Breaking Down IBA Cocktail Competitions for a Winning Strategy

Seminar Title: Breaking Down IBA Cocktail Competitions for a Winning Strategy

Description: What is the difference from competing in a standard cocktail competition in the United States to competing in an IBA cocktail competition? Break down the mystery of the IBA – International Bartenders’ Association rules for competing in their cocktail competitions and learn not only how to compete in them… but also score higher.

Paul Posillico will share his insight and secrets with a hand’s on approach on IBA techniques and competing with this informative seminar you will be better prepared for qualifying in future USBG United States Bartenders’ Guild IBA World Cocktail Championship & IBA Pan-American Games USBG Qualifiers…. you won’t want to miss this!

Presented by: Paul Posillico

Sponsored by: Pa’lante

BIO: Paul Posillico

Paul Posillico: Award-winning Bartender Serves up 50 Years of Excellence

In fifty years of bartending Paul Posillico has seen and heard just about everything. If you happen to saunter up to his bar at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino—in the hospitality mecca of the nation, fabulous Las Vegas—you are in for a top notch libation, garnished with an entertaining antidote and served with a smile. You don’t make it half a century in the business by merely shaking up a tasty cocktail—although Paul’s award winning creations have earned him the respect of his colleagues and the front cover of The Wine Enthusiast magazine—but according to Paul, “It’s the satisfaction knowing you made someone happy by the drink you made and how you served it, these are the ingredients for developing a loyal clientele.”

Paul began his career in bartending when the legal drinking age was 18 years old.
“My friend’s father opened a small bar near Farmingdale College on Long Island. I was one month short of my twentieth birthday. I worked there part time. This part time job wet my appetite to learn more about this industry. I enrolled in the International School of Bartending in New York City. From there my jobs evolved into more complex and intense jobs. It was time to take this bartending seriously and learn, learn and learn!

Little did he realize his passion for serving drinks, and even more importantly, for serving people, would lead to so many interesting encounters, “Satisfying the guest with great professional service and outstanding cocktails gives me a great rush”. And his passion still fills his work day as much now as it did way back then, in that cozy college bar.

It’s been an intense and thrilling journey for Paul.
“In the early years I was laid back and almost introverted. I would go behind and experience ‘stage fright’. My ability to study people’s personalities and adjust mine to theirs helped me overcome this shyness. As I became more successful, I realized guests accepted me for me. They appreciated my service and my knowledge of the beverage industry.”

Today, Paul is recognized by the industry as one of the finest men that has ever wielded a shaker. What has the wisdom of the years taught him about tending bar with the utmost professionalism and charm?
“A good drink is one that is well balanced. All ingredients blend together to present a good looking and good tasting beverage. No one ingredient should overpower the others. It should leave you wanting another. Outstanding, friendly service can make a so-so cocktail taste great; so-so service can make a great cocktail taste horrible! Today’s outstanding bartenders are learning that craft and product knowledge are equally important as outstanding service. The guest, when leaving your bar, should look forward to returning soon—to see you and to taste your fine libations! As they say in show business, ‘leave ‘em wanting more!’”

Paul credits an outsider to the beverage industry with instilling in him the lessons that have served him best in his profession—his father.
“He taught me the importance of being honest, loyal, charitable, and sincere. Don’t judge others. Be humble, thankful, share your good fortunes, be kind to those less fortunate then yourself and countless other fine attributes. Professionally, have a good work ethic. Study and practice your craft; be the best you can possibly be. Apply the above to your business life as well as your personal life.”

And there are a few trade professionals that have inspired Paul, and elevated the industry as a whole.
“Us older bartenders have worked all of our professional lives to help bartenders get the recognition that is now taking place, nationwide. The United States Bartenders’ Guild, along with the efforts of men like Tony Abu-Ganim, Francesco La Franconi, Livio Lauro,Bobby”G”Gleason, Dale DeGroffand and numerous others have made bartendering a noble profession.”

And what really chaps his hide about his vocation these days?
“There are still too many part time bartenders who don’t take the craft of bartending seriously and only use it as a night out and to make tax free tips. The lounge and night club businesses place more importance on young and sexy bartenders (men and women) rather than good service and great cocktails. Many of these young men and women do become outstanding bartenders; many get involved in the social scene of sex, drugs and eventually drop out of the beverage industry.”

Paul is a font of fascinating tidbits and entertaining antidotes accumulated over the decades in a business where you connect with different people, all day, every day, in a city that is a mecca for world travelers.
“As you could imagine fifty years is a long time. I could fill a book with my experiences and the characters I’ve served (good and bad). I’ve worked every type of beverage operation known to man. I’ve served priests, politicians, business men of all types—Joe the plumber types, gangsters—and treated them all with respect. I never questioned anyone about their personal or business lives. Everyone always knew that I was well aware of who or what they were. They in turn respected me and contributed to the fine living I made.
A few examples:
Jimmy ‘Blue Eyes’ Just the name tells you his ‘occupation’. When it came time to pay his check he always said ‘I’m like Crime, I Don’t’ Pay ‘. He always paid.
Les Kline, the head of air traffic controllers in the New York area. I was flying Air France to Paris and mid-way out over the Atlantic the captain welcomed me, by name, over the PA and wished me a pleasant stay in Paris. This was Les’s doing. By the way, on that same flight I was bumped up to First Class. This was a gift from another customer who was an executive of Air France.
The Winners’ Circle was a dance club on Long Island where I was employed 20 years ago. This was back when the Gong Show on TV was popular and most of the clubs (including us) had a Gong Show night. We would give prize money to the local acts that performed. We had one black young man who won every week. We hired him for New Year’s Eve to do a 45 minute comedy routine. A month into the New Year he become a regular on Saturday Night Live—his name was Eddie Murphy. He was 19 at the time.
I could go on and on…but you’ll have for the book.”

That would be a great read. I can see it now: I’m spread across on the couch in the living room, the sun streaming in through the open window, sipping a cocktail (of course), as I flip through the pages. It would be like meeting this amazing cast of characters myself…living vicariously through a man who has seen it all in his lifetime, from behind the bar.

What cocktail would I be enjoying with Paul’s book? It would have to be his own creation, a drink he made famous by winning awards for its world class taste and presentation. That would only be fitting. In fact, I would hope the recipe would appear on the back of the book, or maybe the inside front cover. It would read:

Passion Italiano:
Vanilla Vodka
Galliano (Italian vanilla-flavored cordial)
Passion Puree
Cream
** Shake all ingredients in a mixing glass and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a spring of mint and freshly grated nutmeg.
Add a little showmanship by shaking and pouring the drink in front of the guest.
Also add the mint and grate the nutmeg in front of the guest.

Umm…I can taste it now.