Bartending School Is Just The Beginning
Every bartending school in the world will teach you to mix drinks, pour shots, and make wine and beer pairings. But what about the rest of the skills a bartender really needs? This post will show you some of the best ways to take your bartending skills from good to great with some helpful tips, tricks, and knowledge that can be applied at any level. As a bartender myself, I have been able to learn from my experiences, from others, and from the internet!
How To Fix The Most Common Bartending Mistakes
There are a few big mistakes that can be made in the bar that I see happen all the time. These mistakes can be easily avoided if you are aware of them. I will show you how to fix these common mistakes without even having to go back to bartending school!
Lets start off with one of the biggest problems customers come across when they order a cocktail: how to correctly specify how you want your liquor poured.
If you order a whiskey drink, you should specify if you want it on the rocks or straight up. If it's on the rocks, don't say "no ice". You should say "on the rocks" or "with ice".
If you want your drink with no liquor in it at all, then specify that when ordering. For instance if I asked for a martini and didn't specify how I wanted it, I could either end up with one very strong martini (3 parts vermouth to 1 part gin) or a very weak one (7 parts vermouth to 1 part gin). If you know what your order should be and you don't get it when they make your drink, ask the bartender to fix them. You may have to show them what it should look like (such as a jigger or shot glass with the correct amount) or know enough about mixology to know how much you should be getting (parts-to-parts, ounces, etc).
If you want a drink but don't know what it is, ask the bartender. If they are busy, then respectfully keep asking every couple of minutes until they get a chance to help you. A lot of times you will have to describe the ingredients so that they can make something up for you since there is no drink exactly like it in the top 40 list. Best case scenario, your bartender knows a very similar cocktail and can make one up for you. Worst case scenario, they have no idea what you're talking about and take you off to the back of the bar to discuss it with someone else.
Always ask for a shot glass or jigger before ordering a drink. Chances are if you are making a drink for yourself that requires measuring, you'll need one. Why? Because no bartender will ever ask how many shots (and quarters) can I get please? Many bartenders do this because they think most customers want just one shot. This is not always true! A lot of customers will want two or even three shots in their shots, but never mention it when ordering or paying and then complain about how strong it is. It's best to just ask for a jigger or shot glass and then pour it yourself.
Don't ask for a "Long Island" if you want a Long Island Iced Tea. There is no such thing! If you want a Long Island Iced Tea, order one or it may come out looking like this:
There is a reason every bar in the world has only one type of long island drink on their top 40 list, yet two different types of long islands are always on the specials lists. The ingredients in the two drinks are completely different! The regular Long Island drink has vodka, gin, rum, triple sec, light rum and cola and the special long island has Vodka, Rum & Cola. Asking for a long island will get you either drink, depending on if your bartender knows what you mean. The correct way is to specify that you want the special long island, which means the recipe above! Here is an example of a bar top where I have changed this drink to what it should be:
One more mistake that can be made as a customer, and one not as easily caught by bartenders. This one is simple to fix however!
If anyone asks for an Irish Car Bomb please explain to them that this is NOT how you drink Guinness (it probably doesn't even qualify as Guinness). If I were the bartender and someone ordered one of these without knowing better I would go ahead and make one anyway. I can only assume they didn't actually know what they were ordering, which is why I would put it in a pint glass and not a shot glass.
An Irish Car Bomb is made by dropping a shot of irish cream into Guinness and then chugging the whole thing. It will not taste good, nor will it taste like Guinness!
The correct way is to order a proper Guinness pour. Instead of dropping your shot into the beer, drop your shot into an empty pint glass. Then fill that up with Guiness and top it with a little half and half or milk.
If you notice a customer is having a hard time understanding you, or not taking your order seriously, don't be afraid to ask them if they are drunk! Bring it up as a joke if you want, and if they get offended, oh well. If they say yes, then make their drink stronger than normal or notice their other friends picking up on things that are getting blurry around the edges. Bartenders pay attention to everything that happens in the bar and they can usually tell when someone has had too much!
If someone forgets how to make something don't be embarrassed about pointing it out. This is your job as a customer to educate us on how drinks should be made. We're just a bartender, we can't expect you to know everything!
Now that you know the basics, here are some definitely not-basic cocktails that I have all over my bar top! These are great if you want to order something new and interesting or just want something different than your usual. Remember that many of these cocktails got their names because it's usually not a drink you mix together but just happen to make as an ingredient. If you are ordering a drink and it doesn't have a name, then just order it as you normally would.
If you want to learn more about cocktails and what each ingredient does, then I suggest you pick up one of these great books! They are all available on Amazon . The only prerequisite is to be able to read the English alphabet (I'm just kidding, but if that's not a requirement for you then drop those books in the nearest garbage fire!).
Conclusion
Crafting cocktails at home is a fun and enjoyable hobby, but if you want to build your repertoire and impress guests you will need to know some techniques. Make sure to always ask questions if you don't know something or have any doubts or questions about what you're doing. If we see that you're struggling with anything, we're happy to help!
Also, please take a moment to leave a comment below letting me know what you think about this blog! Any feedback is appreciated!
Thanks for reading! Hope this was useful. I will be writing more soon, so please stay tuned for more blog posts on the topic of bartending!
-Joey ♥♥♥♥♥
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