Tokyo. Here in San Francisco, he's worked at more bars than I can count including some legendary cocktail bars like 15 Romolo, Tradition(now Zombie Village), Wildhawk, Bellota,  Benjamin Cooper and, more recently, Bon Voyage. Suzu has also dabbled in brand work, competitive bartending with USBG World Class and Bacardi Legacy and more. "I have to stay active, I need to be doing a million different things," Suzu said, "Even as a kid, I was interested in the arts, but I was also playing competitive soccer, I was in the Boy Scouts, I was doing this and that all the time, and I still feel that way, I guess." By constantly moving around and staying fresh, Suzu stays inspired and creative in his career. He not only finds variety from bar to bar, but at bars like Benjamin Cooper, where we recorded this interview, the menu changes constantly and the inspiration is flowing as freely as the booze. Suzu was originally pursuing an education in visual art, but today he uses that same artistic creativity behind the bar, which also helps him stay inspired. Check out my interview with Suzu in the player above or wherever podcasts are found, and hear what he had to say about his career and how he stays fresh. Be sure to hit subscribe in your favorite podcast player, we have new conversations every week. And please share us with your friends and colleagues in the industry. This is such great information for everyone. I actually recorded this interview a few months ago and the show has changed a bit since then. I wanted to include it anyway though, as Suzu always has great advice. This is sort of a "lost episode" if you will, hence the shorter length and slightly different interview format. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week. Cheers,

Let's face it, our industry is unhealthy. We're physically exhausted, we don't sleep well, we keep weird hours, we live on salty junk food and we drink all the time. We have to bring the party, it's our job, but we often get lost in the party. We become the party and we don't know when the party ends. We all feel like we will live forever and we can keep going and never stop, but sooner or later it's going to catch up with us. Our unhealthy lifestyle is not sustainable, but staying healthy is really challenging. Our industry doesn't have to be so unhealthy and although it seems impossible to get better, we can make huge progress just by making some simple changes. It doesn't mean the party has to end, we just need a little more balance. My guest, Tanya Clark, had many great suggestions for small things you can change that will make your life as a bartender much better, healthier and more balanced. Tanya has been in the industry for 14 years and she knows how unhealthy and unsustainable this job can be and how little support there is for bartenders and hospitality workers. She's seen close friends and colleagues suffer serious medical issues as a result. A few years ago she felt she needed to do something about it and on a whim attended a yoga class. She knew right away that she found what she was looking for.  Recently, Tanya became an operating owner and partner at MOXIE Yoga & Fitness in San Francisco, where we recorded this episode.   Tanya is also the founder of Jigger and Dash Wellness, a health and wellness program aimed at serving the hospitality industry. Tanya leads yoga and fitness classes, as well as talks about mental health and financial planning that fit the schedule and needs of  working bartenders. "Self care should be more of a priority than a luxury," Tanya said, "Because if you don't take care of yourself, how do you expect to take care of anyone else?" Tanya's next table talk event is on April 29th, and is about core values and beliefs and how they affect our emotional welfare. Check out my interview with her in the above player, on this page or wherever podcasts are found. Tanya had incredibly valuable advice about getting motivated to exercise, easy strategies for eating better at work, drinking less but still feeling included and much, much more. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite player, we have great conversations with bartenders every week about staying healthy and all of the challenges we face in this industry. More importantly, share us with your friends and colleagues, this is such good advice and I think it can really help make our industry better. Stay tuned for more! Cheers!

Slow nights are a blessing and a curse Hey folks! I thought I'd try something new for this episode. I got some feedback and I decided to start doing shorter summery style episodes every few episodes. There is a ton of information in the interviews and it's hard to remember everything, so I'll lay out the key points in these recap episodes to make it easier to remember. We learn better through repetition anyway. So what have we learned so far? Maybe I'll turn all of this into a book or training seminar someday. We'll see where it goes. You're 86 is always evolving and the goal is to help our industry grow. Please leave comments below or email me with any suggestions. I welcome the feedback and want to know what you're interested in. So check out the much shorter Episode 4.5 in the player below, on this page, or wherever podcasts are found. Make sure to hit subscribe and share us with your friends and colleagues. Read on after the break for some quick tips about everything we've learned so far   Below, you'll find some quick tips for dealing with the situations we've talked about so far. Think of it as a reference guide. You can even print it out if you want to. Counterfeit Money Get to know the security features of your currency. Play it safe! Don't put anyone at risk over $20 or $100. Don't draw extra attention to the situation. Don't take the counterfeit bill if you don't have to, but don't do anything risky. Don't give counterfeit notes to anyone except law enforcement. You could be jailed or fined otherwise. Keep counterfeit notes separate from other currency in an envelope or plastic bag. Initial and date the bill in the margin. Write down a good description of what happened and who was involved. Management Challenges Maintain awareness and stop problems before they happen. Be ready to listen and have empathy when problems do arise. See bad situations as opportunities for growth. Don't fill your staff with only industry veterans. Balance your team out with people with a variety of talents and passions. Don't manage from the top down. Listen to your staff and let your bar or restaurant grow and change with them. Maintain a good work/life balance. Nurture relationships outside of the industry. Bar Injuries For cuts: Rinse the area around the cut with soap and water, apply pressure with clean gauze until the bleeding stops, cover the wound. If you are impaled by an object, don't pull it out. Stabilize the object and go to the hospital. For burns: Gently rinse the burn under cool flowing water for several minutes, cover if necessary. Go to the hospital if you have significant skin damage. Some chemical burns react badly to water. Read the labels on your cleaning products and chemicals. If you sustain a head injury, get checked out by a doctor. If you have a headache and it gets worse, go to a hospital immediately. If you suspect you have a sprain or broken bone, stabilize the affected area and go to the hospital. Don't finish your shift out. Wear supportive shoes, drink lots of water and get good sleep.   Date Rape and Violence Maintain awareness and do your best to create a safe environment for your staff and guests. If someone seems to be drugged, separate them, seek medical attention and don't let them leave with anyone that is not a trusted friend or colleague. Set their drink aside to be tested. Have a plan for violent or dangerous situations. Talk with your staff and be prepared If your bar experiences traumatic events, support each other, seek help or keep talking about it together.   Cutting People Off Know the signs of intoxication: Lack of coordination, slurred speech, memory loss, etc. Be sober yourself, you can't accurately judge another's sobriety if you are drunk. Always get a second opinion from a coworker and inform your entire staff if someone is cut off. Have a plan,

I've always found it ironic that our business is to sell people alcohol, but we also have to make sure they don't get too drunk. We want them to buy more so we make more money, but we can't sell them too much because it causes problems—The worst being that they will kill themselves or someone else. The drunker they get, the more childish they become, and have you ever tried to tell a child they can't have more of something they want? It doesn't go well. At least children are tiny and tire easily. Drunk adults have a much greater capacity for bullshit and it falls on us bartenders to deal with it. Cutting off guests who've had too much is one of the most common challenges bartenders have to face on a daily basis. It's never fun, it's never exactly the same, but if you are prepared and you approach the situation as an opportunity for good hospitality, cutting someone off doesn't have to be a bad thing. My guest this week, Andrew Meltzer, has had a lot of experience cutting people off and he had some great advice to share. Andrew was the 2016 World Class bartender of the year, president of the San Francisco USBG chapter and he is currently the beverage director at the brand new Noosh restaurant, where we recorded this interview. Before Noosh, Andrew managed 15 Romolo, an amazing Spanish focused bar in the North Beach neighborhood. 15 Romolo is a nice place, but it's literally surrounded by strip clubs and dive bars with loud music. Not that there's anything wrong with those places, it's just that the neighborhood tends to facilitate over doing it and that spills up the alleyway through the doors of the bar. Check out my interview with Andrew in the player below, on this page or wherever podcasts are found. Make sure to hit subscribe to stay up to date with all of our great conversations about the biggest challenges in bartending. Read on after the break for some more in depth advice about cutting off drunk customers.   We bartenders are responsible for the safety of our guests and we have an obligation to make sure nothing bad happens as a result of us serving alcohol. "Say that person goes out and causes damage or drives their car drunk and kills somebody," Andrew said, "There are laws that make you liable for even the death or damage." These laws are called Dram Shop Laws, and they are slightly different in different states or countries, but they generally place some level of legal liability on either the staff, the establishment or both for the actions of guests who are over served and cause damage. Legality aside, we all just want our guests to be happy and have a fun, safe time, and if someone is over served and potentially in danger, it's not good for anyone. As uncomfortable as cutting people off can be, it's an amazing opportunity to provide great service to our guests. They might not realize it in the moment, but if you prevent someone from getting hurt or even just make their next morning a little better by cutting them off, they'll thank you later. Maybe they won't say it, maybe they won't even come back, but they'll know that you were looking out for them. "If you realize that you were taken care of and somebody cut you off for a good reason," Andrew said, "You're actually, probably going to come back. You're like, 'You know, those guys take care of me. I'm gonna go back, I'm even gonna tip them bigger next time." So with all of this in mind, what are the best methods for cutting people off? Andrew had some great advice on this, basically you just need to be prepared. Here are some key tips for successfully cutting someone off. Cherry leaf, black currant, oregano tea—One of the non-alcoholic options at Noosh. Be sober - You cannot accurately judge someone else's sobriety if you are intoxicated. Also, be your best self at work. If you are struggling emotionally or physically, take a couple minutes to take care of yourself. Meditate, breathe get a couple minutes of fresh air,

The idea behind pretty much every bar is essentially the same: Create an enjoyable environment for people to come have drinks or food. This is our business. Maybe some bars don't play the music you like, some bars don't serve the food you like, some bars don't play the sports games you like, it's impossible to please everyone all the time, of course, but the idea is still pretty much the same. Unfortunately, sometimes guests have a different idea of what the bar is supposed to be. Some people go to bars to start fights and act out their aggression, some people go to bars to coerce women and men into having sex with them and some people use our bars as a platform to push their political agenda. This is an unfortunate reality that bartenders sometimes have to deal with, and in certain certain markets like Uptown Oakland, Calif., violence is commonplace. My guest today is Nate Olson. He's worked behind the bar for two decades all across the country: in Minneapolis, Miami, New Orleans and the San Francisco Bay Area. Nate currently manages a lovely Italian restaurant in Oakland called Lungomare. Nate has seen some shit during his tenure, he's had to deal with violence towards himself, his coworkers and between customers. He was managing Oakland's Make Westing bar during the incident last July that involved death threats, Proud Boys, riot police and protesters. We will dive more into this incident and other violent situations after the break. It is unfortunate and sad that acts of violence sometimes happen at our bars, and it's extremely hard to know what to do. Every situation is different, but hopefully if we hear more about what others have done in the past, we will be able to handle these situations better in the future. Nate had a lot of great advice about what worked for him and what he would do differently. Check out my interview with Nate in the player below, on this page or wherever podcasts are found.   Honestly, I'm not an expert on violent situations and I've been fortunate myself to not be involved in very many. Every situation is totally different, which makes it so hard to know what to do. Experience helps, of course, but if the situation turns violent, it could be your last experience. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 138 fatalities in our industry in 2017. Many of those were the result of violence. Just a few weeks ago, four people were shot inside of the Halftime Sports Bar in downtown Oakland. My hope is that by learning from the experience of others we can better handle these situations ourselves, or even prevent them from happening altogether. Nate shared his experiences with some pretty traumatic violence. I want to get into these specific events a little bit more here. Date rape drugs and how to spot the signs Ambien, a prescription sleep aid, is one of the most common date rape drugs mixed with alcohol. Photo: WebMD Alcohol is the most common date rape drug. It lowers inhibitions, reduces coordination and makes people do stupid things. Alcohol is our business though, and most of us are pretty well aware of its affects and how to be safe about serving it. We know what to look out for when it comes to alcohol, but when alcohol is mixed with other drugs, things can get dangerous. A variety of different drugs are used in these situations and they come in different forms. Zolpidem, the sleep aid drug known as Ambien is the most common, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Other drugs, including various benzodiazepines like Valium and Xanex, Rohypnol, and GHB and its derivatives have also been well documented. All of these drugs cause severe reactions when mixed with alcohol, including severe loss of coordination, inhibition, short term memory loss and in high enough doses, heart and respiratory failure. Nate spoke about a situation involving date rape drugs that he experienced while managing Make Westing. "A woman was totally fine, talking with me,

Bars can be dangerous places, especially for those of us who work behind them. Cuts and scrapes, burns, slips and falls are all quite common injuries, and sometimes bartenders suffer even weirder injuries like bar spoon puncture wounds.

There are few phrases I want to hear less than, "I want to speak to the manager!" In this episode, I got to sit down with my long-time friend and colleague James Butler, and talk with him about the challenges he has faced as a manager in the bar and restaurant industry here in San Francisco.

Hey, Episode 0 is finally here! Thanks so much for tuning in and checking us out! Normally I will interview a different bartender every week, but in this episode I'm just at home hanging out with my dog (see photo), and I wanted to briefly introduced myself and the show, and share a story about how I poorly handled a situation with counterfeit money. You can find Episode 0 in the player below or you can subscribe to the You’re 86 Podcast on this page or wherever podcasts are found. Since I already introduced the show in the previous welcome post, I'll just dive right into the intricacies of counterfeit currency in this post. What do you do about counterfeit money? Definitely not what I did, listen and read on to find out more. Counterfeit currency is an unfortunate issue that we sometimes have to deal with in our industry. The United States Secret Service, which was originally formed to combat counterfeiting, reported that more than 73 million counterfeit US dollars were prevented from circulation in 2017 alone. Although maybe not the most common situation to arise at our bars, it’s important to know what we should do if it does. I certainly didn’t know what to do when I found myself in a counterfeit money situation when I was working at a bar called The Interval in San Francisco. I’ll tell you what I did, then what was wrong about it and what to do better next time. Here's what happened to me It was around 5:30 pm on a summer Thursday night. I was in our little prep room in the back of the bar washing glassware or something when my coworker came in and told me there was a customer making her very uncomfortable and asked if I could handle it. Of course I was happy to help her, but wasn’t sure what I was about to get into. I went out to the front and found an extremely nervous looking, balding, middle-aged man in a fleece vest standing near the POS. I cheerfully asked him how he was doing and what I could get for him. He was so nervous and awkward that he could barely respond, but he managed to order a cup of tea(which cost $4, the second cheapest drink on the menu). US bills of $5 denominations higher that were printed in the early 1990's or later will have this security thread. This guy's $100 did not have it.   He then nervously fumbled through his wallet and produced a $100 bill. I didn’t even need to look at the bill to know it was a fake, it was obvious that was what he was so nervous about. I took the bill from him, confirmed it was a fake by the lack of security strip(see image), opened the cash drawer and told him that I didn’t have change for $100 because it was the beginning of the shift. I gave the bill back to him, he paid with a $5 bill, took his tea to-go and left.   I thought it was over, but then one of our more unique regulars, who was sitting at the bar while this interaction took place, suddenly took way too much interest in the situation and started questioning me about it. When I wouldn’t tell him anything other than, “It’s over, I handled it, I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” he decided to get up and tail the guy through the neighborhood, warning other businesses about this man's alleged scheme. Our regular came back to the bar a couple of hours later and recounted his valiant tale of vigilantism. Fortunately nothing really bad happened, but much of this could have been avoided had I handled the situation better. What I did right, wrong and what I should have done I was right to try to get him to leave, as he was already making my coworker feel uncomfortable. Safety was my main concern and it should be your main concern too. No one wants to end up with counterfeit currency, it’s like an expensive hot potato, but it’s not worth putting yourself, your coworkers or your customers at risk over $20 or $100. Fortunately the guy in my story ended up being pretty harmless.