Dealing with Alcohol in a conscious Way
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Bar ohne Namen
Entschlossen verweigert sich Savage, der Bar einen Namen zu geben. Stattdessen sind drei klassische Design-Symbole das Logo der Trinkstätte in Dalston: ein gelbes Quadrat, ein rotes Viereck, ein blauer Kreis. Am meisten wurmt den sympathischen Franzosen dabei, dass es kein Gelbes-Dreieck-Emoji gibt. Das erschwert auf komische Weise die Kommunikation. Der Instagram Account lautet: a_bar_with_shapes-for_a_name und anderenorts tauchen die Begriffe ‘Savage Bar’ oder eben ‚Bauhaus Bar‘ auf.
Für den BCB bringt Savage nun sein Barkonzept mit und mixt für uns mit Unterstützung von Russian Standard Vodka an der perfekten Bar dazu.
In the life of a bartender alcohol is omnipresent: On the one hand it is your best friend, but it can also result in a negative impact. Iain Bell gives tips on how to deal with alcohol in a conscious way and strive for better balance.
When it comes to our business of entertaining customers and making world class drinks, we get on with it. We do a stellar job. There can be no doubt the very nature of our business is far from normal. Late nights, crazy shift patterns an upside-down world with life in the fast lane. It never really stops until a day or two off work: then it’s the usual catch up on missed sleep and try to lift your mental and physical state to a better level of positive mojo. It’s hard to tackle the ‘life admin,’ on two days off after shaking hundreds of cocktails into the night. Paying bills, amassing motivation to do the food shop, spend time with friends, catch up on five hundred emails and maybe even a haircut.
The unhealthy Life Cycle of a Bartender
Of course, there are other significant factors which cause further problems and how we live in the bartender world; poor nutrition, inactivity and alcohol all serve to create several challenges. As a bartender we are on our feet for most of our shifts and consistently fail to prepare our body and mind for our bar stations. Our energy is derived through caffeine, nicotine and convenience food to provide us with the boost for shifts over 12 hours finishing as late as three or four in the morning. This cocktail is far from ideal. We all know it and continue to shift in and out of this behaviour pattern. We all know it’s a challenge to make meaningful and long-term change. Some in our community are stuck in the relentless nature of this cycle. The results are evident: exhaustion, anxiety and poor long-term health.
Everyday Challenges
Nutrition involves the process of nutrients, both physiological and biochemical to improve our well-being on a multitude of levels. Ultimately, it is about improvement in immune function, protection from disease and longevity. Sounds straightforward and positive. Of course, we know how easy it is to eat healthier, move better and boost our wellness. The bartender reality is very different and raises consistent challenges to long term change.
Iain Bell on his stage talk "Unlock Your Potential: Bartender Nutrition" at BCB 2022.
To find helpful nutrition tips for bartenders click here.
Alcohol: The Omnipresent Drug
We also know that alcohol is not the best nutrition going, fine in moderation but it comes at a high price to our wellness. On a basic level alcohol is calorific, about 7 kcal per gram. Carbohydrates are 4 kg per kcal and fat 9 kcal per gram. Alcohol is however very much a drug without the same classifications as a psychotropic, but according to a number of research papers very much more harmful. It does cross the brain/body barrier and shows significant addiction patterns and is used in conjunction with a number of other “substances”.
As part of our best practice with improved nutrition and lifestyle we should be mindful and engaged with the role of alcohol in our lives and its relationship with drug and substance use. The Global Drugs Survey is an independent organisation running the largest drug survey in the world. Anonymous and confidential it cites data from 32,000 people over 20 countries. It demonstrates a clear picture with how we must minimise risk in our global community while maximising pleasure. With any drug, including alcohol our sole directive to minimise harm to ourselves and others.
How to monitor your alcohol consumption
If you want to monitor your alcohol consumption and help submit your data for research, download the ‘Drinks Meter App’. Much of the information is about level of risk. A useful indicator of your alcohol consumption and how it is directly related to your safety. In summary a useful structure would be:
- 2 alcohol free days a week
- Enjoy at least 2+ weeks a year alcohol free
- educate yourself on the scientific recommendations of alcohol consumption in your country
- always drink water when drinking
- alternate alcoholic drinks with water
- be mindful of exactly how much and what type of alcohol you are drinking
- always eat before drinking: proteins are best to slow down alcohol into the system.
- choose lower ABV drinks when possible
- avoid buying rounds of drinks
This type of education and knowledge should be central to bartender education, training, and qualification. A new type of bartender lifestyle. It means best practice, reduced risk, and a positive dynamic health-oriented culture. While we can all admit to showing much enthusiasm about our industry and enjoying high levels of consumption, we should all strive for better balance, better living and investing in our wellness. Many brands rightly educate the consumer about safe drinking limits, so it is up to us and to our industry and our community to do the same and do it better. It’s long overdue mixing hospitality training with wellness, alcohol education and science. Let’s all change the narrative and make positive changes.
