Jeff Burkhart: Giving them what they want

To truly understand the bar business, one must first stand behind a bar. It won’t take long, but it has to be done. The minute you have to wait on people who aren’t your friends, you will get a sense of what the real human experience is.

Sure, anybody can make mixed drinks. A gin and tonic is simply that: gin and tonic. Every other drink that exists is either adding, substituting or subtracting something from that. But try making 10 different permutations of that with 10 more people waiting impatiently for their own versions.