Basics To Becoming A Bartender

What exactly does it mean to be a bartender? A bartender is someone that serves beverages, and in some cases food behind a licensed bar. Bartenders can be found in any establishment that has a bar, such as bars, restaurants, night clubs, pubs and taverns.

Bartenders are professionals at serving drinks that contain alcohol in them, some examples are cocktails, shots, wine, beer, liqueur and coolers. But not only do they serve these drinks, they also serve a good amount of non alcoholic drinks such as soda, water and juices for those who choose not to drink, such as a designated driver.

Serving and making drinks are not the only responsibility of a professional bartender now. They are also in charge of making sure that there are plenty of clean glasses and mugs, plenty of ice in the cooler, and switching out kegs on the beer that is on draft. They can also be responsible for serving food if food is offered at the bar, which in most cases it usually is.

Almost anywhere you go the bartender will be expected to dress appropriate, this makes the whole atmosphere of the bar better. There are even some places where the bartender will be expected to be the main entertainment of the bar.

What makes a professional bartender is the ability to be able to make hundreds of shots and drinks right off the bat. A customer should not have to wait while you are searching in a recipe book for the ingredients on how to make a long island iced tea, you will lose customers that way and also lose your tip more than likely .

Another must from a bartender, especially you are working in a pub or tavern, will be your people skills. It is very important to interact with your customers. The better you try and serve your customers and interact with them, the more likely they are to return, and not only that the more money you will make overall.

There are some places where minors are allowed into the bar, so it is crucial that the bartender checks identification cards to ensure they are at the legal drinking age if someone tries to order a drink. If you think there is any chance that the person may be underage, it is always recommended to check for proper identification.

So there is much more to being a bartender than just serving alcohol as you can see. The most important thing you must do well is your people skills since the majority of bartenders work for tips. The better people skills you have the more money you will see coming in.