Responsible alcohol consumption always starts with the individual, but bartenders can use their role to help individuals make better decisions.
Chilled teamed up with Responsibility.org and the Chilled 100 to help share some tips and tricks for encouraging responsible drinking.
For the last 30 years, Responsibility.org has been working to help educate the country about the dangers of underage drinking, drunk driving, and irresponsible consumption of alcohol. In that time, the numbers of drunk driving deaths and underage drinking have plummeted. The organization has not only worked with law enforcement to make the consequences of drunk driving more serious, but more importantly they have made huge strides in alcohol education. Ensuring teens, parents, and individuals are educated has been critical; since 1982 there has been a 48% decrease in drunk driving deaths and a 66% decrease in 8th Grade Lifetime Consumption of Alcohol.
Friends having a cheers
When it comes to behind the bar, the organization has worked on several campaigns with bartenders over the years. Most bartenders will be familiar with their “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign and their Responsibility #StartsWithMe initiative. This summer, they’ll be launching a “Safe Night” program to give bartenders and bar owners even more tools.
While we’re waiting for the launch of the new program, we caught up with two Chilled 100 Bartenders in Los Angeles and Las Vegas to hear their tips for helping cut drinkers off.
“There are so many little cheat ways to cut people off,” notes Steviee Hughes of seventy7 lounge in Los Angeles.
“But I prefer to slowly tone them down before they get to the point of completely having to be cut off. One is the simple keep handing the water. If you ask if they want it, they say no. But if you put it in front of them, they drink it. Lately I’ve also been using the option of giving people some low abv cocktails or even NA ones. Some of my cocktails on my menu it’s easy for me to switch an item but it still taste the same.”
Steviee notes that making sure they eat something always helps, “Since I’m in a place that has food sometimes, I’ll order someone like say our truffle fries and just say it’s a free comp. But you do have those moments where you have to flat out cut someone off and usually it ends in them being asked to leave. I try to find a sober friend in a group and explain to them their friend has had one to many and for now needs to take a break.”
Friends having a cheers
When you’re in a destination city like Las Vegas, you can appeal to your guests FOMO when trying to decrease their drinking. “I spent almost 18 years working on the Las Vegas strip at various properties,” shared Rebecca Anhert.
“I would tell guests to pace themselves and give them a bottle of water. Further explaining the clubs are open until 3AM and the pool parties start at 10AM, with wine dinners and cocktails at the tables in between; it’s better to enjoy your entire weekend rather than miss out because you are passed out or hung over. Most people were gracious and respected that advice. If you tell them you are looking out for their best interests, I’ve found people are very receptive.”
The need for improved alcohol and substance safety is more apparent than ever. Despite travel being restricted, preliminary data shows a 7% increase in traffic deaths in 2020 due to a number of factors including impaired driving. This increase was the largest in the last 13 years. In response, Responsibility.org has begun advocating for the passage of the Multiple Substance Impaired Driving Prevention Act in collaboration with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).
Chris R. Swonger, President and CEO of both DISCUS and Responsibility.org, shared, “The risk of crashes increases exponentially when drivers are impaired from multiple substances, and this issue is only now starting to be acknowledged and addressed as it continues to be a growing problem for states. The process of identifying, prosecuting, and treating these high-risk offenders requires specialized training, better data collection and new technologies and countermeasures. We are confident this bill will help states build a foundation for addressing this ongoing problem.”
The post Encouraging Responsible Drinking Behind The Bar With Responsibility.org appeared first on Chilled Magazine.
Source: Mixology News
