What are the most important things you need to know about bartending? | Party Shakers

 

Bartending is fun most of the time and you can impress customers with your drink recipes. The intention was to create delicious cocktails. However, it’s not all fun and games. Bartending demands so much more. From drink mixing knowledge and great social skills to excellent customer service and time management. There are a lot of things you need to know to succeed in this business.

Understanding the essential of being a bartender is going to  make a world of a difference and that is the topic of this blog.

Bartending is increasingly on the rise and more and more people want to dedicate themselves to this profession. That despite being well paid and that it can represent a fairly intense social life. It can also be very tired and demanding.

This is something to take into account when making the decision to dedicate to this. When working as a bartender, you are going to be subjected to a lot of pressure (working all night with a full bar is very complicated). The schedules are quite uncomfortable because while most of people sleep, bartenders work and also stand all night is tiring.

But you cannot leave out the Bartender who is the one who serves, attends and entertains customers. People who come to a bar or an event and who, largely, are the most important actor in the bar where they work.

What is a Bartender?

In this case we refer directly to the person who works behind the bar. Which can be a man or a woman and who is in charge of making the magic happen. All this by creating delicious cocktails and drinks.

With the difference that it isn’t only has the function of making cocktails. Which may or may not have alcohol. But also that they have to serve customers by pleasing them with whatever drink they want to have. Sometimes they even explain how to carry out the preparation of cocktails.

All this process in which the preparation of the different cocktails is shown in an elaborate way. A presentation as a show for the clients, since the bartender is going to serve the cocktail in front of them. And this he will do using his charm and skills with bottles and other elements.

This profession has a specific theoretical and practical training. Although it is true not everyone who works as a bartender received formal studies related to the profession. Many if they choose to do so, there are several online and face-to-face courses that every aspiring bartender can take.

This training is essential to carefully perform the various mixtures that can be produced. Achieving a professional result but at the same time it must be done in an agile and fast way. Since if there is something that customers do not want, it is to wait.

Mixology in the future

Learning mixology is a bet with a future since it is something that is always evolving and changing. Mixology is undoubtedly an important part of Bartending. Basically the essence of everything that being a bartender represents.

Many bartenders do not care to delve into the wide universe of cocktails. On many occasions, this becomes a real mistake. To be a good mixologist, you need some theoretical preparation. You must also know the characteristics of the distillates well, and even know some chemistry (at least to know how everything works).

This means training in this area to be able to create the best professional cocktails, since in the end the preparation of cocktails is the heart of bartending. This training can be the difference in getting a job. Since, as we have commented, it currently has great importance in this profession

But beyond all these elements that in some way or another are part of the essential of bartending. It is important to also know the basics of bartending. We refer to each of the elements that are an essential part of the profession. For example, the age you need to be, the cocktails you should be able to prepare or everything you need to know about the tips.

Tending a Bar is a serious job, it attracts all kinds of professionals. Because they know bartending can be a fulfilling and serious booster that they can make good money from. But there are things about bartending that you need to know before thinking about becoming a bartender.

  1. You need to be 18 or 21 for bartending: You can bartend at 18 of course, depending on the state you live in. For example in Florida, you can bartend at 18 but in other States. You can’t work as a bartender until you are 21. So for example if you are offering your bartending services Los Angeles, you need to check your State laws and regulations to see what your options are.
  2. You need to know every drink that exists:  If you’ve been a bartender for a long time. You probably know at this point every single drink recipe. So it’s really important that if you are starting to bartend. You start learning every combination of drinks and cocktails.
  3. Bartending means you are legally responsible for others: One of the most important rules about bartending is that you need to refuse to serve underage people. Or those people who’ve had too many drinks. Also, you need to learn to read situations and people. Check on the crowd to be sure that everything is working as it should be.
  4. When you are bartending, you earn with tips, not wages: Even when some bartenders can make a living on wages. Probably they’ve been around the block sometimes. So, the truth is that bartenders are earning money from the tips. If you want more tips, you will need to work on your appearance. This makes it important to adapt to each situation.
  5. Bartending will help you to develop some “soft skills”: When you are bartending, you will definitely learn some soft skills like for example: Flexibility, empathy, and patience. Also being able to stay cool under pressure and other important and necessary things to develop your job properly.
  6. Bartending is so much more than mixing drinks: beyond mixing drinks, talking to customers and being nice, bartending requires some other tasks and things that that need to be done, regardless if your job is in a pop up bar or you are working on an event, you need to clean up after closing the bar, take the inventory, going to work early to get things ready and attend special activities.
  7. 7. The bartender must develop Skills beyond making good cocktails. One of those elements is the art of juggling various items such as bottles and some go further by juggling fire and other items. They call it “Flair Bartending”. Even today there are contests where the best Flair Bartenders in the world participate.

What are the most important things you need to know about bartending? | Party Shakers

Questions and Answers

What is bartending?

Bartending is a profession that is gaining notoriety today and that today has been acquiring more reputation. More and more people want to dedicate themselves to bartending, and that is the case for several reasons.

One of them is because bartending is a profession in which you can make a lot of money. Especially if you are a professional bartender, if you have studied the art of bartending, if you prepare every day to learn something new, if you experiment with new flavors and with new ingredients and also if you strive to serve customers in the best possible way.

Who is the bartender?

The bartender is basically the lifeblood of the bar, the lifeblood of the party, the one who creates the magic in the bar by making his mixes and cocktails while entertaining the customers. The Bartender, beyond being a professional, is also someone who must sell the image of the place where he works, be it in a bar or in a bartending company for events.

The Bartender must be an expert in Cocktails and Mixology. You must know each cocktail and each drink, especially the most popular ones. In addition, you should know all the menu that is offered in your workspace and if possible, you should train better, taking an online or face-to-face course to acquire new techniques.

Why should the bartender know the basics of bartending?

This is essential. The bartender cannot lose sight of elements such as mixology, the cocktail bar, knowing what their functions are and the rules and policies of the bar where they work, among other important elements.

Do you need to study to be a really good bartender?

You do not necessarily have to study a course to be a bartender, in fact a lot of what a bartender learns is acquired in practice. However, it may not be a bad idea to take any of these courses since they can learn new modern techniques related to bartending.

All these six things are very important plus others like Good customer service, being patient, being a good communicator and being proactive, if you learn and put them in practice, you will be a great.