Tag: bartending tip

Bartending Basics: A Complete Beginner’s Guide

Thomas Morrell

Thomas Morrell has spent over thirteen years in the restaurant and bar industry. He has worked as a busboy, dishwasher, server, host, cook, manager and most importantly as a bartender. Over the years many people have asked him how they can become a bartender too. This book is his answer. Inside you will find information covering: bartending tools and terminology, Thomas’ customer service philosophy, br, wine, distilled spirits, mixed drinks, how to maximize your tips, bartending working environments, bartending professionalism, responsible bartending, finding work as a bartender”

Bartending For Dummies

Ray Foley

This latest edition of Bartending For Dummies features over 1,000 drink recipes in an A-Z format with clear, easy-to-follow instructions.

This 4th Edition also provides:

• Detailed information on how to properly stock a bar
• Expanded coverage on making exotic frozen/blended specialties, specialty coffees, and hot toddies
• Tips on creating unique punches and even non-alcoholic drinks
• Helpful information about experimenting with the latest flavored rums and vodkas including apple, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, grape, mango, and watermelon
• Fun, new ways to garnish, rim, and serve drinks like a master mixologist
• The latest tips and advice on curing hangovers and hiccups
• Advice on choosing the right and latest glassware and mixers
• New recipes covering the hottest shooters such as After Five, Candy Corn, Jelly Bean, and more
• A new section on festive holiday cocktails such as the Grinch and Candy Cane Martini

Bartending 101: The Basics of Mixology

Harvard Student Agencies, Inc.

Do you know how to set up a full bar for that party you’re having? How much vermouth to use when your first guest requests a “dry martini on the rocks?” How to measure out a shot of alcohol using the three-count method?

You’ll find the answers to all of these questions and much more in this indispensable guide. Rather than teaching you recipes for drinks you’ve never heard of and will never have to make, the authors focus on the fundamentals of bartending–using the tools, learning the terminology and drink mnemonics, and setting up for a cocktail party. This book will transform the most ignorant imbiber into a sauce-slinger extraordinaire, ready to go out and bartend recreationally or professionally.

This guide includes:

• Basic bar setups, tools, and helpful techniques
• Hundreds of recipes for the most popular drinks and punches, from chocolate martinis to salty dogs
• New chapters featuring everything a bartender needs to know about beer and wine
• A new and improved guide to throwing a fabulous cocktail party
• Hints on finding a bartending job
• Diagrams, illustrations, and many useful tips throughout.

Until recently I was one of the most over-trained bartenders who had never really tended bar. I’ve passed BarSmarts and the full B.A.R., attended zillions of little classes at places like Tales of the Cocktail and Bourbon & Branch’s Beverage Academy, watched and reviewed about a dozen bartending DVDs, and even won an online cocktail contest or two.

Then a couple weeks ago I actually got behind a bar to work. It was a large private party and I was one of many San Francisco bartenders hired to work the gig. We didn’t have to take money, people weren’t eating at the bar, and we only had a few specialty cocktails of the night, so I know I got off pretty easy. That was good because I was nervous as all heck, but within minutes all that training actually kicked in and I did an okay job of it if I don’t say so myself. (And if any of the patrons disagree, they’re not here to argue.)

Here 23 Things You Did Not Know About Bartending Until You Tended Bar

1. Time flies. Writing is a long tortuous nightmare that takes all day, invades your dreams at night, and pays less than minimum wage. Bartending went by really quick and left me mentally alert if physically exhausted.
2. I’m not used to standing up for more than half an hour in a row. The entire next day my legs were sore.
3. When you’re busy, it’s kind of zen. You have to be so in-the-moment it’s really quite peaceful. Who needs yoga?
4. You can feel all of their thirsty, beady, greedy little eyes on you.
5. Most customers don’t remember who you are- they go back to the same spot at the bar and talk to the new bartender there as if he’s you.
6. It’s just as dirty and sticky as I thought, but I minded it less than I thought I would.
7. If you like the smell of good liquor, and I do, I do, every bottle you open is like a happy little memory.
8. It can be very hard to hear.
9. Some people watch every pour to make sure they’re getting their full amount of alcohol.
10. But it would still be easy to fool those people and put in less if you wanted to.
11. Drunk people are kind of cute, and also kind of annoying.
12. I never mind when bartenders grab straws and garnish with their fingers and stick them into drinks, but when I did it I felt guilty every single time. I think this is an area where even most high-end bars could use some improvement.
13. It made me really happy to make non-alcoholic drinks for people. My feelings toward non-alcoholic drinks have been well reported, but now I think maybe there should be more of them in the world.
14. The scariest part of the job is worrying if people have planned to get home safely without driving.
15. Paying attention to whether or not there are customers at the bar waiting for drinks seems to be the most important part of the job. I can no longer tolerate inattentive bartenders.
16. That said, patrons can just pop up out of nowhere.
17. I need to learn to do the nod that says, “I see you and will get to you just as soon as I finish this drink.”
18. They don’t teach you the recipe for a Long Island Iced Tea in fancy bartending classes, so I had to ask a co-bartender with practical experience to handle the request.
19. Driving to a busy bar, working for 12 hours, then driving home feels exactly like my early-1990’s existence: driving to a rave, dancing for 10 hours, and driving home.
20. Minor scrapes and bruises are part of the job.
21. I now understand why bartenders tend to remember a person’s drink and what they look like rather than their name. As I almost never have two of the same drinks in a row that must make it hard for some bartenders to recognize me.
22. I have never been in a bar anywhere close to that long without having a drink. It was surprisingly not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be.
23. It’s hard to not hate customers who stick their fingers in your garnish tray.