Bartending goes beyond serving and mixing drinks, it is an art that needs to be mastered, and every rule is duly followed to obtain perfection. Apart from the numerous bottle stunts to excite or fascinate customers, giving your staff members the right training is important. This is because it plays an important role in helping you maintain your customers and aid in making their experience a better one. A good bartender should have ample knowledge about all the kinds of drinks being sold, how to preserve them, and what they are best mixed with. It is essential for professional bartenders to know their craft and execute it properly.
What Should Every Bartender Know?
Bartending is a widespread profession with varying skills levels and requirements depending on the quality of the bar that is services. Nonetheless, there are many fundamental skills that a bartender should know to serve drinks to his customers more effectively. Some of these include:
Good Customer Service Skill
This is a very important tip for all bartenders. A good bartender should keep and maintain a safe atmosphere for themselves, guests, co-workers, and the establishment. This can be achieved by always being alert and conscious of their environment. Good time management skill is a necessity for every bartender. It ensures your customers do not get to wait too long for their drinks because they will be very unhappy. Another step towards having good customer service skills is ensuring you have every drink on your menu and are capable of making every mixture. Front Vodka’s, Rockfall spiced rum, whiskeys, long islands, among a host of others. It would also be nice to serve non-alcoholic beverages and mixtures for customers who do not drink alcohol.
Maintain Cleanliness
Cleanliness is very important. Generally speaking, no one will want to drink from a dirty-looking bar or an unhygienic bartender. It is also important for bartenders to handle glasses from the bottom and avoid touching the top of the glass. A professional bartender should never put their hands or fingers near or on the tip of the glass’ rim. It is extremely unhygienic. No customer wants to fill like “germ-filled” fingers were placed where they plan to put their lips. Even if you maintain a healthy handwashing habit, it is almost too certain that you will be carrying bacteria around. For this reason, you should endeavor to handle glassware by the stems, handles, or the bottom of the glass.
Know Every Drink And What It Entails
In every bar, six types of distilled liquor are mostly present. These are referred to as base distilled spirits. They are the basic foundation for many drinks mixed with alcohol. They are also actively used in producing many alcoholic beverages and even beers in some cases. Each type of these distilled spirits has its basic components and characteristics. There are a lot of brands that produce these in different forms and variations. They include:
Brandy
This is gotten from distilled fruits. Grapes are the most common source of it. Its name was derived from the Dutch word brandewijn, which means “burnt wine.”
Gin
Gin’s most common source is distilled grains. It also includes flavorings gotten from botanicals. Most producers tend to opt for juniper as it has proven to be a trademark flavor.
Rum
If you have a sweet tooth, this is certainly your best bet. Gotten from distilled sugar or molasses, rum could be said to be the sweetest liquor that is produced throughout the world.
Tequila
Having its production roots in Mexico, tequila is derived from the agave plant. This drink also has a very distinct earthy flavor.
Vodka
This has to be the most common and most used liquor. Vodka can be derived from many ingredients, although grains and potatoes tend to be the most common sources.
Whiskey
This has to be the most complex of them all as it comes with a variety of styles, all of them tend to begin with a distillate of fermented grains, but different brands use different methods and techniques. Whiskies tend to be better and more expensive the longer they stay; hence, they are almost always aged.
It is important to have basic bartending knowledge like this, among other things, so that you can know what is okay to mix and what to avoid, and also answer unending questions that may come from curious and paranoid customers who are scared or wary of trying out new things. As earlier stated, bartending is an art that takes time to master. The longer you work, the better you become at it. However, whether you’re an amateur bartender or a grandmaster, it is important to know the tips listed in this article and abide by them.