What skills do you have to have in order to be a bartender?

Question

drinks alot but doesn't know alot of drink mixes..like cocktails n stuff. do u learn this stuff in bartending school?

what else do you have to be equipped with to be a bartender and how long will it take to be trained?

Answer 1

first of all you can take the $400 you'd spend on bartending school and throw it in the garbage. The only upside to school is that most of them have a job placement program. The best way to learn bartending is to start out serving so u can get a feel for dealing with people and get familiar with basic drinks. Plus, its way easier to get a serving job with no experience then a bar job. You could also bar back for a while too. 90% of bartending is entertaining your guest, 5% is making killer drinks and  the other 5% is speed. That all cones along with experience and to be a middle of the road bartender it should take you roughly  a year of behind the bar experience. Getting familiar with drinks is hands-on learning, you can look at a recipe book all day and you will never remember all those drinks when it comes down to making them in an actual bar setting. If you need any more advice, hit me up

Answer 2

people skills, hospitality, counciler.. and what the others said.

Answer 3

I was a bar tender for 5yrs and I was trained on the job as well as doing courses. The course I did was a 6 month hospitality course in where I learnt bar skills like getting the bar prepared for the day/night, wine, spirits, beer, mixing drinks, cocktails, cleaning the bar as well as being a drinks waiter and food waiter. I found being trained on the job the most helpful but I was lucky enough to be employed by someone who was willing to train me.

I feel to be a good bartender you have to be friendly and  efficient.