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Watch out! Are you one of the hospitality operators willfully under-serving spirits and beer or not using correct jiggers to take advantage of patrons?

Have you ever had a scrumptious meal at a new restaurant, but then returned a month later, with the friends you’ve been raving to, only to be disappointed?

Perhaps there’s a different chef on? Or maybe the same chef was more rushed and less consistent in his cooking?

No chef or restaurant manager wants their customer to experience that inconsistency of service. And it’s the same behind the bar too.

Claire Boscq Scott, Business Strategist at Small Business Forum 

Tools Key for Consistency

In the same way chefs rely on the best knives for consistent slices and the best pans for consistent cooking, so too must bartenders rely on the tools of their trade for consistency in the drinks they serve.

Jiggers are designed to help bartenders measure accurately and therefore get them closer to consistency. But did you know that the standard round jigger has a design flaw?

A simple matter of physics means that the round jigger creates a bubble of liquid on top (known as a meniscus). And that bubble means for every pour, you’re basically overpouring. Need to see for yourself? Take a look at the science here! 

Unfortunately, most jiggers are round. Except for one… or, four to be exact.

What is the Trilobal Jigger?

The Überbartools™ range of jiggers all have a completely unique trilobal design. This trilobal design was created specifically to remove the bubble formation on top of the jigger and therefore eliminate the over-pour that all other jiggers are responsible for.

No over-pour means no excess measure in your drink, which means, (you guessed it!) a consistent drink.

The ProJig™, ProBarJig™ and the ProMegJig™ not only look striking and professional, but they all feature the revolutionary trilobial model that is unique to Uberbartools. They are the only jiggers on the market that give the bartender piece of mind that they are getting the accuracy required to deliver a great taste experience for their customer – in time, everytime.

Save Time, Save Alcohol, Save Money

And it’s not just about speed and consistency when it comes to accuracy – it’s also about waste. We already know that liquor loss causes huge headaches for bar managers.
As the guys at Clique Hospitality know, consistency and efficiency go together:
 
“When running a restaurant or club, it’s important to streamline your systems and to create efficiency. Not only does this increase profits, but it also reduces waste. And by “waste” we don’t just mean food, but also resources and time as well.”
 
The trilobal jigger is the key to accuracy and consistency, and consistency is the key to great customer service. So, don’t you think it’s time you got jigger with it?

Want to find out more about the Uberbartools range of Jiggers? Visit our website for more information or talk to our team today.

Last week we talked about the six early signs that indicate liquor waste in a bar (see here).

The largest contributor to liquor loss comes from poor quality jiggers and pourers.

Here’s a quick overview to see whether your bar is at risk:

It's surprising how many people think it's cool to have a bubble or lens (meniscus) form at the very top of a jigger pour prior to serving alcohol into a glass. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news: the bubble creates BIG trouble... the Why, What and Cost (see below).

A bubble or lens for most bars is a fact of life affecting almost every design of jigger on the planet! Liquor control experts such as Barmetrix acknowledge that the bubble can add 3-5mL or 1/10-1/6 Oz. on every 30 mL/1 Oz served! If you own or manage a bar, the added cost of the bubble can cripple business.

Flip this around to the other side of the counter: imagine a guest who enjoys a well-balanced cocktail experience, if their drink has been over-portioned the drink could potentially taste too strong, too sweet, too sour or just plain weird.

Drinking and driving? Get pulled over and breath tested… then good luck finding an understanding "Your Honour." Could end up getting a very different type of serve!

Why it happens

All jiggers and shot glasses except one, are round! Once a pour reaches the top edges of a jigger or shot glass, nature takes over, exerting surface tension, pushing liquid inwards and towards the midpoint of the jigger, thereby forming a bubble.

What's next

Once the surface tension reaches a tipping point, the bubble will break, particularly when energy or motion is exerted by a bartender... the result, alcohol cascading down the sides of a jigger creating waste.

Costs

To some a fraction of an Oz or those extra pesky mL's don't seem much but during a brisk night's trade the bubble can increase the cost of a fairly basic speed rail drink by $0.05-$0.15 cents per shot….potentially more if serving back bar booze. Ouchhhh if you’re making lots of Long Island Ice teas or serving expensive cocktails!

Thankfully to stop being Bubble Dumb, the answer is simple and CHEAP... it’s just a question of looking for the right tool to do the job, something like the ProJig™,ProBarJig™, ProBarBone™ or ProMegJig™ specifically designed to Flat Pour (no bubble).

The Über Bar Tools™ flat pour jiggers

Why is Free-Pouring so entwined in bartending mythology?

Is there math or science behind the bigger story to counter the heart felt passion of Free-Pouring!

Whichever side of the debate you’re on... it’s fair to say that Free Pouring involves passion and heart whereas Jiggering (figuring) is more a discussion confined to the library of the mind!

So putting this aside let’s look at some of the why before we get into the math and science!

Free Pouring Passion

There’s something riveting watching a bartender doing their thing... almost the equivalent of a martial arts “pouring carta” or “liquid tai chi “ ; connecting mixologist and guest in a sublime moment of magic!

The magic comprises 3 distinct elements:

Mastery/Respect: Like a London cabbie passes the “Knowledge”; bartenders demonstrate mastery through bottles via liquids.

Dexterity: Conductors lead orchestras: so bartenders twirl the wrist, execute bottle cuts and bottle bounce to affirm their nuanced control over the “flow de vie”.

Ring Mastery: Step right up... watch the show… see the bartender defy gravity, be amazed by the control of flame, unbridled ice taming, shaking and writhing … delivering to you, the thirsty guest, a liquid exception in a glass!

When Free-Pouring is considered within this context it’s hard for science to compete!

The Science

So what’s the central tenant anchoring the Free-Pouring thought process?

The answer comes down to a simple number 3.

The magic of 3, or the 3 seconds taken to pour 1 shot (nip or serve) of alcohol via a traditional speed pourer!

The science is a combination of gravity, airflow and liquid to create a form of mathematical absolutism... or so we’re lead to believe!

Based on the 3 count system, let’s break time into discrete volume equivalents.

Observation: As 3 is an odd number, not divisible by any other number other than itself or 1, we will see some rather weird fractional times to equate to discrete dispensing amounts.

Question: How do the above times relate to what constitutes a shot or serve of alcohol?

Answer: Doesn't that depend on one’s country or jurisdiction?

Legislative Pouring Volumes

There are different accepted international serves, it’s quite staggering!

See below via geographic area, standard pouring volumes with arising time equivalents. (Based on the 3 second count)

OK, now let’s focus on how we can track or count time?

Tracking Time

Bartenders hone their 1, 2 and 3 second pouring via practice. Interestingly there’s a correlation within the bartending community of Free-Pouring accuracy and sexual prowess. At a guess maybe it’s like liquid succumbing to mastery... Please add your own thoughts here.

Some of the widely accredited techniques for maintaining Free-Poring accuracy.

1. Counting according to internal syncopation... varies from person to person.
2. Muscle memory... Training repeatedly using a bartender pour test kit (BarCheck™)... where one feels the time to mentally imagine a pouring volume.

This all makes sense, right... except what happens to accuracy when a bartender is momentarily distracted or tired? Based on the figures above, doesn’t a blink of the eye, representing a part of 1 second, equate to pouring 5 mL or ⅙ Oz of alcohol! If this volume is then over-poured could this become somewhat problematic, particularly when replicated by hundreds of drinks a night!

Viscosity

Viscosity: is the notion that volume flow rates change when a spirit or liquid is less runny than say the consistency of vodka... due to:

Viscosity is also affected by factors such as heat and cold... the warmer a liquid the runnier it is, the colder a liquid the slower it runs!

Wouldn't this suggest that one’s Free-Poring calculations must change to accommodate for the differences of viscosity? Is there a formula or technique to precisely work this out?

If there is, it’s probably safer to call it guessing!

Gravity:

Timing works if the speed which liquid traverses through a speed pourer (see below) is uniform. What happens to liquid flow rates when a bottle is tilted, does the flow rate alter by the remaining volume of liquid and/or air left in a bottle? Does, air pressure and gravity impact pour flow, what about temperature and altitude?

Speed Pourers

Speed Pourers are the tools to pour alcohol from a bottle into some sort of receiving or serving vessel.  And like every other multi-dimensional aspect to Free-Pouring they’re made in different factories with different manufacturing techniques, material variations, dimensions. Each variation changing the speed of liquid flow rates!

Check out some of the examples below… pretty easy to see how the pour out points or mouths vary in diameter.

Its all too Confusing... Better use a Jigger and a better Speed Pourer

It’s unbelievable how many related and unrelated variables there are to dispensing alcohol consistency!

There’s too much at stake to focus on trying to be consistently accurate by imagining the outcome desired.

To save a whole lot of pain, over-pouring, second guessing, compliance issues... just invest in an accurate better tools.

Yes, using a jigger is really boring... however if the desired outcome is a guest re-ordering another drink, game over!

Go Figure with a Jigger!