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Would you like to learn how to become a bartender? If you want to become a bartender, then you will need various skills. While some choose to learn these skills in a special course, this is not necessary. Learn the basics of what it takes to become a bartender by reading this article.
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Bartender Tips
- The age requirement for bartenders is set by each state, and varies from 18 to 21.
- You do not need to attend a school or become licensed to become a bartender.
- Become familiar with types of glasses and garnishes used.
- You should become familiar with the most requested drinks.
- Bartending is more than pouring and mixing drinks.
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How to Become a Bartender
This video presents a night club manager discussing what's needed to become a successful bartender. In order to become a bartender, you need to learn how to make drinks. You can lean through books, classes, or just by observing. You also need to have good communication and people skills in order to deal with the public. The National Liquor Beverage Association offers certification for bartenders.
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Introduction
- Anyone who has ever seen the movie Cocktail has probably imagined becoming a bartender. In reality, bartenders are part salesman, part chemists and part counselors. Although the job varies depending on the type of bar you work in, there are some skills that every bartender needs to know.
- You may be wondering if you should enroll in a bartending course. While a good course can help you gain some of the skills listed here, they are not required to become a bartender.About.com: Professional Bartending Courses It is up for you to decide if a bartending school is something you want to invest in.
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Requirements
- In order to be a bartender, you must be at least 18. However, some states require bartenders to be older. Depending on the state you may need to be 19, 20, or even 21.Professional Server Certification Corporation: Bartending License States may also require bartenders to obtain special certification, often referred to as a Responsible Serving Course or Alcohol Seller and Server Certification.Articles.DirectoryM.net: The 3 Biggest Lies of Bartending This is not obtained by going to a school for bartending but through a special class.
- For information on various state requirements for bartenders, check out:
- TiPS: State Information
- Professional Server Certification Corporation: Bartending License
- For information on online certification classes, check out:
- Learn2Serve.com: Online Alcohol Seller and Server Certification
- Professional Server Certification Corporation: Responsible Serving Course
- TiPS: Get Training
Become Familiar with the Tools of the Trade
- While you may want to become familiar with some of the other barware and bartending equipment that are part of a bar, your first concern should be some of the more popular items necessary for making drinks.Miss Charming.com: Barware Good Cocktails: Bartending Equipment / Bartending Tools This includes types of glasses and garnishes.
Types of Glasses
- Highball: Tall glasses used for cocktails with ice such as Long Island ice teas, Tom Collins, Madras and screwdrivers.AskMen.com: How To: Be a Bartender
- Old Fashioned or Tumbler: Short glasses, also known as tumblers, used for many "on the rocks" drinks such as black Russians.AskMen.com: How To: Be a Bartender
- Cocktail or Martini: A Y-shaped glass that is primarily used for martinis and generally chilled beforehand.Good Cocktails: Bar Glassware
- Wine: Two types of wine glasses exist, red and white. Red wine glasses have a wider bowl than white wine glasses.Good Cocktails: Bar Glassware
- Champagne: Tall and narrow glasses used for champagne and some other drinks such as chiquitas.AskMen.com: How To: Be a Bartender
- Beer: This mug is used for beer and beer-based cocktails as well as many frozen and coffee-based cocktails.Bartender's Guide to The Galaxy: Bartender's Glassware
Garnishes
- Garnishes might seem like they only add to the appearance of a drink, but by definition a garnish is something that adds to the flavor as well. If something is placed only for appearance, it is technically called "garbage."DrinkStreet.com: Tending Bar: Garnishes and Garbage Here are some of the more common items that are used for both:
- Celery: Celery stalks are use in Bloody Marys.DrinkStreet.com: Tending Bar: Garnishes and Garbage
- Maraschino Cherries: Maraschino cherries are used whole in drinks that contain grenadine, Collins mix and some other mixed drinks.Good Cocktails: Cocktail Garnishes
- Lemons: Lemons may be cut into wedges, wheels, quarters, zests, twists or spirals.Miss Charming.com: Garnish Page It is used in alcoholic teas and lemonades.Good Cocktails: Cocktail Garnishes
- Limes: Limes may be cut into wedges or wheels.Miss Charming.com: Garnish Page They are used with drinks that have lemon-lime soda, lime juice and some drinks that have sweet and sour mix.Good Cocktails: Cocktail Garnishes
- Olives: Olives are used whole in most martini drinks.Miss Charming.com: Garnish Page
- Oranges: Oranges are cut in half-wheels and quarter-wheels. They are used any time you use Collins mix or orange ingredients.
- Whipped Cream: Whipped cream is used for many hot drinks and some frozen ones such as daiquiris and mudslides.Good Cocktails: Cocktail Garnishes
Other Garnishes for Drinks Bartending Techniques
- Beyond the equipment, you will also need to understand how to mix different drinks. Here are a few of the more common techniques and terms that a bartender needs to understand:
- Blending: Using a blender to mix the drink. You typically add frozen items first and then liquids.DrinkStreet.com: Tending Bar: How to Mix Drinks
- Coating a Rim or Rimming: When you need to coat a glass around the rim with either salt or sugar, you start by moistening the outside edge of the rim with a piece of fruit.Miss Charming.com: Bar Lingo Page Then, dip the edge into the salt or sugar.Good Cocktails: Bartending Techniques - Coating the Rim of a Glass
- Dirty: Indicates a martini made with olive juice.Good Cocktails: How to Order Mixed Drinks - Dirty
- Dry: A martini made with dry vermouthGood Cocktails: How to Order Mixed Drinks - Dry
- Muddling: Smashing or crushing an ingredient against the sides of the glass using either a muddler or a bar spoon with an attached muddler.The Webtender Handbook: Bar Terms
- Neat: Alcohol served in an old-fashioned glass without ice.Good Cocktails: How to Order Mixed Drinks - Neat
- Pouring: Pouring alcohol at a rate that you can count to estimate how much has been poured.Bartender's Guide to The Galaxy: Learning To Pour
- Shaking: Pouring the ingredients into a shaker tin and shaking them.Miss Charming.com: Bar Lingo Page Cocktails are shaken when they contain fruit juices, sour mix, egg, dairy products and other thick or flavorful ingredients.About.com: When to Shake and When to Stir Cocktails
- Stirring: To mix a drink with a straw about 10 to 15 times.The Webtender Handbook: Bar Terms Stirring is done with carbonated drinks as well as with most gin and whiskey cocktails because shaking is believed to "bruise" the spirit.About.com: When to Shake and When to Stir Cocktails
- Straining: Pouring only the liquid, and not the ice, into a glass after a drink has been mixed. Good Cocktails: Bartending Techniques - Straining
- Straight up: To chill the drink into a mixing glass with ice before straining and serving.Bartender's Guide to The Galaxy: How Drinks Are Made
- With a Twist: To add a twist, such as a twist of lemon.Good Cocktails: How to Order Mixed Drinks - With a Twist
Drinks Bartenders Should Know
- While it might be impossible to learn all the possible drinks, there are some basic ones that every bartender should learn. To start, you should learn these basic drink recipes. These cocktails can be made with a variety of different alcohols, which will give them their full name.The Webtender: General Drink Recipes For example, a wine spritzer is the spritzer recipe made with wine.
- Alexander: Shake together 2 ounces of liquor, 2 ounces of white or dark creme de cacao, 2 ounces of light cream. Strain into a highball glass. An example would be a Brandy Alexander.
- Collins or Sling: Shake together 1-1/2 ounces of liquor and 3 ounces sour mix. Strain into a Collins glass and top with 1 ounce of club soda. Add appropriate garnish. Examples include the Singapore Sling and the Tom Collins.
- Cooler: Pour 1-1/2 ounces of liquor into a highball glass and fill with ginger ale. Top off with a lemon wedge. An example would be an Apple Brandy cooler or a Gin Cooler.
- Daiquiri: Blend together 4 parts light rum, 1 part white creme de cacao, 1 part fruit liqueur and fresh fruit. Serve in an exotic glass with a straw. Examples include the Strawberry Daiquiri and the Banana Daiquiri.
- Highball: Pour 1-1/2 ounces of liquor into a highball glass and fill with ginger ale. An example would be a whiskey highball.
- Rickey: Pour 1-1/2 ounces of liquor into a highball glass and fill with club soda. Top off with a lime wedge. Examples include the Gin Rickey and the Whiskey Rickey.
- Sour: Shake together 1-1/2 ounces of liquor and 3 ounces sour mix. Strain into a lowball glass with ice or serve straight in a sour glass. Top off with a cherry and an orange slice. Examples include Amaretto Sours and Whiskey Sours.
- Spritzer: Fill a highball glass with 1-1/2 ounces of liquor. Then, add club soda. An example would be a Wine Spritzer.
- Once you have learned those drinks, you will want to learn some of the more popular drinks. These include:
Drink Recipe Sites
- Here are a few of the best sites on the Internet to learn additional drink recipes:
- DrinkStreet.com: Drink Menu
- About.com: Popular Drinks Every Bartender Should Know
- Miss Charming.com: Drinks that Bartenders Should Know
- Good Cocktails: Mixed Drink Recipes, Martini Recipes, Shots, Coffee Drinks and Non-Alcoholic Drink Recipes
- Bartenders' Guide To The Galaxy: Home Page
Learn the Skills of the Trade
- Being a bartender is not all about mixing drinks. There are some other skills you need as well if you want to be successful. Some things you should also know how to do or characteristics you should have include:
- Up sell a customer.Nochelatina.com: How to Become a Bartender Up selling is when you get a customer to order a larger drink or add on an appetizer or similar item to their order.
- Be able to memorize drinks and orders.Miss Charming.com: How to Become a Bartender
- Have good people skills.Miss Charming.com: How to Become a Bartender
- Be neat, clean and well-groomed.Miss Charming.com: How to Become a Bartender
- Have basic math skills and be able to handle money.Miss Charming.com: How to Become a Bartender
- Make conversation with customers.AskMen.com: How To: Be a Bartender, p.2
- Flirt with customers.AskMen.com: How To: Be a Bartender, p.3
- Anticipate customers' needs.AskMen.com: How To: Be a Bartender, p.3
- Tell Jokes.AskMen.com: How To: Be a Bartender, p.3
Conclusion
- Becoming a bartender can be a great way to earn money. For the right people, bartending is a rewarding and fulfilling career, just make sure you are one of these people before you invest too much time and money on pursuing this goal. However, like any other job, it has its pros and cons. Just make sure you understand them all before you make any long-term decisions.
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