Bartending

Hands-on Bartending Versus Bartending Schools
By John J Freeman

Bartenders are in-demand nowadays. Basically because of their ability to bring in a lot of customers and a lot of profit. Bar owners are conducting extensive interviews in order to get the best bartenders in town. The best bartenders that possess a lot of entertainment skills will gain lots of extra customers. Especially the customers of the competitor. This is important to bartender owners, this is what bar owners are after... after all they want to become popular and profitable.

Also because of the increasing demand, a lot of bartending schools have come out lately. Most of them are offering promises such as learning the craft in a certain period of time. And some of them even claim that they are affiliated with the best bars and hotels.

But not all good bartenders studied from bartending schools. Some don't even have a college degree. What they have are lots of experience. So how can these two reconcile? Which is better? Which gives better performance and credentials?

Bartending schools usually have a fixed curriculum that decides on what, and to what extent the student should learn. Some may start from the basics. They may teach the students tons of recipes that they can prepare upon being employed in a bar. But what bartending schools don't teach is the on-site experience. Knowledge is important but bartending is not just about that. It's not just about learning a thousand recipes. Having an on-site experience will give a student a feel of what is happening on a real bar. How a bartender should respond on a certain situation. Those things cannot be learned in bartending schools. They may have drills or simulations but it's still far from what is happening in a real bar.

On the other hand, hands-on experience can be another venue to learn bartending. Most of the bartenders who learned from experience were not bartenders before. They could have been service crew members in the past or even a past customer. Having a hands-on experience can enhance a bartender's mechanical ability. Mechanical ability includes speed and accuracy. Besides the knowledge, this aspect is important. In hands-on bartending, a bartender learns the recipes one by one. Or he may develop his own recipe by experience. Unlike bartending schools, there is no fixed curriculum. A bartender learns the art on a daily basis.

Paying a lot for tuition fees in bartending schools won't guarantee a successful bartender. Same thing with having hands on bartending experience. Success depends on the person itself. Knowledge helps, and also experience but if a bartender doesn't have the heart for service, nothing will help much.

This article was written by John Freeman. Don't waste time by going to a Bartending School Learn to memorize hundreds of mixed drinks fast with the very unique mnemonic training system. Please visit http://www.BartenderAudio.com for more information.

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