Inventory for November 5th, 2017

Welcome pals! This week we have a Tel Aviv-based bar that’s offering a bloody hour for women on their periods (with 25% discount!). Also: a video with many noteworthy bartenders explaining that drinks aren’t gendered, and Monica Berg talks at length about many problems that plague the industry today: namely gender equality, sustainability, and a focus on craft. Cheers!

Though this article deals with finding your signature cocktail for your wedding, many of the tips hold true when trying to find your signature cocktail for a season or your home. For example: you should be able to drink more than one, it shouldn’t be a total hassle to make, and, most importantly, it should come with a story, even if it’s simple. Follow Food52’s helpful hints to find your season’s signature drink.

Israeli Bar Offers Bloody Hour Discount for Women on Their Periods

Heeeeello. “A bar in Israel has launched a unique offer, giving women a 25% drinks discount during their period.” Anna Loulou’s bloody hour in Jaffa, Tel Aviv will provide discounts to women “on the rag” on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. No need for proof though, women can simply let their bartenders know and receive their 25%. “The whole idea is to give a discount, attention, and a treat to someone,” bar owner Moran Barirr told Haaretz newspaper. “To say ‘we recognise you, we are aware of the special situation you’re in right now, and hey, we want to do you a favour.’” The bar owners want to make the topic of menstruation more talked about and take a stand against the ubiquitous instructions women are regularly given about when they should and should not have a drink.

Drinks Are Not Gendered

In this time of Harvey Weinstein and Roy Price it’s important to shed a light on our own industry. While it might not be teeming with accusations of sexual harassment, it’s still extremely gendered, which is what this video touches on. Although it first came out in December of last year, it’s still extremely relevant today. A host of bartenders speak about their experience behind the bar. For example, how men will ask to change coupe glasses to Collins glasses because they feel emasculated drinking out of a coupe. To quote the great Bobby Heugel on this “I didn’t know that glassware had genitalia.” Preach, Bobby.  It’s a really interesting look at what is still a huge problem within the industry, well worth the two and a half minutes it takes to watch. Never thought I’d say this, but thanks for producing this video Playboy.

Monica Berg on the Need for Sustainability of People in the Bar Industry

Last week, The Spirits Business published an extensive interview with Monica Berg. “Leading bartender Monica Berg, of Himkok fame, discusses the challenges, trials and tribulations facing the global bartending industry.” Berg talks about gender equality, the focus on craft, and the need for sustainability within the bar industry. Berg also touches on her work at Oslo’s Himkok bar, which closely works with Norwegian farmers to prepare its drinks. ““Farmers are one of the most important parts of the ‘farm to table’ or ‘field to drink’ movement, and we need to support and protect them,” she says. The bar sources its ingredients from smaller farms, so the farmers can “keep more of the profits,” though this is not without its challenges. “We have to source our honey from two or three people because they can’t produce as much, and we want to make sure that we can have variety.”

On gender equality, she says that for 10 of her 15 year bartender career she never even considered herself as a “female bartender,” a topic that’s much more visible today. “It was only when Berg started to travel more that she realised the extent of the challenges facing female bartenders in other cultures. “I thought, ‘OK, if that’s the case then I need to change my perspective and start to more consciously support female bartenders,’” Berg says. “I would hate not to be a positive contributor to equality, because the only thing that we can do is address the wrongs that we see, in the way that we see them, and try to find ways to improve.” The whole interview is worth a read, Berg is one of the most eloquent and admirable bartenders of our time.