The qualities that make a good bartender are going to vary from establishment to establishment. For instance, someone with high-level flair skills may not be a great fit at a craft cocktail bar where there’s an emphasis on precision in measurements. Conversely, a craft bartender probably isn’t going to be happy working at a college nightclub where cheap liquors and mixers are the norm. There’s something to be said about being a good fit. With that said, there are some fairly universal qualities that make a good bartender.
Good bartenders have the following qualities:
People skills: Not all venues will require overly social or gregarious bartenders. But all bartenders should have excellent people skills. Customer service is first and foremost. Bartenders must be able to professionally represent their establishment with tact. Good bartenders can manage all different types of people and simultaneously balance the individual customer’s needs against the needs of the many when rush hour hits.
Money skills: Bartenders have to be competent in handling money and making change.
A good memory: To be efficient, bartenders must learn to memorize numerous recipes.
Organization skills: Bartenders have to keep their workstations and wells clean and organized to manage the workload. It’s hard to keep up with a busy work order when you can’t find your bar tools or they’re all dirty because you haven’t been keeping them clean and orderly as you work.
Integrity: a bad bartender can cost an establishment a lot of money. I once ordered a pour of Buffalo Trace at a bar and got a rock’s glass full of whiskey and it was served neat! Heavy pours like this can put a bar out of business. A good bartender understands they represent the establishment and will look after their employer’s interests.
Appearance: Personal attire is dictated by the dress code of the establishment but good bartenders have to be clean and well-groomed regardless.
These are the qualities of a good bartender. Great bartenders will have all these qualities but they are transcendent–top of their game. They are usually at the top because of their quest for knowledge and mastery. As they gain mastery, they become educators, trendsetters, and guardians of tradition.
These are the qualities of a good bartender. Great bartenders will have all these qualities but they are transcendent–top of their game. They are usually at the top because of their quest for knowledge and mastery. As they gain mastery, they become educators, trendsetters, and guardians of tradition.
Great bartenders have the following qualities:
Constant quest for improvement and knowledge: It amazes me the number of bartenders I’ve known who have put emphasis on becoming bar leads or managers OVER self-mastery of the craft. Great bartenders are always seeking improvement through knowledge and practice. The craft cocktail revival of the 21st century was brought on by a cadre of bartenders who thoroughly studied the pre-prohibition cocktail books in a quest to make the ultimate classics. A good bartender doesn’t necessarily need to know the history of the cocktail, but a great bartender will strive to know it because that is precisely what forms the rubric for their craft. There are dozens of recipe books dating from pre-prohibition to study from. In addition, there are new trendsetters and “modern classics” to follow. And then there is the constant influx of fine spirits to learn and know. Great bartenders never cease in their quest for learning. If you’re a great bartender then you’ll get recognition and opportunities for leadership without asking for it.
Culinary sensibilities: great bartenders also tend to be great mixologists BUT being a mixologist is not required and not all great bartenders would consider themselves to be mixologists. The latter still has to be able to balance the classics and the recipes of their establishment. There’s a misconception that the recipes for classic cocktails are static. A review of craft cocktail recipe books will quickly debunk this myth. The classics have numerous subtle variations. What’s important is the balance of ingredients. A choice of one gin over another may entirely dictate that ¾ of an ounce, instead of 1 oz, of Campari be used in that negroni.
Theory of the craft: in many ways, this goes with culinary sensibility and in some ways applies more to the mixologist than the bartender but I’m going to include it here anyway. There is a theory behind cocktails and mixology. Of the thousands of cocktails, most can be reduced to a handful of categories that follow a template of ratios that are then adjusted to balance the specific ingredients. A great bartender needs to have an intuitive, if not formal, understanding of the culinary theory underlying the balance of a cocktail.
Personable: I struggle to include this because it ultimately stems from the fact that great bartenders strive for mastery and knowledge, which is already our #1 quality for a great bartender. Great bartenders have great people skills but they are also personable because of their depth of knowledge. Great bartenders are not simply good storytellers or entertainers, they are experts, and therefore they are educators.
Respect for the profession: as a general manager I eschew the idea that I can hire someone with the right attitude and mint them into a bartender after a week or two of training. That said, I do enjoy hiring inexperienced trainees but I’m looking for someone that understands that to be a master they have to put in a lot. I’m most impressed by young bartenders who have thoroughly studied the modern classic texts of our trade. I recognize that not everybody is a literary person but those who rely on their apprenticeship barbacking are at a disadvantage of having to take everything they’re taught at face value without fact-checking their own reference library. Some of the most respected craft bars on the scene have recommended reading lists for their barbacks and barbacks only advance by demonstrating that they have actively studied these texts. Great bartenders treat their craft as a profession, which entails there is much to learn and to master.