Homemade & Well made

At U-Mix we endeavour to make as many of our ingredients as possible from scratch.  Homemade fresh ingredients will always taste better than pre-packaged products .  Below we will go through some of the methods and recipes we use for making these products.

Starting with, simple/sugar syrup

Probably the easiest ingredient to make yourself, and by far the most cost effective. 

Simply mix sugar and hot water at a ration of 2:1 in a pan on a medium heat until dissolved.  Once your satisfied with its consistency bottle it and leave to cool. Once bottled it will keep for a good few weeks at least.  The ratio of 2:1 is purely a guideline if you feel it needs to be thicker then add more.  Bare in mind that as it cools the syrup will become more viscous.

Flavoured Syrups

The method of making flavoured syrups depends on the flavours you wish to acheive for example to make vanilla syrup you can use vanilla sugar (which unless made from scratch can be expensive) or cook vanilla pods in warm water then strain off and follow the above reciepe.  Flavoured teas make fantastic syrups simply add several tea bags to your hot water until strong enough then strain off and add your sugar.  Bare in mind this style of syrup won't last quiet as long.

Homemade lemonade

You will need;

1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 cup water (for the simple syrup)

1 cup lemon juice

3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method;

Make simple syrup using the water and sugar

While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher.

Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength.

Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes.

If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons

Whatever flavours you would like to try, have fun be creative!

The Art of great service

Considering we work in the service industry many venues can fall short on just that.  All the greatest products in the world can't make up for a poor experience of bad service,  at the same time people don't always expect great service in bars in the same way as they would in a restaurant.  This is due to a lack of understanding of what great bar service really is.

Below we have listed some simple things that are part of a great bar service.

''Welcome''

So many bars fall at the first hurdle, the welcoming of guests to the venue, once you enter a venue it is up to the staff to make sure you are looked after, this includes welcoming you into the bar.  The feeling of being welcome in a bar is in its staff and the service they provide once your there.

Napkins

Great bartenders will use napkins as a great tool, as such a simple thing it works in many different ways.  Firstly it helps to keep the bar top dry, every drink that's made will make the bar top wet, napkins reduce this drastically along with this when you leave the bar they can be used to clear behind you.  Also during a busy service placing a napkin in front of the next customer to be served can really help to eradicate the issue of customers wondering when they are going to be served.

Menus

Once your at the bar the bartender should offer you a menu, its a great tool for allowing you to select drinks based on what you are looking for.  It also give you as a customer an indication of what the venue has to offer for you and your guests. The menu should be clean, undamaged and relevant.

Drinks

The drinks part of the service should be clean, organised and above all quick, a single drink or cocktail should take no longer than 60secs to make.  When it comes to cocktails, the bartender should talk you through what he is doing and offer suggestions on alternative products that could be included in your drink.  Bars are fortunate that we now have a plethora of products at there disposal so there are alternative ingredients that can be used to tailor a drink just for you.

Bill/Tips

When it comes to clearing your bill it should be placed on a bill tray, allowing for you to check that it is correct. Once your bill is paid, change should be left on the bill tray allowing you to choose if you wish to leave a tip.  The tipping culture varies from country to country, tips are expected for every drink in places such as America, however us Brits are a little more restrained, the general rule is that if you have received great service then a small tip would be greatly received by the bartender.

Luca Cinalli at Space bar Moscow, giving a masterclass in entertaining service.

If you do recieve great service at a bar make sure you shout about it,

good quality service should be the norm!

And if like us you work in hospitality remember,

''If you have a strong sense of self worth, you will provide service, not servitude.''

Michel Roux (Michelin chef-Le Gavroche)