SERVING ALCOHOL
When it comes to serving alcohol to our customers, we have three responsibilities:
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1. We owe our customers an enjoyable experience.
2. We want to make money for our establishment.
3. We have a duty to our community to keep everyone safe.
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Keeping customers and our communities safe is a very serious responsibility. We need to first, and foremost, ensure that a person is of legal age to consume alcohol before they are served. We need to make sure that we do not over-serve alcohol to anyone. We also need to be able to help ensure that our customers get home safely.
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Almost every authority that issues liquor licenses has an alcohol awareness training requirement and certificate program that is mandatory for people who serve alcohol. It is the responsibility of our managers to ensure that every team member serving alcohol has the appropriate training and certification. As a company, we also require all managers to also have the training and certification required by the local alcohol control board.
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Refusing to serve a customer who you feel is intoxicated is never an easy situation to deal with.
Three things that are very important in this situation are as follows:
1. Make all co-workers aware that you've refused to serve alcohol to a customer, so they do not serve them.
2. Make sure you have made the manager on duty aware of the situation.
3. The incident should be recorded in your manager log.
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Keep in mind that the restaurant industry is the number one industry for misuse of alcohol and drugs in the workplace. If you feel you have a problem, please speak to a manager for help. Our team members are our most valued asset and your well being is always the most important!
WINE KNOWLEDGE
Sommeliers and the study of wine is a career that requires a never-ending commitment to wine education. I know, and have met, many incredibly knowledgeable wine professionals and each of them say the same thing, that no one knows everything about wine. Take a moment to think about how many countries produce wine and how many specific growing regions there are within each of these countries. Think about the various climates, soils, terroirs, and so many other natural factors that affect wine. Think about the intricacies of fermenting, bottling, packaging, and shipping these delicate liquids. Think about the elegance with which wine professionals speak tableside about wine. Wine tasting, pairing, and service are truly art forms. The information is endless and these professionals live a lifetime of constant, passionate study.
CHAMPAGNE
Like many of you, I have a passion for many types of wine, but Champagne is by far at the top of my list. My love for Champagne comes not only from its flavor profile, but also from the rituals and experiences associated with drinking Champagne. Like many, celebrating great life events begins with a Champagne toast. It is a food-friendly wine that also stands on its own as a wonderful wine to enjoy throughout the evening.
DESSERT WINES
Every great dining experience ends with something sweet. From a consumer standpoint, it's a great enhancement to the dessert course and can be a great alternative to dessert. From a restaurant professional's standpoint, these wines give us an opportunity to enhance our guest's dining experience and offer them a new experience that will leave a lasting memory of their meal. For our service team members, selling dessert wines is a great way to increase your check average and gratuity. For our culinary team members, studying dessert wines will give you the ability to create great pairings, keeping in mind some of these wines pair well with more than dessert. For example, a classic pairing of Foie Gras and Sauternes is timeless. Dessert wines are meant to be enjoyed in small glasses and treasured like a glass of Scotch.
There are five major styles of dessert wines:
1. Sparkling Dessert Wine
2. Lightly Sweet Dessert Wine
3. Richly Sweet Dessert Wine
4. Sweet Red Wine
5. Fortified Wine
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One of my personal favorite dessert wines is called Ice Wine, or in German, Eiswein. Wikipedia defines Ice Wine as "a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing for a more concentrated grape juice to develop. The grapes' must is pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet wine. With ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterward. Unlike the grapes from which other dessert wines are made, such as Sauternes, Tokaji, or Trockenbeerenauslese, ice wine grapes should not be affected by Botrytis cinerea or noble rot, at least not to any great degree. Only healthy grapes keep in good shape until the opportunity arises for an ice wine harvest, which in extreme cases can occur after the new year, on a northern hemisphere calendar. This gives ice wine its characteristic refreshing sweetness balanced by high acidity. When the grapes are free of Botrytis, they are said to come in clean.
Ice wine production is risky (the frost may not come at all before the grapes rot or are otherwise lost) and requires the availability of a large enough labor force to pick the whole crop within a few hours, at a moment's notice, on the first morning that is cold enough. This results in relatively small amounts of ice wine being made worldwide, making ice wines generally expensive.
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Ice wine production is limited to that minority of the world's wine-growing regions where the necessary cold temperatures can be expected to be reached with some regularity. Canada and Germany are the world's largest producers of ice wines. About 75 percent of the ice wine in Canada comes from Ontario."
The term noble rot was mentioned above. Noble rot is a type of spore called Botrytis cinerea that rots fruits and vegetables. While it sounds and looks disgusting, it adds a unique and highly sought-after flavor of ginger and honey in wine. There are many wines made from noble rot grapes including Sauternes.
HARD SELTZER
It’s hard to beat a cold beer straight from the cooler on a hot summer day, or a chilled poolside cocktail. But it’s also hard to avoid the bloat that comes along with their high calorie counts. Cue hard seltzer. It is a refreshing alternative which, with fewer calories and about half the carbs of beer, has been getting some buzz as the health-conscious alcoholic beverage of the season. Another bonus? Because hard seltzer is low in sugar, it’s less likely to lead to killer hangovers.
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The drink came on the scene in 2013, with the creation of Spiked Seltzer. Its immediate popularity has since spawned other brands, such as White Claw, Nauti, and Truly Spiked & Sparkling. Expect to see other companies popping up as this trend is here to stay.
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The good news is that less sugar doesn’t mean more artificial sweeteners or other nasty ingredients. Hard seltzer is made similarly to beer: through fermentation, though generally speaking, it is cane sugar, not malted barley, that is fermented, and the flavoring comes from real fruit. Of the options we found currently on supermarket shelves, all were gluten-free except for Nauti, which is made with a malt base.
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Although all of the brands we encountered were crisp and refreshing, our clear winner was Spiked Seltzer’s Cape Cod Cranberry flavor, which tasted exactly like cranberry seltzer, with no trace of alcohol. A close second was Truly’s Colima Lime, which had small fizzy bubbles, reminiscent of Champagne. If you enjoy the taste of beer, Nauti’s lineup might appeal to you most since their drinks taste more like a flavor-infused beer than seltzer.
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Hard seltzers make excellent mixers without diluting your drink. Try substituting one in place of conventional seltzer for an extra-potent vodka soda or summertime punch. Be sure to proceed with caution, as one can has about the same alcohol content as a typical glass of wine (more than beer—and is very easy to toss back.
BEER
Beer Styles
Simply put, a beer style is a label given to a beer that describes its overall character and, oftentimes, its place of origin. It's a name that has been broadly accepted by brewers and consumers after years, or even centuries of trial and error, scientific research and marketing. The styles listed here reflect our own spin on the constantly evolving world of beer, with short, jargon-free descriptions included to help anyone understand the similarities and differences. Use these styles as a guide when reviewing a beer's appearance, aroma, taste, and feel.
Click on this link to explore the numerous styles of beer:
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NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE
Non-alcoholic beverages are often a forgotten element of a beverage program, yet they are a key component. There are many questions to be asked regarding non-alcoholic beverages, for example:
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Sodas: Are they diet or regular? Do they come in a bottle, can or plastic? Are they dispensed through a gun?
Juices: Are they fresh squeezed? What brands are they?
Bottled Water: Is it still or sparkling? What size is it? Does it come in glass or plastic? Where does it come from?
Coffee: What brand is it? Where does it come from? Is it regular or decaf? What type of roast is it?
Iced and Hot Tea: What brand are they? Do they have caffeine? Are they loose or bagged? Are they organic? Are they herbal or infused? What flavors are available? What is the correct steeping time?
Having a few mocktails available is always a good idea. Remember it is our job to exceed all of our guest expectations.