In an effort to combat mediocre mixing around campus, Street catches up with Abbie Feinberg: alcohol connoisseur and mixologist extraordinaire.
Street: Why did you decide to learn how to bartend?
Abbie Feinberg: At parties I wasn't usually the social butterfly, but I liked being behind the scene, like the hostess or the chef. It turned out to be a really fun side thing to do.
Street: How do you go about learning how to bartend? Did you learn how to flip bottles off your elbow and stuff like that?
AF: The heart of the course is learning how to properly make a drink. You want each drink to be the exact same every single time somebody orders it. If they're used to getting a drink with one shot, you don't want to mess them up by giving them too much or too little.
There's a lot of safety involved - bartending is pretty much how to not let people kill themselves.
Street: Any funny stories from weddings you've had to bartend?
AF: The worst wedding that I've ever worked was one with no alcohol. Everybody was coming up to me and desperately asking, "Why isn't there any alcohol?"
Street: What's the most common student snafu that you see at parties around campus?
Af: Warm alcohol! Disgusting. Always, always make your alcohol cold by all means, and make sure you have ice on hand. Ice is important. Another important one is putting beer in the fridge long before serving.
Street: What are the three essential alcohols that every student should have in stock if they want to entertain?
AF: Everybody should have beer around, because you can drink more beer [because of the lower alcohol content], so it's more of a social alcohol. And people who are beer drinkers only drink that. For people who like mixed drinks, definitely go for vodka and triple sec. With triple sec, you can make Cosmos, or Kamikazes if you're looking for a manly drink.
With vodka, you can make all of the highballs: vodka tonic, Screwdrivers and stuff like that. Vodka is the standard to have around and most people like it. There isn't much taste, so it won't put people off.
Street: Shaken or stirred?
AF: I was told to never shake a martini, because shards of ice chip off and make the drink cloudy. The perfect martini should be crystal clear.
