Tasting Journal

“The Fastest Bartender Contest”
Hard Times Café
October 9, 2005
8pm – Close

Hard Times Café
13032 Middlebrook Road
Germantown, MD 20872
240.686.0150


You know those rowdy nights where you and your friends are at the bar… you try to get the bartender’s attention… finally you catch a glance… some minutes later you yell out your group’s drink orders amongst the noise… and then some more minutes later, you sit back (or stand, squished in between the crowd) and relax as you sip on your long awaited drink…

I’m not saying that scenario happens all the time, but it does happen... and it takes a pretty swift and smooth bartender to be able to handle such a crowd with precision and charisma. Sometimes, it’s really not as easy as it looks…

Last night Roman, Kim, Sabba and I went to the “Fastest Bartender” contest at Hard Times Café in Germantown, MD. It was week 3 of the event, and the winner of this round would go to the finals at Champion Billiards in Rockville.

Roman and Kim actually knew one of the contestants, Neil Smith. He is a server at Dave and Busters in Rockville. So now we had a person to cheer for.

Also, it turned out that we knew another one of the contestants… Dina… we went to high school with her. Small world …

The night started off a little slow. Although the flier said that it began at 8:00pm, things didn’t really get moving until about 10:40pm. By that time, I was on martini number two… and we had already devoured a plate of chili cheese fries, the chili sampler and some chicken fingers made with wing sauce (Roman’s modification – it turned out really good!). The chili sampler offered four different types of chili: Vegetarian, Texas, Cincinnati and Terlingua Red. I liked the Terlingua Red. It was a little spicy, and had a nice kick. The Texas and Cincinnati tasted the most like “regular” chili. The Vegetarian wasn’t that great. I’ve actually had some pretty good vegetarian chili, but this one was lacking substance… it was kind of thin…

When the contest was finally underway the announcer gave some basic guidelines… then explained the three different rounds:

Round One – An order of five liquors are shouted out in a specific order; the bartender must pour each shot in a glass in the correct order; each shot must be poured accurately; each contestant is timed.

Round Two – An order of five different drinks are shouted out in a specific order; the bartender must make each drink order accurately, complete with the correct garnishes, and in the correct order; each contestant is timed.

Round Three – Each bartender is timed while making a margarita. The margaritas are auctioned off to the crowd by the contestants; donations go to the “Make-A-Wish Foundation”.

Despite its slow start, the event was pretty entertaining. The bartenders were clearly a little boozed up, which made for a more interesting show.

The results were announced a little while later… the winner was Neil Smith, from Dave and Busters!!! He was obviously very ecstatic. Congratulations Neil!

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