Inside HighSpirits

HTI Workshop Adds Spirit To Bartending Skills

EH&C Staff - Mumbai

Hospitality Training Institute (HTI) conducted two, four-day programmes free of charge for bartenders to upgrade their skills. ‘The Shaw Wallace Bartending Programme,’ which was conducted at The Merlin Bar, Orchid-an Ecotel witnessed a large participation consisting of employees from several organisations like Velocity, Athena, The Taj, Oberoi Airport Services, Hyatt Regency, ITC Grand Maratha, Orchid, Rodas, Lotus Suites, Intercontinental, Goa Portuguesa etc.

Elaborating on the aim of the course, Gladvin Rego, director operations, HTI said, "Today bartenders have to know the finer aspects of wine and be familiar with classical cocktails. Along with Flair, a recent trend which seems here to stay, popularity of coffee has also increased due to Cafe Coffee Day and Barista. Shortly ‘Liquorice Coffees’ will be in demand. Through the workshops we not only did a sound grounding in all these areas but also educated the participants on the art of innovation."

The first day of the four-day programme was dedicated to alcohols, where base flavour and qualities in mixing were emphasised. The next few days saw the bartenders get a taste of their own medicine. Several classical cocktails, healthy mocktails and variations were made by Rego and sampled by the participants. These session stressed upon innovation and variations.

While the flaming cocktails drew spontaneous applause from the participants, the loudest cheer was reserved for the ‘Blue Blazer,’ a concoction of ‘Royal Challenge’ whisky, flaming from one jug to another with a short stop in a brandy balloon before ending inside the bartenders. Participants were greatly enthused by the tips on innovative methods on flaming and service of alcoholic coffees.

Along with Rego, other specialist instructors interspersed throughout the four-day programmes. Chef Ajay Hinaria conducted a session on garnishes and assisted participants in making innovative ones with fruits for a variety of cocktails. A slick slide show on flair bartending was presented by Sanjeet Keskar (who is also slated to release a book on bartending) and he also provided valuable dos and don’ts of flairing. Brendon and Rohan gave a scintillating demonstration on juggling and flair and coached participants as they tried their hands at tossing bottles and mixing drinks with flair.

The best part of Rego’s teaching method was that he used ratios rather than millilitres. According to him, this is the international way of handling recipes so that when the size of the glass varies, the bartender can vary the quantity used to get a standardised product. (For examples see box below)

During the programmes an entire day was dedicated to Dionysus, the God of Wine. Everything from production to service to appreciation and pairing was touched on. The nuances of dealing with clarity, nosing and tasting were dealt with using Shaw Wallace Wines imported from Italy, which are yet to be launched in the market. The wines were inspected, tasted and paired with food. With the wine market growing at a rapid pace and increased awareness and demand from consumers it was not surprising that the participants fielded a host of questions right through the session.

The issue of changing trends and current scenario was tackled by Dominic Costabir, director projects, HTI. He encouraged responsible bartending among participants and advised them not to cheat guests or encourage them to drink beyond their capacities. Costabir also cautioned participants on the hazard of giving in to the temptation to alcohol on or off duty at the place of work. His firm advice was, "Don’t drink at your work place or you will have no place to work."

The two four-day programmes received a very positive response from the participants who all agreed that such programmes were the need of the hour. "People like me who have been in the industry for several years but with no formal training can get proof of our qualifications (certificates) and improve our knowledge and upgrade our skills through such programmes," stated Sagar, a bartender at Goa Portuguesa.

According to Noel Buthello, captain, Orchid the most interesting aspect of the workshop was the garnishing. "Mostly garnishing is standard therefore it is necessary to learn something new. I am at the Mostly Grills bar and we have less of classical and more of innovative cocktails. Cocktails have started to become popular and people are aware of the various kinds of cocktails thus making it imperative for the bartender to be innovative," informed Buthello.

Another participant working at a star hotel, who preferred not to be named, said, "Our hotel constantly bombards us with training programs, which are held in classrooms. At this programme we got to try out the necessary skills in a hands-on environment. Besides, it gave an opportunity to interact with other bartenders and understand the way they work."

Infused by the response to the programmes Costabir stated that HTI planned to take it to other locations in the city. "Naturally there is scope to take the bartending programme to other cites too depending on time and finance," commented Costabir.