Each profession that exists in the world has its own history and its own background. Some date to centuries ago. Others, on the contrary, are more recent. The truth is that when you start to study a career or start practicing it, you know everything you need about your specific career. The knowledge, the practice, etc. However, sometimes we do not know exactly where it comes from, how it arose and why it exists.
Bartending is a very important part of history without a doubt. Learning more about it is fascinating. This is the main reason why so many people like to learn the details about how it all began.
Bartending has been around for a long time. However, very few people know the basics of the history behind this particular profession. The art of serving drinks and tending to bars has been part of our world for thousands of years. It can be traced back as far as ancient Rome and Greece.
More 101 on history
To expand the history of bartending a little more. We can say that it is an ancient profession that dates back to Asian, Roman and Greek societies. In those days, bartenders worked in public bars.
The bartenders were the ones who ran inns as well as public bars. In those times they not only prepared the drinks but also made them. Also in Western Europe, bartenders had the common title of landowners. Which placed them in a high position within European society. That is, they were part of the elite of countries such as Ireland, France, Germany and England.
The job or profession of bartender was perceived as a profession that only wealthy people could do.
Expanding the history of Bartending
It is important to emphasize that in those days when bartending was just beginning to take its first steps. Bartenders had very limited access to products and ingredients. This when compared to the amount that exists today and that is available to everyone. This was the case because in those days, the delivery of products was very complicated due to communication problems.
Over the years, the trends of both drinks and cocktails as well as the bars in general. Have changed on many occasions. Thanks to this, a quite varied amount of different styles of bartender have emerged. Which range from those that serve the drinks so fast. That you don’t even realize it or all those who have an impressive level of performance and style.
Between the 50s and 60s, the Tiki Bar became fashionable in the United States. With them came a large number of new cocktails. Many tropical and delicious and usually quite loaded with alcohol, but also these cocktails came in unique containers that made them even more spectacular.
The evolution of bartending
In the 80s and 90s, those who attended bars began to prefer drinks and cocktails like the Cosmopolitan, among others. This is where drinkers became more subtle trying these types of cocktails and drinks. In addition, the bartenders prepared the drinks that those customers asked for.
The Renaissance brought with it again the grace of the bartender and the mixture of ingredients to make varied drinks and cocktails. Today, thanks to the modernity that technology provides us and other advances. The industry of bars and bartending has evolved. That means that today bartenders are able to cover the entire wide range of different tastes and styles.
Today’s bartender knows and knows everything about the history of bartending. Knowledge of the spirit, but is also an expert in the construction of drinks and cocktails. Excellent customer service and even in many cases. Has the ability to be creative and in this way. Add your special touch to various cocktails that already exist or create a new one.
Today there are also a large number of competitions where some of the best known bartenders participate, one of those competitions is the Diageo World Class, which is created by a global platform and shows the amount of talent in the bartending industry.
Taverns have been a popular place for leisure for many empires
It was quite common for taverns to hire bartenders, and to be set up in areas that have popular routes for travelers and merchants. This meant that the tavern was going to be full most of the time. Therefore, someone had to be there to serve the available drinks.
The ancient Greeks used to believe that this was extremely important. Therefore, they would have several locations where patrons can socialize. These taverns did not open their doors for just about anyone. However, most people couldn’t afford to buy drinks in these early taverns.
Bartending shined in the middle ages
The middle ages are as the golden era of bartending because those who serving drinks and charging money for beverages make substantial wealth. This was also the birth of the pub or tavern. A place where people can have fun, get drunk, socialize and gossip about the issues happening in town.
The New World era of bartending
With the discovery of the new world, all European immigrants brought their drinking culture to these new lands. This gave way to the creation of many taverns in several areas. It was in the eighteen hundreds that Jeremiah Thomas, a bartender from New Haven Connecticut. Started to mix drinks in a more methodical and specialized way.
This is the reason why he was quickly known and still is regarded as the father of American Mixology. He wrote the first book on drink mixing that he simply and fittingly called “how to mix drinks”. The title is simply enough and the content is brilliant.
The era of prohibition for alcoholic beverages in bartending history
The early 20th century was a very difficult time for bartenders in the U.S. due to the ban of all alcoholic beverages. This left many drink mixers out of jobs. It gave birth to the era of alcohol bootlegging, which was finally over in 1933. Alcohol bootlegging is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law.
The changes in bartending services
The art of bartending evolved significantly since the lift of the alcohol prohibition days. There are now a total of 77 official cocktails in every region of the world. Notably, this has become a very popular profession. Notably, with many successful bartenders that work at events, parties, weddings, pubs, and many other locations.
The bartender today
Today the bartender receives respect as well as the bartending profession, thanks to the fact that many bartending legends have led the way and have turned it into a highly reputable job which today more and more people want to dedicate themselves to this profession for that reason.
Today, different ways of bartending have even emerged and bartenders have become experts in things like juggling. And other skills and abilities that allow them to be more than just a simple cocktail creator. Today there are even Flair Bartenders, which they handle much more special skills than the others. Those that have dedicated themselves to beyond making cocktails. To entertaining their clients or the public that attends the events where they attend.
Questions and answers
Bartenders were initially owners of public bars or inns and bartending was considered a profession that only people of a certain status could exercise. The bartenders not only prepared their drinks but also made them themselves. Many were landowning refugees.
Bartenders are stable professionals and above all they have evolved positively. Especially today that technology has advanced. The profession has also gone from being a temporary job for many to a fairly paid profession. If you know how to use all the tools that are available to anyone who excels in this profession.
The bartending profession, unlike what many say that bartending is nothing more than just a temporary job that people take to earn some money. It has become a highly recognized profession that if done properly, it can come to be very lucrative.
Today the bartender is not only someone who can prepare a cocktail or who can serve his customers appropriately. Today the bartender is much more than that; They have become experts in juggling and have developed unique skills (Flair Bartending), they have also become excellent hosts who provide the customer with top quality attention, they are mixologists, cocktail makers and possess countless tools and soft skills that they are made by experienced bartenders who are at the top of the elite in the business.
Final thoughts
Bartending continues to be an extremely important profession. There are all kinds of bartending skills that can be useful for those who wish to make a living with mixology. The main thing to keep in mind is that bartending continues to evolve and party shakers is the latest form of that evolution.
Click on the link to know more about bartending services, or check out our YouTube channel for cocktail video tutorials.
[…] bartending-ul a devenit destul de popular, fiind practicat în mare parte în hanuri. Conform Party Shakers LA, europenii barmani erau considerați elita societății, iar profesia avea o reputație foarte […]