A bartender is the person behind a bar in a pub, tavern, inn, bar, or restaurant that serves alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. Their job is to mix and serve cocktails, beer, wine,shots, and other alcoholic beverages to the bar's clientele. In regions where tipping is the norm, bartenders receive a low base wage and earn most of their money through tips.
In the United States Bartenders are frequently considered the aristocracy of the working class, revered by the blue collar worker. There is a mythos about the trade; the abilities of a bartender are expected to go far beyond the obvious drink making and food serving. Bartenders (Barkeeps, drinkslingers or simply: "tenders") provide solace to the downtrodden drinking man, company for the lonely, entertainment for the bored and useful information to visitors. For example a bartender might be called upon to recommend a restaurant for dinner, a theater for a show, the day's sports scores, the marital status of women lounging in the bar area, as well as a wide breadth of general trivia regarding stocks, cars, wine, sports, politics and history.
In some states within the USA, you may need to become certified before taking a bartending job. This is not true in all states, but it is best to learn the laws concerning your area. There are stiff penalties, fines and even jail time if you get caught serving alcohol to a minor. Also, there are thousands of drinks to learn. In some regions a drink may go by different names than in other regions. So, learning what your locals call a popular drink is the key. Also, keeping up with new drinks takes a person with a really superior memory.
See also
- Mickey Finn
- Flair Bartending
- Barback
- Moe Szyslak
External links
- The Bartending School - Bartending School in Little Rock, AR
- Cookbookwiki.com - Cocktails - A list of popular drinks from around the world.
- Bartenders - estimates of U.S. employment and earnings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
- Food and Beverage Serving and Related Workers - from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Drink Jockey - Mixed Drink Recipes - Thousands of drink recipes and mixing instructions
- Webtender - A database of Drink recipies in which you can put up a list of ingredients and only get the drinks that use just those ingredients.
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