Holiday Party Safety Tips

Andy here with BarBop to mention a few tips on keeping your guests safe this year. The last thing any of us want are friends and family hitting the road after your party and ending up in jail, hurt, or maybe worse. With that in mind here are a few ideas.

1. Last Call Time
If your paying someone like BarBop you can have the last call set in advance of the parties scheduled end time. If doing the bar yourself, take a mental note and do a last call at a scheduled time. Whenever you do this, take all alcohol away from your bar area, and hide it. Otherwise a last call is not going to work well.

2. The Key Bucket
If your planning to have a lively event then asks guests to place their car keys in a basket that you will hold on to for safe keeping. This gives you a chance to see them before they leave.

3. Don't overserve
Ya Ya it's a no brainer. However, just concious pouring can eliminate many problems. I have seen supposed veteran bartenders who can not judge the amount of liquor in drinks they have poured for years. If your unsure use a jigger or measuring device. Also, beware aware of the alcohol content of each liquor you use.

4. Have a plan
Ok so you take some steps and one of your pals still drinks too much. It happens, but what's next? Try to have a, just incase plan. Designate someone that is not drinking to take people home or be sure to clean off that old air mattress in the closet.

Hopefully, this will help you plan your holiday event a little safer. For more holiday tips, recipes, and ideas, be sure to subscribe to the BarBop.com blog.

A great idea for the next corporate or employee party

BarBop has created a great new package that is sure to increase productivity at the office. Wake your employees up with a surprise package from BarBop that includes an array of treats like non-alcoholic pina coladas and strawberry daiquiries.

Each drink can be served in plastics or real glassware and comes with all the goodies like tropical palm tree stir sticks and colorful umbrellas. Drinks are made with fresh ingredients and they're sure to liven up the office. If you'r ordering lunch for the office ad one of our non-alcoholic packages and watch the smiles start. You can find more information on BarBop's non-alcoholic office parties by clicking here.

Burger Time in Tennessee

I seem to be addicted to one of the newer burger joints in town. I have eaten the double cheeseburger with green pepper, onion, mayo, lettuce, and tomato, at the Five Guys Burgers, in powell, for the last 10 days. For some reason, I just can't get enough of those yummy things. I know for a fact, that I could'nt eat at a fast food joint that many days in a row. Their recipe for success seems to be quite simple. I read that they don't have a cooler and all ingredients are fresh. Wow, why did it take someone so long to come up with that idea.

Last weekend I took my 1 year old with me for my daily burger voyage. While he's not ready to chomp on their juicy works of art, I did allow him to munch a few peaces of french fry. It would seem that ketchup is one of his most enjoyable experiences to date. Well I don't think his expression topped his first taste of a lemon, but he was obviously enthused by ketchup.

At any rate, if you have not had the chance to visit a five guys burger joint, I would recommend you do. They get an A+ from this bartender.

Perfecting the art of Sweet Tea

Today's blog will switch focus from alcoholic beverages to tea. Tea is one of my favorite beverages, which is practically the only thing I drink these days. After drinking tea from morning till dawn for the last five years, I now dub myself as a tea expert with the ability to draw upon my vast knowledge of previous tea tastings. Therefore, I feel qualified to criticize the most popular tea outlets and offer you the reader my tips on how to make the perfect sweet tea recipes.

Mcdonalds often advertises their sweet tea as this delicious liquid that will bring joy to the mouth. One great thing about mcdonalds might be the uniform recipes used at virtually every location. For example, a big mac in Cali should taste similar to the ones in Florida. Their tea recipe is less than spectacular. Someone with a lack of tea knowledge might disagree, but after repeated tasting you will begin to realize that McDonalds tea is more like sugary water. Burger King, Hardees, and Wendys all score even lower. The next time you taste one you may start to realize the truth that has been hid from your eyes by walls of sugar.

Catering outlets make tea in large batches for events like weddings and such. Some caterers get it correct, by I feel that this shear accident at times. Some use too little tea, too much sugar, and over steep.

On the positive side, I have found a few good spots with tasty tea. McAllisters Deli in powell seems to produce a good tea. Chik-Fil-A is in the middle as well with decent tea. I am going to guess they use a little less sugar or slightly more tea. I don't know for sure what the differen is, but maybe it's even the brand.

To figure out exactly what I could do to better make tea for events I have made around 20 different pitchers of tea over the last few weeks and began to sample the differences. Without getting into heavy details, it is obvious to me that making stronger tea is the most simple way to make better tea. One of my favorites used so far is Luzianne. They recommend one family bag per 32 oz. However, I used 3 family bags for 64 oz and it really makes a difference. Also, I have experimented with the sugar used and eventually found a new splenda product that I like. Splenda now makes a bag mixed with real sugar and their product. I used 1/3 cup per 64 oz. of tea. In short, I now believe that the secret to making great tea is using a the right amount of sugar (usually less than most recipes) and more of the tea (usually more than most recipes). Also, I did find that steeping is important. Generally, I found the amount of time to steep was exactly as described on the directions.

This recipe and a yummy flavored one I liked were as follows;

Perfect Sweet Tea
3 family bags Luzianne Tea per 64 oz. water
1/3 cup splenda sugar blend

Flavored Sweet Tea
2 family bags Luzianne Tea per 64 oz. water
2 bags of celestial tea seasonings
1/3 cup real sugar

Gift Ideas for Bride and Groom from a male perspective

While bartending is my area of wedding expertise there are numerous others facets that any event professional becomes familiar with like wedding gifts. Being a male I'm sure my wants are slightly different from the typical bride's, but I will attempt to be as unbiased as possible by not discussing x box 360's and the latest flat screen plasma. This blog will simply list some of the neat ideas I have seen.

First, I have to give credit to those couples who bring in a super nice bottle of wine. Occasionally, I see the $50 plus bottles of wine gifts. I have a few recommendations if you do this. Don't ask the bartender to put this bottle on ice and serve it for their toast. This seems like an excellent idea at the start, but most couples have already had a few by this time and will not have the time or concentration to enjoy your hard earned dollars. They may never even know it was your gift. If your spending big money on wine, champaigne, or liquor then wrap it, so the couple can enjoy and appreciate it at a later date.

Second, would be the typical ideas like luxury bedding and bedding sets. You'll see a lot of people buying these for new couples and it's something they probably need. However, if your going to do it, why not do it with style. Spacify.com is a great site that offers some cool modern furniture, bedding, and dining designs.

Third, I am going to have to say money. Who can't use more of that? Money can be used for virtually anything these days, imagine that. The only thing money can't buy is love, and they already have that, so why not give them a little? Many weddings even have the "tip the bride dance" where everyone is allowed to stuff a dollar bill in her veil. Those are always a blast.

Well not lot to it in my opinion. While researching this topic I saw articles on buying items like jewelry and other items, but I felt that most of those items only appealed to the bride. Personally, I dont want one of these contraptions called a vacuum. I don't even know what they do! Also, what would I do with an expensive glass vase. Sure they look beautiful and cost a ton of money, but I would rather have the ton of money.

Bartending jobs at risk!

Well it's the end of an era. The days of getting served by your favorite bartender may soon pass. I stumbled upon robo-bartender tonight online. This robot can serve 24/7 for only 30 cents a day as reported by the website. If that's the case then Im toast. Anyways, as a huge sci-fi fan, I thought some of you would get a kick out of this.

I have already thought out some good ideas they can incorporate in their next model. Patrons should be able to blow into his finger for a BAC reading and insert a quarter in it's chest for popular hangover cures like aspirin.

Fun New Years Toasts

Here is a collection of fun New Years toast I have compiled.

-Stir the eggnog, lift the toddy, Happy New Year, everybody. ~ Phyllis McGinley

-Then sing, young hearts that are full of cheer,With never a thought of sorrow;The old goes out, but the glad young yearComes merrily in tomorrow. -Emily Miller

-Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” -Oprah Winfrey

-The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to. -P.J. ORourke

-I raise a glass to days that passed and greet the hands of time. May you all be first and never last in the year of 2009 ~ Andy Lakatos
Got a fun new years toast? Be sure to leave it in a comment below.