When Herald Articles Show Their Class
"Wellington bars too posh for Bacardi" screamed the headline. Under this, the article's author, Maria Slade, recounted a story of how she ordered a Bacardi and Coke and was told at both Matterhorn (described as "Wellington nite [sic] spot du jour"*) and Motel that they would not serve her Bacardi as it was an inferior rum.
Personally I wouldn't mind if the bartender at the "fifth best bar in the world" (as Maria notes Bartender magazine ranked Matterhorn) told me that it would be better if I had Havana Club. Hell, they're the professionals.
Brand does matter with booze however, I mean, just ask Tom about Gin. But when you ask for a Bacardi and Coke do you really absolutely have to have Bacardi? Or have you just used the brand name as a proxy for "Cuban white rum".
Matterhorn and Motel do both carry Bacardi though (interestingly for intellectual property reasons) and our intrepid journalist finally got her B&C, with a $2 surcharge. "Whaaaaa?!" I hear you ask/exclaim. Well, she did ask for a "premium spirit" in her drink.
Up in Auckland the scene is different...
- Phil Clark, operations manager of Auckland watering holes Pasha, Euro, Green Room and Danny Doolin's, described [not serving Bacardi] as "bizarre".
- Tony Stewart, owner and manager of Match bar and part-owner of Clooney bar and restaurant in Auckland, said he steered away from Malibu and Midori because of the "demographic" they attracted.
- Mick Dykes, bar manager at jazz bar Deschler's in Auckland's High St, said that Deschlers had steered away from drinks such as Chartreuse and Absinthe, because they weren't used for anything except for drinking shots.
I'm not really into the shot-drinking scene but I have been drinking a bit of Absinthe. Motel does a very nice Champagne cocktail with Absinthe, sugar and feijoa vodka and Hawthorne Lounge does a similar one with a more citrus flavour to it. Both are very nice, but I'd hate to shoot them.
Finally at the end of the article we see how terribly out of date it is. They list Mojitos and Martinis as "in". Obviously Martinis still have "in" written all over them, but Mojitos? In Autumn? With Bacardi?
*Yes, it's the "night-spot of the day"
I think it's spelt "Hawthorn".
Favourite quote: "Was I starting to look like trailer trash? Or was a new breed of bar that presumes to know better than its patrons emerging?"
Answer to question 1: yes, the moment you asked for Bacardi and coke.
Answer to question 2: yes, there is a shocking new trend towards bars employing professional bartenders who know their spirits. What are things coming to?
I'd have to qualify your statement though, Hadyn. When you say "Brand does matter with booze however, I mean, just ask Tom about Gin.", I'd add that what matters is not the brand per se, but the drink itself. It's true that many people who ask for a drink by its brand name are doing so out of brand loyalty or image-driven marketing (hence the hilarious idea that Heineken and Stella Artois are "upmarket" beers), so in that case, the idea that brand matters is shonky. But someone asks for Tanqueray rather than South, for example, that's presumably because he or she knows they they taste different, and prefers one over the other at that time.
I'd venture to suggest that someone who asks for a "Bacardi & Coke" rather than just a "white rum & Coke" is really just drinking what they heard their older siblings ordering when they were 15, and just wants something sweet, sticky and cheap that gets them drunk quickly. Hell, if you really must put Coke with your rum, ask for a Cuba Libre.
But the biggest irony in the whole thing is that Matterhorn's signature drink, the Falling Water, is made with 42 Below feijoa vodka, and 42 Below is owned by ... Bacardi.
But someone asks for Tanqueray rather than South, for example, that's presumably because he or she knows they they taste different, and prefers one over the other at that time.
Or they're out drinking with you and/or Stephen and don't want to be laughed at...
It is "Hawthorn" I just default to the "e" for some reason.
What a laugh. First of all, comments from any bartender who doesn't serve absinthe or Chartreuse on the grounds they they're not used for anything "except for drinking shots" should be disregarded, on the grounds that said bartender is a retard. Has he not heard -- at very least -- of the Sazerac, or a Chartreuse Cocktail? (Of both I am more than a little fond.) God, anyone who would say that of absinthe knows nothing of absinthe anyway, since if you have any class you do NOT drink it like a shot. Vote with your feet, peeps.
And as for knowledgeable barkeeps who gently and professionally steer you away from drinking nasty rubbish, there should be more of them I say.
Considering the very crap cocktail I had at Deschlers last time I was up that way, I would suggest that you are correct in your analysis Stephen
Ha ha ha. "Night-spot of the day". Ha ha ha.
Also. "Librarian by day. Bacardi(TM) by night."... and, might I add, "fucking sore head all day Saturday and Sunday from drinking toxic shit like Bacardi."
oh yes. nothing like doing a saturday morning pre-school story-time with a throbbing head and a mouth full of cotton wool.
Yeah, thought you'd like that poster Natalie.
hah! yes. in fact the accompanying image might well be me, but, drunk as I might get, I'm pretty sure I never get so trolleyed as to try and have a conversation with a wall.
Or a Bacardi tattoo
actually...
Chartreuse is out? Ah, that'll teach those trendy monks...
I was at Motel last night and talked to the bartender. He thought the whole thing was a joke.
Its a bit along the lines of the decaf, trim, soy latte. I admire places that refuse to go along with such coffee madnesses (Astoria for one).
Hmm, while the combination of all those is justifiably known as a "why bother", one of the reasons I don't go to Astoria is that they don't stock trim milk and I prefer a trim latte. Quite apart from any diet considerations (less calories in your coffee = more calories from pizza and alcohol), once you've got used to the texture of trim milk, having full cream tastes way too gluggy.
I don't go to Astoria because they make me wait for my coffee at the counter.
This does raise an interesting question though: would you take, for example, soy milk if a trained Barista told you that it made better coffee?
But isn't the point that a trained Barista wouldn't tell you that soy milk is better? Or a good bartender won't use a poison infused pre squeezed lime mix and tell you the flavour is just as good.
I am interested in the difference in the thickness of the non trim milk - seems to relate to Barista style. At De Luxe for example, the milk is thinner - my preference, but it still carries the flavour through the fat in the milk. I don't go to Astoria cos their coffee seems thicker to me (I may admire them but its from afar).
Here is a site with good milk information that I spent far too much time on when I first purchased my home espresso machine:
http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/frothingguide/milk
I also think its time for a new term for hair stylist (result of a typo) - a Barbista! or I guess that could include someone with a fetish for dolls...
Oh, I don't actually think that soy is better. I was just wondering out loud what I would do if my Barista said: "we don't usually serve trim milk because we believe that soy has a better texture blah blah blah"
Purely hypothetical.
Personally I have mine black.
Soy actually does have a better texture for making coffee - it picks up the grind better.
It "picks up the grind"??? Whatever does that mean?
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