Strawberry Sweet 16

A heaping handful of Fresh Strawberries (5-10 depending on size)
8cl freshly squeesed lime juice
4cl grenadine
8cl 2:1 simple syrup

Place the strawberries in a blender and add grenadine, sugar syrup, and lime juice. Blend on medium while preparing your martini glasses with a sugar rim (rub a lime wedge along the rim of the glass and roll the rim in a plate or shallow bowl of sugar) Add ice to the blender until the strawberry puree is only just covering the ice and blend on high for 30 seconds

Serves about five peppy girls at a time.

31 May 2015

Passing a martini glass over the bar top to a room of sixteen-year-old girls wasn't even the weird part of bartending for a Sweet 16. Listening to their music was.

They listen to the same music we do in nightclubs. I was bumping along to the beat while blending up strawberries and thinking about stealing their playlist for my next nachspiel. THAT was the weird part.

Twenty-six of these girls wrapped themselves around the kitchen-converted-bar and made enthusiastic English conversation with me about my hometown in Canada and my impression of the Norwegian language and culture. They were confident, patient, and overly enthusiastic to receive their alcohol-free mocktails. Basically the ideal customer... and that was a little bit weird too. As a bartender you get so accustomed to handling difficult and disorderly customers that when it doesn't happen you start to feel a little suspicious that you fell into the twilight zone.

These girls hadn't had a drop of alcohol all night and they were easily having more fun than anyone one else in Oslo. Jumping on the trampoline, giggling through party games like charades, and dancing to loud music. The responsible parents of the party explained to me how much they liked seeing the girls get together a little outside of the city where they could feel free to embrace their inner child and just be themselves. For these girls, their environment was the ingredient that released them of their inhibitions, not alcohol.

The most important lesson I learned about bartending came from Matt Majid, the bartending legend of Vancouver, Canada. "Bartending isn't just about making drinks," He told me during a competition, "it hasn't been for a long time. If someone just wanted alcohol they'd go to a liquor store. People go to a bar to have fun. The type of bartender you are can be measured by how much fun your guests are having. It's your work as a bartender to ensure everyone is having a good time." His advice has stuck with me ever since and it was never truer than it was last night.