Category: Alcohol Sales

Brush Up On Your Bartending Skills – Inspiration from Las Vegas’ Best Flair Bartenders

Published on by TAM of Nevada1 Comment

Flair bartenderThere are a lot of things that go into a great bartender: a winning personality, an attention to detail, and a dedication to the legal and moral responsibilities that come with serving alcoholic beverages. Think you might be right for the job? Why not get a leg up on the competition with additional skills and techniques to set you apart from the competition?

If you can flip bottles, juggle cocktail shakers, and serve up excellent drinks with a smile, you may be a great candidate for becoming a flair bartender. Additionally, flair bartenders can do pretty well for themselves, especially if they can entertain while serving. Flair bartenders will draw in more customers, making more money for the bar, and themselves.

Flair bartenders are known for using bar tools and liquor bottles as props to entertain while they are mixing drinks. It can be quite a sight to see someone juggling liquor bottles, mixing drinks behind their backs, carefully setting fire to mixed drinks, and more. Las Vegas is home to some of the best flair bartenders in the country, and boasts several bars and clubs that showcase their talents. If you’re considering a career as a flair bartender, Las Vegas is the place to be. Make sure to check out Las Vegas Weekly’s article, “From glass-juggling to bottle-throwing, the best flair bars in Las Vegas,” for a feature on some of the city’s most impressive and popular flair bars.

So you’re ready to become a flair bartender? TAM® of Nevada has some tips on how you can get started:

Obtain your TAM® Card. All hospitality professionals in Washoe and Clark Counties are required to obtain their alcohol education card prior to working at a location where they’ll be selling or serving alcoholic beverages. The Techniques of Alcohol Management® course will satisfy state training requirements and will give you the skills and knowledge you need to serve responsibly.

Get educated on bartending techniques. Flair bartending requires a solid working knowledge of bartending skills, plus lots of practice, practice, practice! Before you start juggling liquor bottles, it’s important to learn how to mix drinks, and build up your bartending know-how of tips and techniques. It won’t matter how well you can entertain if you don’t know how to make a martini.

Practice makes perfect. Every day at work you’ll have the chance to handle bottles and shakers, so practice spinning shakers in your hand and doing simple tricks when you have some downtime. Starting with the basics and working your way up to more difficult tricks, you’ll begin to feel comfortable with your props and impress your guests at the same time. You can also watch plenty of flair training videos online for tips and tricks to learning basic flair bartending moves. A great resource is TAM of Nevada’s YouTube channel; we’re always adding our favorite flair bartending videos and tutorials.

Our most important advice of all of all: Remember to have fun! What is the best advice you would give to someone looking to start a career as a flair bartender?

Resources

© 2012 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

Las Vegas Teens Learn About the Dangers of Drinking and Driving

Published on by TAM of NevadaLeave a comment

Late last week, local Las Vegas Legacy High School juniors and seniors learned a tough lesson about the dangers of driving while impaired. With the Every Fifteen Minutes program, participants were guided through a unique and powerful 2-day event complete with student and parent involvement, mock obituaries being read about participating students, and even a chance to tour what looked like an active fatal accident scene involving friends and peers.

By giving teens a close-up look at the real and tragic consequences of driving while impaired, there is hope that students will take the lessons to heart and make safe choices for themselves in the future. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has partnered with the Clark County and Las Vegas Fire Departments, University Medical Center, Clark County Coroner’s Office, Mercy Air, Ambulance services, Palm Mortuary and a host of sponsors to create this unique learning experience for Clark County teens.

Teens often have feelings of invincibility about dangerous choices and feel like nothing bad could possibly happen to them. By launching an interactive program to demonstrate the dangers of what could happen to them and other teens like them, it drives the point home. To learn more about the Every Fifteen Minutes program and activities, visit the LVMP website.

The program’s name was derived from the fact that in the early 1990’s, every fifteen minutes, someone in the United States died in an alcohol-related traffic collision. The NHTSA now estimates that the number of fatal alcohol-related collisions is lower. Now, approximately every 51 minutes, someone dies in a drunk-driving related traffic collision. As a TAM® Card holder or hospitality worker, are you doing all you can to help bring the number of drunk-driving related accidents even lower?

Remember to remain vigilant:

  • Display signage in your store or bar announcing that purchasers of alcohol will be carded.
  • Report any suspicious behavior or activity among patrons to your supervisor or manager.
  • Keep up-to-date with your TAM® training.
  • ALWAYS check identification carefully, especially for anyone who appears to be under the age of 30.

What you do think about the Every Fifteen Minutes program? What policies have you instituted at your business to help deter teen drinking?

Resources

© 2012 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

Serving Alcoholic Beverages in a Limo or Party Bus? TAM Cards are required.

Published on by TAM of Nevada3 Comments

Tourists and locals alike often rely on chauffeurs to transport them in limousines, sedans, and party buses for a variety of events and special occasions. Even if limo drivers and transportation companies cannot sell alcoholic beverages, in many cases passengers are permitted to bring their own drinks, and drivers will be responsible for carefully monitoring passengers. In the regular course of business, drivers may find themselves pouring glasses of champagne or other alcoholic beverages for passengers on airport pickups, nightclub crawls, chartered tours of the Las Vegas strip, wedding and bachelor parties, and more. If you work in a position where you may serve alcoholic beverages to passengers, you are required by Nevada state law to complete alcohol awareness training and obtain a TAM® Card.

Party buses and limousines are often times equipped with neon and strobe lights, televisions, and surround sound, all of which contribute to a fun and exciting atmosphere. Passengers are in a celebratory mood, and limo drivers have the responsibility of not only safely transporting them to their final destinations, but also making sure they are not over-served or otherwise behaving inappropriately. The recent death of a party bus passenger in New York serves as a reminder that safety is of the utmost importance and that drivers must remain vigilant (Las Vegas Sun). Always follow company policies and procedures when it comes to guest safety and make sure your passengers are aware of any necessary rules and safety regulations.

You can make sure that your passengers are having an enjoyable time, are served responsibly, and remain respectful of the vehicle and others. To learn more about safe beverage service, take the Techniques of Alcohol Management (TAM)® course offered by TAM® of Nevada.

Have you worked as a chauffeur in Las Vegas? What advice would you give to others for keeping passengers safe?

Resources

Teen’s Death on Party Bus Serves as a Warning – Las Vegas Sun

© 2012 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

Talking Urinal Cakes – Another Unique Tool to Combat Drunk Driving

Published on by TAM of NevadaLeave a comment

If the sound of a ladies voice in the men’s room has you searching for the source, it just may be coming from the urinals. In an effort to employ a unique and attention grabbing way to remind bar patrons to avoid driving drunk, the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning recently asked restaurant and bar owners to place “talking” urinal cakes in restrooms to encourage patrons to call a cab or a friend to get home safely. Bar and restaurant patrons have been exposed to posters, radio advertisements, and television commercials for years reminding them not to drive drunk, but this new delivery format is garnering a lot of buzz.

The Michigan OHSP, working with the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, mailed out the motion-activated deodorizer cakes to bars and restaurants in early July as a part of statement efforts to crack down on impaired driving over the Fourth of July weekend. While the message is very serious and nothing new, the delivery method hasn’t been used before, and it’s getting people talking and taking the message to heart.

Do you think a similar program could be successful in Nevada? Do you think creative messaging like talking urinal cakes might convince bar patrons to call a designated driver? Tell us what you think!

Resources

© 2012 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada