Is Comics & Collectibles on Poplar still open? That was where I had my pull-list in my comics-heavy 1980s and 90s.
One thing Buster's didn't have was Empress 1908 gin, which my daughter was interested in. We ate lunch at Pho Saigon, which was reasonably close to Joe's Liquor (pictured on the cover of the Compulsive Gamblers 1st album), so we went there afterwards. It looks really run-down from the outside. I stayed in the car while she went in to check on the gin and a couple minutes later she texted me "hey this place is really nice on the inside, you should come check it out." Really nice selection in there as well, and a lot more beers available in singles so you can try stuff out without buying packs.
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Wednesday, 16 September 2020 12:57 (three years ago) link
That place was all right, pretty big.
She was more impressed with 901 Comics, down around Cooper near Mid-South Coliseum. Guys in there asking about her shirt, what her favorite Star Wars character was, etc. So much attention from the Comic Book Lads!
Thought about stopping at Tip Top too, but I didn't want to spend the day dragging my 13-year-old into every liquor store in Memphis, though Lord knows it could be a fun activity for the two of us one day!
― pplains, Wednesday, 16 September 2020 13:51 (three years ago) link
Didn’t expect to see so many daughters itt lol
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 16 September 2020 18:39 (three years ago) link
On the whole, I’d rather watch Bar Rescue.
Hell, even going into bars grosses me out. What’s wrong with drinking alone and scouring DoubleList to find sexual partners? At least I don’t have to drive
― beamish13, Wednesday, 16 September 2020 19:11 (three years ago) link
First customers of the night last night were a couple out for a quiet dinner. She has cider, he has an Old Fashioned, just the one. On their way out, he comes to the bar and says "THAT's how you make an Old Fashioned" and hands me a $20 bill. Just as they were leaving, the other side of the coin comes in. Nice guy, wants all kinds of things, talks beer and spirits and such with me and one of the owners for an hour until we get busy. Stays all evening. Tab at the end is $71, tips me $4.
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Sunday, 20 September 2020 15:12 (three years ago) link
I made a plum sauce (simmered down 2# of overripe plums with a scant cup of sugar, worked through a strainer and simmered some more) a few weeks ago and shared some with my daughter. She sent me a photo last night of a plum margarita with a thin slice of jalapeño, which yes please! Need to restock my Everclear supply and get some bitters components going soon.
― Jaq, Sunday, 20 September 2020 16:57 (three years ago) link
That sounds terrific. Dark fruit + scovilles + tequila, yeahhhh.
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Sunday, 20 September 2020 18:09 (three years ago) link
I hope that fucker doesn't die while I'm working, I'm liable announce a round on the house and get myself fired.
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Friday, 2 October 2020 23:47 (three years ago) link
hahaha <3
― sleeve, Friday, 2 October 2020 23:48 (three years ago) link
also we just made plum shrub with allspice and black pepper and bay leaf, surely that's gotta be good with rum and bitters? my wife is not a fan of Scovilles.
― sleeve, Friday, 2 October 2020 23:49 (three years ago) link
Heck yeah, I'll be right over.
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Friday, 2 October 2020 23:56 (three years ago) link
One thing I didn't know or expect about bartending is that I'd be sticky from beginning to end of every shift. Juicing squirty citrus and prepping garnishes, then dealing with little spills of sweetened liqueurs and simple syrup all night, mixing juice/syrup premixes for special cocktails...no matter how often I wash my hands, wipe down surfaces and change towels, my hands are tacky until I leave for the night.
The other staff bartender has been off the last two Saturdays and the fill-in is a bartender on furlough from Disney. I was too irritated at her last night to ask if she'd survived the big layoff last week. She's soooo sloowwwww...
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Sunday, 4 October 2020 16:46 (three years ago) link
We've started opening Tuesday and Weds for happy hour, 4-7, appetizers-only from the kitchen. Tuesday, the first day of the new hours, we were pretty slow, still busy enough to cover payroll and make the opening worth it. Wednesday we were slammed like we'd never been before, enormous numbers and not enough staff; that's Church Night for you in a newly wet town.
Loads of people were swilling Liquid Marijuana, so yesterday I went in and batched 3 liters of the boozes for that so each drink would be one 3 oz. pour instead of 4 little ones, a crucial time-saver for the next happy hour.
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Friday, 9 October 2020 13:39 (three years ago) link
sounds like the place is a hit!
― call all destroyer, Friday, 9 October 2020 13:44 (three years ago) link
So far so good! One of the Mexican restaurants in town has closed for a few months after an ownership change so they could rework their menu and add beer and frozen margaritas, but so far we're still the only bar game in town.
― (show hidden tics) (WmC), Friday, 9 October 2020 13:56 (three years ago) link
Made a quick run to the liquor store for prosecco in case any brave soul wants to pop a cork for Joe tonight.
― scampo-phenique (WmC), Saturday, 7 November 2020 17:25 (three years ago) link
Developing a roasted pineapple margarita, early results very promising. Rolled out an aged eggnog yesterday for all of December, handed out a few free samples last night to positive feedback.
One of the bar regulars last night started spouting bullshit about how much we don't know about vaccines and he's not going to get one until he's sure, blah blah blah. I'd come back at every stupid assertion with "what's your news source for believing that?" and it would usually be OANN or just something somebody told him. He also said he had to get his temperature checked at the gate every day before going in to work, but he made them do the infrared sensor on his wrist instead of his forehead "'cause I just don't like anything aimed at my head, 'specially something shaped like a gun."
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 19:46 (three years ago) link
So what else did Senator Tuberville say
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 19:56 (three years ago) link
"Ah don't want mah RNA scrambled. Damn, that margarita was fiiiiiine."
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 21:21 (three years ago) link
Meanwhile, the GM/co-owner turns out to be one of those guys who absolutely loves Christmas, loves getting the place done up in decorations, and most of all, loves playing Christmas music over the house system. So I asked him if there were any exceptions to this or should I just stick an icepick in my head right now. He thought that was really funny.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 21:25 (three years ago) link
Oh god
I once worked at a kind of hipster grocery store where they played the “harder they come” soundtrack all day, every day. Great record when you hear it a few times or when stopping in for some cheese. After 40 times, not so much. Many rivers to cross.
― calstars, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 22:51 (three years ago) link
Thinking about getting a blender at the bar for frozen drinks but worried that it will open a regrettable can of worms.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Thursday, 31 December 2020 15:57 (three years ago) link
don't do it
― howls of non-specificity (sleeve), Thursday, 31 December 2020 16:11 (three years ago) link
Funny blender attachment that would open a can imo
― spruce springclean (darraghmac), Thursday, 31 December 2020 16:39 (three years ago) link
heh
Yeah, the more I read up on this, the less I like the idea.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Thursday, 31 December 2020 17:49 (three years ago) link
Save it for post covid entertaining splurge buying
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 31 December 2020 18:23 (three years ago) link
Skip the blender, get the slushy mixers
― calstars, Thursday, 31 December 2020 18:24 (three years ago) link
FRIENDS: Ooh this place has a frozen daiquiri machine!ME: Don't do it. Don't do it. There is a zero percent chance it will be any good.FRIENDS: <order frozen daiquiris anyway>Ten minutes pass...FRIENDS: We should have listened.
But on the topic of blenders, stand-up (spindle) blenders are totally legit pieces of equipment for flash blending: https://punchdrink.com/articles/flash-blend-way-better-frothy-drink/
― ernestp, Thursday, 31 December 2020 18:33 (three years ago) link
ooh, interesting, thanks ernestp
I want to be able to make frozen drinks, but I don't want to be roped into making only frozen drinks. Maybe I could treat it like the H&F Cheeseburger, ring the bell once a night and the first four customers who claim it can get one.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Thursday, 31 December 2020 19:06 (three years ago) link
i was going to suggest doing it once a week as a special on a manageable night.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 31 December 2020 19:23 (three years ago) link
Sell 'em by the batch/carafe...?
I rarely make frozen drinks but I sometimes pull out this recipe for a frozen banana daiquiri - just blend everything together (I use one of those small Magic Bullet-style blenders):1.5 oz rum0.5 oz Grand Marnier1 bananajuice from one lime1 tsp sugarhandful of ice
― ernestp, Thursday, 31 December 2020 21:04 (three years ago) link
Wednesday was so, so bad. We were at 110% capacity near as I could tell, with only me at the bar and everyone wanting drinks that took a while to build – margaritas, Sazeracs, sours – rather than just highballs or beers. I will start looking for an escape route from the job before going through too many more of those. So last night, a night off, I went to the bar and just sat and had a beer so I could experience the place without hating it or feeling like my hair was on fire.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Friday, 26 February 2021 15:37 (three years ago) link
WmC, where are you bartending that the bar gets at capacity during a pandemic?
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Friday, 26 February 2021 15:38 (three years ago) link
Northeast Mississippi, where pandemic precautions are something we strongly consider and then totally ignore.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Friday, 26 February 2021 15:42 (three years ago) link
damn dude. hope yer double-masking it and that we all get outta this hellscape soon.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Friday, 26 February 2021 15:51 (three years ago) link
Had a covid denier in last night, a trucker who's stuck in town for a couple of days while he waits for tie-down equipment to be delivered by other truckers (who are in the middle of their mandated 34-hour reset in Knoxville). Anyway, he was nice enough but completely convinced that covid is a hoax -- the medical community is using it as a massive cash grab. "Lung cancer? Call it covid and get real paid. Pneumonia? Call it covid and get real paid." etc. I was pretend-smiling and shooting eye-lasers at him and said "Ohhh, I should tell my mother about that -- OH WAIT I CAN'T, BECAUSE SHE DIED FROM IT." Didn't faze him a bit, he just kept rambling on. But he did change the subject pretty quickly.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Sunday, 14 March 2021 14:34 (three years ago) link
You have the patience of a saint.
― pomenitul, Sunday, 14 March 2021 14:39 (three years ago) link
anybody who pisses off the person who make them drinks is an unintelligent person
― G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 14 March 2021 14:53 (three years ago) link
In all other respects, he was a nice guy, tipped well, which in a way just pissed me off more. They're out there! The pod people! They look just like our friends and neighbors! Don't go to sleep!
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Sunday, 14 March 2021 15:00 (three years ago) link
WmC, i only just found this thread and read the whole thing. it's a great read! glad you've stayed healthy--would read a book full of your bar thoughts.
― horseshoe, Sunday, 14 March 2021 21:34 (three years ago) link
also i'm so sorry about your mom
would read a book full of your bar thoughts.
same
― I like signing up to dead sites (sleeve), Sunday, 14 March 2021 23:07 (three years ago) link
what did you end up doing with the pomelo juice?
― I like signing up to dead sites (sleeve), Sunday, 14 March 2021 23:08 (three years ago) link
??? pomelo juice ???
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Monday, 15 March 2021 00:56 (three years ago) link
that bitter orange thing?
― I like signing up to dead sites (sleeve), Monday, 15 March 2021 03:27 (three years ago) link
I'm still drawing a blank. Something from another thread or Facebook? I did find a jar of grapefruitcello last year that I stuck in the pantry 2 years earlier and forgot.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Monday, 15 March 2021 13:43 (three years ago) link
Keep waiting for the other shoe to drop on WmC's trucker:
"Did he... did he mention waiting on trucks in Knoxville? Oh, God. That's the guy who shows up here every February 24. Turns out, it's the anniversary of his dying from typhoid out on Highway 278!"
― pplains, Monday, 15 March 2021 13:52 (three years ago) link
"But yes, at least he does tip well."
― pplains, Monday, 15 March 2021 13:53 (three years ago) link
lol
He said he lives out of his truck and just has a little storage unit in Missouri for some personal effects, so whenever he finds himself with mandated idle time, he finds a bar/restaurant and just stays there all day long until closing time. He said he's going to remember Amory and be back at our place someday. ("SOMEdayyyyyyy")
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Monday, 15 March 2021 14:13 (three years ago) link
I have been bugging the shit out of Kroger's produce people about when rhubarb would arrive, but since I never catch the produce manager it's all "sorry, dunno." Then I remembered I had 3 vacuum sealed packs of it in the freezer. So now I have rhubarb syrup to play with for a while. Gin + rhubarb syrup in almost any formulation is Instant Classic.
― Motoroller Scampotron (WmC), Wednesday, 31 March 2021 15:19 (two years ago) link