Pernod Ricard and the boys at Beverage Alcohol Resource started the next session of the online bartender training program BarSmarts WIRED. The program is a phase of the partnership’s highly successful BarSmarts Advanced Program and is 100 percent online. BarSmarts WIRED Wave 3 is available now through Oct. 31. BarSmarts WIRED offers any bartender with interest in the craft an opportunity to participate and become certified through a password-protected web-based platform. Interested candidates can register at www.barsmarts.com. Once registered, they can download content, complete assignments, take exams and gain certification within the specified time frame. The online program covers topics including Spirits Knowledge & Tasting, Industry History, Cocktail Knowledge & Technique, Bartending for Career Advancement and Service & Profit. The cost is $65 and includes a BarSmarts messenger bag and complete set of professional bar tools, which are mailed upon registration.
The New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society will sell a limited edition bar towel during Tales of the Cocktail. All proceeds from sales will go directly to the oyster shuckers who were laid off due to the oil spill in the Gulf. The towel’s design proclaims it “Cleans up bars, tables and the Gulf Coast.” These limited edition towels will be available on-site at the Tales of the Cocktail Gift Shop (Royal Rooms A & B) , and they’re only available during Tales of the Cocktail, July 21-25. The towels will be sold on a donation basis; a minimum donation of $5 per towel is requested.