- They think they've got this Screwdriver,
and then you'll hear 'em say,
"God, this is really weak."
And I'm thinking,
you better believe it's weak,
there's no alcohol in it.
- My name is Augusta Gale,
and I have been bartending on and off
for seven plus years, now.
- Hey, I'm Cam Montgomery Junior,
and I've been a bartender since 1998.
But my bartending has been a little different
from everybody else's because I have always
gone into the homes of the big billionaires
in the world.
Whoo hoo hoo!
Do I have stories to tell.
I have to be very honest with you,
if I find them attractive I make it strong.
- If they're really polite about it,
if they're regulars,
I'm more apt to give them a little extra,
otherwise I usually charge them.
And then I pour them another shot.
- The best way to get a free drink out of me
is to be nice to me.
Just be really nice.
- It depends on the bar, too.
Some bars are cool with you giving away alcohol,
some of them aren't.
A lot of times, yeah, you have a comp tab,
which is maybe 25 to $50,
where you can ring in drinks
that the bar management comp
at the end of the night that you've given
out to regulars,
or people who come in and are really nice
and you wanna have 'em come back to the bar.
- The only way to really get 'em, though,
is if I think you look good,
and you come across pretty nice,
what the hell,
I'll pour you a couple of drinks.
Sometimes, people come to the bar,
they'll have an ID that says 21.
I'm looking at 'em and I'm thinking
I don't really think so.
So I tell those kind of people,
regardless what they order,
you know what, let me make you a specialty drink.
I used to have a bottle with clear liquid,
which they thought was vodka
'cause it was in a vodka bottle.
But really, it was just water,
with a little orange juice, whatever.
They think they've got this Screwdriver,
and then you'll hear 'em say,
"God, this is really weak."
And I'm thinking,
you better believe it's weak,
there's no alcohol in it.
- The only time I really secretly give someone
a non alcoholic drink is they were just
far, far too drunk.
Sometimes, you can get away with making like
a soda water with like some lime,
and being, here you go,
here's your tequila soda.
But, usually I try to just cut people off
and be straight with 'em.
- One drink, in particular, the Bloody Mary.
That drink is the drink that I found
that people would be very picky.
You know, do you have Tabasco,
do you have this kind of pepper,
do you have this?
I'm like get the, out of here.
- Mojitos are the (bleeping) worst.
No one likes to muddle.
Muddling is where you take fresh herbs or fruit,
making a Mojito, it's gonna be a mint
and simple syrup,
and you muddle it with this big stick
that you crush the mint with and you get
the flavors out and everything.
And honestly, they're really not that hard,
it's just become a bartender thing
to hate Mojitos.
- Another drink that people are very,
very particular about is an Old Fashioned.
If their an older person,
they know specifically what they want,
so I would just say, you know what,
I don't have this, I don't have that,
and that would be the end of that.
- I enjoy making crash cocktails
so I don't mind, really, making elaborate drinks.
Again, it kind of depends on the day,
if you've made 18 really elaborate drinks
in a row, sometimes you're just like,
oh my God, please, don't order another one.
But, such is the life of a bartender.
- My biggest customer pet peeve is (clapping)
"Uh, sir, (clapping), can I have a drink?"
- Oh man, people who don't pay, (chuckles)
which is why you take credit cards,
and you start a tab.
- Any number of times, I turn around and go,
(clapping), no, and get right back
to the next person I had in line.
I mean that's just rude, (clapping), "Sir?"
- Sort of a pet peeve, sort of entertaining,
is when people get really drunk and just start
pretty much fornicating on your bar,
and you're like, no, please,
I don't wanna see this.
Like, I'm happy for you, but maybe,
you know, take this somewhere else,
where the rest of my bar patrons
don't have to watch you making out and groping.
I love bartending.
I genuinely find joy in the human element.
- The joy that I found in it was eavesdropping.
- And most 'em writers, so,
a lot of the interactions I have find their ways
into my stories.
You see people at their weirdest,
their most vulnerable, their messiest,
their worst and their best,
and there's something really
beautiful about that.
And you get to kind of take it all in
and facilitate it as the bartender.
- One of my favorite, favorite stories
is I'm at this home of a very, very, very, very
famous, what is he, he's a music manager.
At the end of the night all the guests go except
for about four or five.
And he asks me,
"Could you just go into my bedroom
"and hold a bottle of champagne?"
I go in, I hold this bottle of champagne.
Who walks into the bedroom first,
but the love of my life
when I was 13, Farrah Fawcett.
She comes in, she lies across the bed,
her best friend comes in.
All night it's just me pouring champagne
as they laugh and talk, and I kept thinking,
should I tell her how much I used to love her
when I was 13?
But I didn't.
I didn't want to freak her out,
but I was in the bedroom
with Farrah Fawcett pouring champagne.
It don't get no better than that, buddy.
(laughing and clapping)
- Is anyone out there who is going to a bar,
goes to a bar, be good to your bartenders.
A lot of us really love what we do,
and you guys are the reason why.
So, come in and be nice
and we'll be nice to you,
and maybe give you free stuff. (laughs)
(lounge music)