Cocktails In The Country
From Chanticleer Society
Cocktails in the Country was a two day bartender training retreat that Gary Regan began in 2001. It was held at Painter's Tavern in his home town of Cornwall-On-Hudson. At these retreats, Gary would share with the small group of attendees (typically 10 per session) his thoughts and approaches on how to be a mindful bartender, how to approach creating a new recipe, and how to approach bartending in a way that will provide the best opportunity for success.
The format of the class evolved over the years, with a typical schedule of the more recent classes looking something like:
- DAY 1
- 11:00 am : Pick-up in Manhattan in a Luxury Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
- 1 pm : Arrive at Painters, check in, settle down, get to know each other
- 2- 5 pm : The Mindful Bartender :
This will be an expanded session of gaz’s Mindful Bartender Workshop.
Topics will include:- Preparation for a Shift Behind the Stick
- Tapping into Intuition
- The Rewards of Mindful Communication
- Effective BarSpeak
- Dealing with Anger
- Changing your Reality
- Changing the World
- 5 – 7 pm : Break for food and refreshments
- 7 pm : Set up the bar
- 8 – 11 pm : Organized Chaos
Each bartender will be assigned a specific base spirit with which to create new cocktails, and everyone will take a turn behind the bar making drinks for us all to sample.
- DAY 2
- 10 am – 10:30 am : How to Write a Cocktail Recipe
- 10:30 am – 11:15 am : The Secrets of Success
- Noon – 2 pm : Lunch
- 2 – 5 pm : Organized Chaos
A second round of cocktail creation. Each bartender will be given a specific base ingredient with which to create a new cocktail which will be sampled and discussed by all and sundry. - 5 pm : Luxury Mercedes-Benz Sprinter back to Manhattan