MySideOfTheBar

This will obviously be my last post of the year and I want to wish all my readers a very safe and Happy New Year. I also want to add a reminder to not drink and drive. With that here are a few tips for you as you attend your NYE festivities. 1. As I said before, do not drink and drive and have your transportation plan constructed prior to venturing out. 2. Have a meal prior to starting the celebrating. I find a nice meal at the beginning of the evening enjoyable and it will help absorb your alcohol consumption. 3.  Drink lots of water! I always try to space my alcoholic beverages with a glass of water between every two. If you are not a professional drinking alternate a glass of water between each drink. (this can also save you big $$$) 4. Snack as the night goes on which again will help you with absorbing your cocktails. (You can start your diet tomorrow, which is the perfect day to start any task. Tomorrow ;)) 5. Remember NYE is amateur night out for drin

It's not to late to fine tune your Holiday Cocktail party plans and here are a few tips to assist. First these a few tips for Cocktail Parties, and not dinner parties so keep that in mind. 1. Make things easy on yourself and consider having a self-serve bar. Stock 750 ml bottles as they are easier to handle and stock only some basic booze unless you want all your good stuff guzzled up. 2. Stock up on plenty of ice, it is cheap and you can use it in the future if you stock pile too much. 3. Stock plenty of beer and I prefer canned or bottled. If you get a keg you will have lots of extra overhead like setup and half-full cups left over. 4. And speaking of cups, be sure use glasses and NOT solo cups (unless you did not head the keg warning) Cocktails in plastic cups suck. 5. Cocktail napkins for the season are a great addition to any holiday party along with paper cocktail plates. 6. Stock plenty of snacks, while nuts and popcorn go fast they also mak

This was always one of my favorites as a young man so thought I would share it here for the season. Cheers The Professor The Gift of the Magi One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the l

I was going to take the rest of the Holiday Season off from blogging and just use my Twitter feeds, @mysideofthebar and @mysideofthesmok to bring you Holiday Gift Ideas, however I have been inundated with request for gift ideas for the Usual Suspects at YourSideOfTheBar so here it goes. First here are some links from previous posts on this topic 2012  Christmas Gifts for Your Usual Suspects 2012 More Christmas Ideas 2011 Christmas Gift Ideas 2010 Christmas Ideas for your Bar Friends Part I  2010 Christmas Ideas for your Bar Friends Part II So for this year you may see some repeats, but that is OK Portable Ice Maker I realize this is on the expensive side (about 150.00 USD) however they work great and I know several people that use them and I have even given a couple away myself. The great thing about these types of ice makers is they require no installation and no drain. They produces ice in as little as 10 minutes.  and can produces up to 28 pounds of bullet shaped

I want to thank J.B. and M.C. both for sending me this and I hope it adds to your enjoyment of the holiday season ;) Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates. 'In honor of this holy season' Saint Peter said, 'You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven.' The Englishman fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. 'It's a candle', he said. 'You may pass through the pearly gates' Saint Peter said. The Scotsman reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, 'They're bells.' Saint Peter said 'You may pass through the pearly gates'. The Irishman started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, 'And just what do those symbolize?' The Irishman replied, 'These are Carols.' An

With the holiday season upon us and everyone scrambling to get all the ingredients for your "perfect" Thanksgiving Dinner, I bet you forgot the Wine! Most do and there is still no cause for panic. To me Wine is the quintessential ingredient to a successful cocktail or dinner party. It adds a touch of class and also provides a focal point for conversation. (after all who has not heard things like, I enjoy a dry wine, I like a sweet wine etc.) Here are a few tips to make your job of  "Sommelier" easier. Probably the most important is price. You do not need to break the bank when choosing your Wines. Most restaurants make up a bottle of Wine about 300 percent, so that 30 dollar bottle in a bistro is only about 10 in your local liquor store. I also recommend having a wide selection (remember, price is not really an issue) Include a dry red, a sweet red, a dry white and a sweet white. Also a nice Rose' as this is excellent with turkey. I also never worry abou

I should start this blog by giving a brief background on my introduction to Blue Mountain Cigars. One of the K.C. TobacPack, the Enforcer, brought one of the lines to a gathering. As you can tell by the name, this company has an excellent marketing department. In truth, this is an excellent Cigar and to my knowledge the only one of its kind   available. This stick has three wrappers(thus the name, Threesome) and three different blends of tobacco, Connecticut with Jalapan fillers from Honduras and a Nicaraguan binder. The second is Ecuadorian Habano with Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers and a Dominican binder. The last, is Mata Finz Maduro wrapper with secret binders and fillers. The K.C. TobacPack long ago gave this stick the seal of approval and they are part of our regular smokes. To me the most unique thing about this stick is that you can tell when you change from one of the tobaccos to that other. The other cigar from Blue M