Category Archives: Hospitality

Ben Reed Cocktail Conversations: The Samurai

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The cocktail world is full of characters, from bartenders to bar owners, to night party crowd, but if you look more deeply you’ll see a greater variety of different characters with truly inspiring stories.

The amazing Ben Reed goes through the top 3 insights from ‘The Samurai’ to help sharpen the mind of drinks industry professionals in this video.

1. LIVE YOUR LIFE ON PURPOSE

The real ‘Way of the Warrior’ means loyalty, integrity, courage, endurance, frugality, sincerity and respect for learning. It’s a ‘way of being’ aimed at strengthening the mind that governs one’s entire life.

“This dude is an actual proper Samurai (the only non-Japanese Samurai for 400 years. His sword is made in 1400’s. No biggie). Thanks for bringing him to London, Cocktail Credentials!” Alex Kammerling, Founder, Kamm & Sons

2. DO ONE THING AND DO IT PERFECTLY

Specialisation, repetition and refinement are the keys to mastering one’s profession. The term “Shokunin Kishitsu” or the ‘craftsman’s spirit’ is the personal characteristic which implies not just the acquisition of technical skills but also pride in what you do for your own benefit and the wider community.

“I wish he could have gone to Ben Reed’s latest ‘Cocktail Conversations’ event with the Samurai. Perfection in movement doesn’t have to be complex (it takes two years to learn to correctly sheath your sword), it just has to be perfect.” Michael Butt, Founder, Soulshakers

3. FIND THE RIGHT TEACHER

Our Samurai holds a teaching licence from Japan’s premier classical combat school where the teaching runs an unbroken line from the Samurai battlefields dating back 1000 years. No pupil of this school has ever died in combat. So the knowledge of the masters is still alive but you have to go to the origin to find it and the tradition itself must take great care in choosing its followers.

“It’s totally relevant because hospitality – serving people – is what we do. I’m going to go back and take my team through this.” Sly Augustin, Director, Trailer Happiness

To find out more about ‘Cocktail Conversations’ live events taking place in top bars with exceptional characters, sign-up at cocktailcredentials.com

Thank you so much Ben for your amazing contribution to the Bartending World!

Original source & Credits: cocktailcredentials.com

 

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TO YOUR SUCCESS!

Max La Rocca

PERFECT SERVE COLLECTION by Stephan Hinz

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Dear Bartenders, colleagues, friends and cocktail enthusiasts,

Spiegelau has created the perfect series for those who live and work to an extraordinary standard: The Perfect Serve Collection by Stephan Hinz.

Stephan Hinz is an internationally award-winning Bartender, owner of the “Bar Little Link”  and director of the first-class Beverage Catering Company Cocktail Kunst in Germany.

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With nearly 500 years of expert knowledge in glass production, Spiegelau developed the Perfect Serve Collection by Stephan Hinz to satisfy the requirements of modern drinking culture.

The ten products within the series have been designed to cater to the needs and demands of a modern bar, with each glass expertly sized to accommodate every cocktail and beverage, whether classic, inventive, or whimsical.

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Thanks to their specially cut decoration, the glasses have a unique refraction and brilliance, and show the composition of all drinks with their simplistic design. From the brilliant optics, to each glass’ durable weight, to the sound of the glasses in cheers, all senses are stimulated.

The series ticks all the boxes: they are perfectly balanced in size and weight; fit into off-the-shelf coolers for pre-cooling; and are extremely resistant to scratches and breakage, as well as dishwasher safe.

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Watch the video below to experience the Perfect Serve Collection by Stephan Hinz, making every occasion a special moment of pleasure. (Youtube Link)

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Thank you Stephan for this amazing piece of work!

Max

The invisible world of the Concierge

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The cocktail world is full of characters, from bartenders to bar owners, to night party crowd, but if you look more deeply you’ll see a greater variety of different characters with truly inspiring stories.

The amazing Ben Reed goes through the top 5 things we can learn from a concierge in this video.

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1. Be connected
The concierge has their finger on the pulse of a city but it doesn’t come on a plate. Compiling a black book is a meticulous and systematic networking process that is constant and relentless. Dan’s voice is now recognized on the end of a phone right across the capital and this has been achieved through hard graft, always being on the ball and building lasting relationships ‘with clients, suppliers and fellow industry professionals.

2. Be inspired
Everyone can learn from everyone else and it pays to have a mentor. In the early days, Dan was thrown in at the deep end: “It’s the best thing to do in life. I would listen to the older guys on the desk who were so charismatic. I thought, crikey, how can someone have so much confidence on a desk, have that amount of knowledge of London and be talking to Elizabeth Taylor.”

3. Be optimistic
“You can get anything for anything, can’t you?” Well, with that starting attitude, I’m pretty sure you can. The concierge’s cup is always half-full and it’s a good job too as the requests keep on coming. “Can you help me find out how to ship 21 live deer to the Middle East as a surprise for my 21-year-old wife?” asked the member of the Middle Eastern Royal Family. You’ll need to speak to Dan’s boss about that one but he’s not going to spill the beans for anyone.

4. Be collaborative
The job of a concierge has been around for centuries. The term is derived from ‘comte des cierges’ or ‘keeper of the candles’ which was designated to those who served visiting nobles in castles. The Golden Keys Society is the secret society (motto: ‘In Service through Friendship’) and now a modern-day global network of 4,000 concierges in 65 countries. To receive the cross-key lapel insignia that denotes membership, it’s a minimum of 5 years service, you have to be nominated by 2 members and sit rigorous exams to test your cultural expertise. Is it any wonder that the Concierge prefers collaboration over competitiveness

5. Be positive
And finally, to the golden rule… well you’ll have to watch the film obviously but there are two possible contenders: “I don’t know if I’ve ever said no to someone” and “If you don’t like people, don’t do it.” Both seem pretty obvious on the surface don’t they – that is until you match them up against your own performance perhaps? But for the record, we also like the story about those creative folk at Apple who are well known for taking ideas from outside their industry to improve their lot. “What’s the best customer experience you’ve ever had?” asked Apple CEO Steve Jobs when his business was ramping up to open their first ever Apple stores. The answer that always came back was invariably that of a 5 star Hotel. Hence the Apple Genius Bar was born and directly modelled on a hotel concierge station of course.

Thank you so much Ben for your amazing contribution to the Bartending World!

Original source & Credits: cocktailcredentials.com