Comments on: Now just add the parmesan cheese solution..

Question: Now just add the parmesan cheese solution..

Pants! — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:08:32 -0800

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.

By: thewestinggame

thewestinggame — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:21:33 -0800

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.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:23:16 -0800

This is pretty cool.

By: Acari

Acari — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:23:19 -0800

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.]

By: Richard Daly

Richard Daly — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:04:57 -0800

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?

By: kpmcguire

kpmcguire — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:28:30 -0800

Wait, what?

This?

By: pwnguin

pwnguin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:31:35 -0800

Making 30 second ice cream with liquid nitrogen is a neat trick. I don't think many bars stock liquid nitrogen though...

By: Ookseer

Ookseer — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:38:01 -0800

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.)

By: stuartmm

stuartmm — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:52:55 -0800

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.

By: embrangled

embrangled — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:10:12 -0800

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.

By: peeedro

peeedro — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:44:58 -0800

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.

By: Challahtronix

Challahtronix — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:12:54 -0800

Whiskey for water.

By: Ms. Informed

Ms. Informed — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:43:59 -0800

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.