Random Thought Thread

Personally I don't work to that structure, but I'd say in that case end on the climax

 

Beer tankards were originally designed to act as a handy knuckle duster in a fight, straight glasses were a sign of distinction that such uncouth behaviour wasn't likely - they became the predominant design because tankards don't stack.

 

Yeah @Shenanigator pretty much covered it. With wine and whiskey it's all about the nose. Red wine needs to aerate so the more aromatic the wine the wider the rim should be to present a larger surface area for oxidation. In the case of whiskeys, you're supposed to drink them from a glencairn glass:



though I've never seen one in a restaurant before except a few higher end ones that specialize in whiskey tasting (bring your credit card).

Honestly, most of it is presentation and portion control now. Drinking at home is one thing, but glassware is suicidally expensive on a commercial scale. There's an old joke profitability teaching tool about how one broken $8 glass (cheap) takes $400 in sales to replace (at a 2% profit margin, which ain't bad at all). Told another way, a single table in a busy restaurant might turn four times at $100 a pop, so if a server breaks a glass serving the table the table becomes useless for the rest of the night.

Pretty much the same as a cordial glass used for aperitifs, digestifs, fortified wines, etc. Those are those tiny wine glass looking thingies designed for small sipping small portions or quaffing as a shot:



They come in all shapes nowadays. Liqueurs (added sugar) are usually served in a snifter, with the fortified wines (blended with spirits, usually brandy) in sherry glasses. It's pretty muddled these days. Not everything slots into its original categories, so most joints pick their glasses for style and durability.

Pretty much. Oxidation is only a bad thing when measured in days. Reds need it to clear off-scents and "open up" their full aromatics. The heavier the body, the more aromatic the wine in most cases (but not all). It does little for whites, which is why we never decant those. Thinner glasses, like champagne flutes or pilsner beer glasses, will inhabit the degassing of CO2 by presenting a smaller surface area. Not sure if it keeps the drink cooler or not.

 

Light body reds at 55-60F, heavy body reds at 60-65F. You try serving a Napa Cab at 72 and you might get shot at the wrong restaurant. I worked at a place that got absolutely excoriated in a wine write up for not chilling their wines specific to their bodies.

ETA: that goes for whites too. Light body and sparking at ice cold, heavier body at around 50. So a Russian River Chardonnay and a Russian River Pinot Noir can almost go in the same cooler. Serve an ice cold RR Chard at the wrong place and you might get shot twice.

EETA: been thinking about this a lot lately as I contemplate opening my own joint. I think I would have three coolers: a regular ice-cold one, one at about 52, and a third at about 62 or so. Might be able to get away with a basement for the 52 if its available. And room temp for the generic house wines, which most places do for all reds... totally fine if the bottle is under $50 or so. But once you edge into the $100+ range you're tinkering with a finicky demographic of people who are used to getting exactly what they want.

 

and thin walled shot glasses as used for vodka / schnapps/slivovitz etc are so designed because it is customary to smash them on the floor (or in the fireplace) after drinking a toast , because after toasting 'whatever' the glass must never be used for a lesser purpose.

There goes homer's profit margin for the night. (although given that our local wanted to charge me £8 (that's about $10) for a double brandy the other night they may make it back up on mark up on spirits).

Also on the profit margin thing - does a table really only do $100 in a sitting - that's $25 a head which seems cheap (over here you could easily do the sterling equivalent of $50 plus drinks, plus service on a four set )

 

Interesting you mention that. We were having a discussion at work the other day about gender and sexuality correlation when it comes to food and drink. What we decided (unscientifically) was that the wine and booze thing has moved away from gender of late. More dudes order white wines and fruity drinks and more women order beer and whiskey than ever before, though a woman ordering whiskey is still relatively noteworthy. Unless it's an older woman (65+) with a Manhattan, which is a holdover from a bygone era when there were only like six drinks available. As for food, women used to consume salads at about three times the rate of men, but that's leveled off somewhat. More dudes order salad than ever before, though usually never with dressing on the side. That still seems to be a female thing.

It was a slow day.

 

$10 for a double? That would run you a minimum of $16 here for the cheap stuff, though a lot of places refuse to serve doubles anymore. It looks really bad on the check when the police follow up on DUIs, which happens enough that it's problem. You might get a reputation for being careless about liquor safety, which wasn't a thing ten years ago, but now the liquor commissions are out for blood.

The $100 a seating is more of a guideline. Most checks average 2.3 persons, which a couple being far and away the most frequent party size. And the average head tends to level off around $30 or so. I've worked in places that average $24 and others that crept as high as $40 on a good Saturday night. It's all a function of average. The highrollers are almost always offset by cheapskates unless you're in a big city that offers limitless options.

Exclusivity is hard to harness. Most places in most towns just can't afford to turn off budget diners.

ETA: shit, all this talk about booze has made me late for work... peace.