There is no one route to becoming a bartender. I can tell you what I look for and appreciate in a prospective hire, but it’s not universal among bar managers.
If you approach me for a job while claiming prior experience, I will ask you to make me a cocktail, and if you do an excellent job with the first one, I might ask you to make me a second. I will pay careful attention to whether you shake or stir and how you do it. I’m making judgments through every step you take.
When I hire a bartender, I look for someone who has a sense of professionalism. I’ve met and interviewed many bartenders who have years of experience and yet have no depth of knowledge of the craft. Most bars are not craft-oriented: sports, college-oriented nightclubs, small pubs, dive bars, etc. You can still be an outstanding bartender and work at such a place, but the mere fact that you’ve worked at any of these places doesn’t tell me you’re a great bartender.
If you approach me for a job while claiming prior experience, I will ask you to make me a cocktail, and if you do an excellent job with the first one, I might ask you to make me a second. I will pay careful attention to whether you shake or stir and how you do it. I’m making judgments through every step you take. How you garnish my old-fashioned is going to say a lot about what kind of bartender you are, and if you shake my martini, I’m going to have some questions. I’m ultimately not impressed by your resume but rather by your skills. Even so, your resume still gives me a lot of helpful information. For instance, it provides some insight into whether you might be good with people, if you conduct yourself with integrity, or even if you can hold a job.
Suppose you approach me with no professional experience but have an evident passion for mixology to the point that you’ve studied treatises on the topic, such as The Cocktail Codex by the crew at Death & Company or Imbibe by David Woodrich. In that case, I’m going to be more impressed with you than I am with most veteran bartenders.
I’ve worked with some excellent bartenders who attended a bartending school. However, there is no appreciable standard or credentialing for bartending schools–anybody could start one. Ultimately, I’m looking for skill, passion, and professionalism. Bartending school might be one means of acquiring and demonstrating those traits, but I can’t say it’s worth it; most bartenders have never attended formal training outside of an apprenticeship bar-backing.
If you don’t have any bartending experience, there are other traits I can appreciate. If you have culinary sensibility or experience in a related field, such as working in a coffee shop, then that is a plus. I like bartenders with a bit of creative flair because ours is clearly a creative profession, but professionalism is first and foremost. If your clothes reek of cigarette smoke at the interview, you’re a no-go. Look elsewhere if your clothes are not clean or your fingernails are long and dirt-packed.
So here are my recommendations for breaking into the field:
- Read up on the profession. What are the top craft cocktail books–the modern classics–this is something you should know. Who wrote the very first cocktail book? Don’t concern yourself so much with recipes; instead, focus on craft, history, and theory. I only say this because there are many discount recipe books out there. You need to understand craft, theory, and history to understand what makes a genuinely outstanding artisanal cocktail.
- Learn the essential classics: the daiquiri, the margarita, the old-fashioned, the martini, the flip, and the whiskey highball. Learn to make these and to make them with careful attention to detail and craft. These drinks serve as templates for numerous others. Once you have the basics down, along with the fundamental theory of cocktail composition, learning and memorizing new recipes becomes easy. I’ve taken this lesson from the book The Cocktail Codex.
- Develop a specialization. Bartending is more than cocktails, and there is always something to learn. Bartenders must know about various spirits, brands, beer, and wine. Find something that interests you and strive to learn as much as you can about that topic.
- Treat bartending like a profession rather than something easy and transient. Treat it with respect. There is so much to learn; you’ll never know it all–guaranteed!
- While I won’t endorse bartending schools per se, some online education platforms will help you acquire knowledge and demonstrate your commitment to the craft. BarSmarts is an excellent introductory online training program by Pernod Ricard that’s only $29.
- Once you’ve taken some initiative to be a serious student of the craft, prepare your resume, demonstrate your commitment to the craft, and highlight your customer service skills. Keep going even if you don’t immediately break into the field; continue to build your knowledge. If you continue your quest for excellence, you will be on your toward becoming a great bartender.