I Was There: The Night Someone Tipped

As a journalist I‘m no stranger to the strange and bizarre, and I confess I heard the story many times over the years, but always put it down to urban myth, or the fanciful ravings of drunken bartenders. The fact that it persisted always intrigued me. So I started digging, more as a hobby at first, and many times I got excited only to have … Continue reading I Was There: The Night Someone Tipped

Drunk Experiments 2: Sensory Deprivation in a Cocktail Bar

Bars are sensory places — the sound of the crowd, the taste of great cocktails, the smell of wood, leather, perhaps a smoking fire. But do you actually need all five senses to enjoy them? That’s the question that gripped me after four cocktails and three successive Jägermeisters. I asked myself, could you perhaps enjoy them more by ridding yourself of one, or even, all … Continue reading Drunk Experiments 2: Sensory Deprivation in a Cocktail Bar

7 Reasons Why Rappers Shouldn’t Pimp Drinks Brands

These days it seems every rapper feels an all-consuming need to associate themselves with an alcohol brand. From vodka, to tequila, rum and cognac there is literally no booze they won’t whore, I mean endorse. So, in no particular order here are seven reasons they should reconsider that desperate marketing urge. 1) Claiming responsibility for creating it   This is about as believable as a … Continue reading 7 Reasons Why Rappers Shouldn’t Pimp Drinks Brands

12 Careers To Help you Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

12 Careers To Help you Survive a Zombie Apocalypse There are many factors to consider when choosing a potential career; pay, prospects the elusive work/life balance. However too few people stop to consider whether their chosen profession would help them survive a zombie apocalypse. That said, here are 12 potential vocations that could help you endure when the moaning dead finally do shamble into view. … Continue reading 12 Careers To Help you Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

21 Things you Only Know if You’ve Worked in Hotels

1) Much like prison it’s far easier to get into than it is to leave. 2) No room service professional ever enters a room without expecting to see someone’s knob. 3) Nothing causes the cold hand of fear to grip your bowels like a phone ringing on your day off. 4) Management’s idea of career progression differs greatly from your own. As does their concept … Continue reading 21 Things you Only Know if You’ve Worked in Hotels

Drunk Experiments 1: Hangovers: We Road-Test Them.

There are many hangovers on the market, ranging in strength and complexity from ‘just grab a couple of paracetamol’ to ‘might actually have given myself a disease’. But with all this choice, which one to choose? To find out we conducted the following controlled hangover trials; drink nothing but the singular type of alcohol in question, achieve a level of drunkenness where you would happily hump … Continue reading Drunk Experiments 1: Hangovers: We Road-Test Them.

15 Reasons NOT to date a bartender

As a bartender I am no stranger to giving advice. At last count there were at least eight weddings, three divorces, two children born out of wedlock, five children born in wedlock and four very happy same sex marriages as a direct result of advice from your’s truly. So when I saw eharmony’s article this week on reasons to date a bartender I was of … Continue reading 15 Reasons NOT to date a bartender

Blue drinks – why they must be stopped before it’s too late.

  Society has zenith points; cultural high water marks which stand as testaments to our achievements as a species; the building of Notre Dame, the abolition of slavery, the filming of The Empire Strikes Back. Then there is the flip side, our dark underbelly of cultural shame; the fall of the Roman Empire, the Spanish inquisition, X Factor. This is just as true in the … Continue reading Blue drinks – why they must be stopped before it’s too late.

Where to drink in London in the event of a Zombie apocalypse?

  As a lifelong bartender I’m constantly asked for recommendations on where to drink in different situations; from mates over from Australia for the week, to upcoming Christmas parties. The question I am of course most often asked is; where to drink in London in the event of a major zombie apocalypse? And in fact, is it even possible to combine fine cocktails and ambience … Continue reading Where to drink in London in the event of a Zombie apocalypse?