Now just add the parmesan cheese solution..

March 9, 2009 10:08 PM

Miko says: I've seen a lot of similar "SCIENCE!" tricks done at the bar. In fact, I've known some bartenders who collected them and mastered them in order to perform for customers and thereby increase their tips and build their crowd. One of the most wonderful nights I ever had working was when a group of Navy engineers...

What other "SCIENCE!" tricks do you know along these lines? For the purposes of this question, assume a very broad definition of science.

posted by Pants! to food & drink (12 answers total)

Put an olive on the bar and spin a glass really fast over it. Pick the glass up, still spinning it, and turn it right side up. With a bit of practice, you'll be able to keep the olive in the glass the whole time.

...or so I've heard. I have not tried this myself.
posted by thewestinggame at 10:21 PM on March 9, 2009

This is pretty cool.
posted by TwelveTwo at 10:23 PM on March 9, 2009

the one where you wedge the tines of a fork onto a toothpick and balance it on the edge of a glass, and then you burn the toothpick away and holy crap that fork shouldn't be staying there!

also, 'the worm' where you compress the paper wrapper of a straw [classy joints only!] and then drop water on it a little at a time so it expands and... worms across the table a little bit.

and richard feynman's jackassed tip-in-an-upside-down-glass-of-water thing.

[I just wanted to get the easy ones out of the way.]
posted by Acari at 10:23 PM on March 9, 2009

the one where you wedge the tines of a fork onto a toothpick and balance it on the edge of a glass, and then you burn the toothpick away and holy crap that fork shouldn't be staying there!

Wait, what?
posted by Richard Daly at 11:04 PM on March 9, 2009

Wait, what?

This?
posted by kpmcguire at 11:28 PM on March 9, 2009

Making 30 second ice cream with liquid nitrogen is a neat trick. I don't think many bars stock liquid nitrogen though...
posted by pwnguin at 11:31 PM on March 9, 2009

Virtually every trick I've seen a bartender pull is listed here including the how to get a cork out of a bottle and the sticky beer bottle. (note: many are just sucker bets, but some are science based.)
posted by Ookseer at 11:38 PM on March 9, 2009 [4 favorites]

Thinking about the fork it may be possible to do with a single fork if you use a wine, or probably best a martini , glass and hang the fork off vertical. . You would probably need an odd number of tines though. The balance point will still have to be found.
posted by stuartmm at 11:52 PM on March 9, 2009

Bartenders carry tea towels, right? How about the tea towel chicken?

It's especially good if you tell a long-winded, pointless-sounding joke as you make it. For example:

So, a chicken and a beaver were crossing the road. [Insert long story about why]. The chicken got hit by a giant truck and ended up completely flat - as flat as this tea towel here.

The beaver was horrified, but he gathered up his flat chicken friend and took him to the vet. "Can you fix my chicken?' he asked.

"Well, your chicken is very flat, but I'll do my best," says the vet. "I'll just fold him here, and pull him there, and now, hmmm, let's see, bear with me, nearly there, one moment now... [Make a ridiculous flourish] "IS THIS YOUR CHICKEN?!"

Embellish as necessary.
posted by embrangled at 2:10 AM on March 10, 2009 [4 favorites]

Bartenders carry tea towels, right? How about the tea towel chicken?

It's especially good if you tell a long-winded, pointless-sounding joke as you make it.

I don't want to give away all my secrets, but I have a routine I use to break in new servers by making a napkin bra.
posted by peeedro at 2:44 AM on March 10, 2009

Whiskey for water.
posted by Challahtronix at 9:12 AM on March 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Okay, I am way late to the party, but for archiving purposes: Drop raisins into a tall glass of clear soda or soda water. They'll sink to the bottom, then rise back to the top, then sink to the bottom and rise again, for at least a half hour or so. It looks way, way cooler than it sounds.

And it's actually science--bubbles form on the raisins because of the cracks, and when enough bubbles have formed, the raisin is lifted up. Then at the surface, the bubbles pop, and the raisin sinks again.
posted by Ms. Informed at 7:43 AM on September 29, 2009