Juggling bottles and setting cocktails alight—these are just a couple of the flare skills you can learn as a bartender.
Of course, becoming a bartender isn’t all fun and games. It also involves discipline, patience, and a lot of hard work. Not to mention a degree from an accredited bartending school!
If you want to learn how to become a bartender, this guide is for you. We’ll walk you through all the steps you need to take in order to start showing off your mixology skills and serving up tasty drinks.
Step One: Get Your High School Diploma or GED
Many people are under the misconception that you have to have a college degree in order to become a bartender. However, this isn’t the case. You actually only need your high school diploma or a GED in order to become a bartender.
What you do need to have, however, is the correct age. In most states, you’ve got to be at least 16 to serve alcohol. However, in some states, the minimum age is 18, while in others, they make sure no one is handling or working with alcohol if they’re under 21.
Step Two: Attend Bartending School
As with many other trades, while you don’t need to attend a four-year university in order to start working, you’ll still need some level of formal education. For bartenders, this means attending bartending school.
Bartending school teaches you the basics of mixology and can help you hone your flare skills. It also helps you understand how to start whipping up both common drinks as well as to start inventing beverages of your own.
Note: Bartending school isn’t a requirement everywhere, but there are bars and localities that won’t let you start bartending without having attended.
Step Three: Get Some Experience
Once you’ve finished bartending school, the next step is to start getting some experience under your belt. You can do this by landing yourself a bartending job, working as a barback, or even just starting out as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant.
Being a waiter or waitress can help you get experience being around the bar and can give you a chance to pick up a thing or two, even if you’re not officially bartending yet. On the other hand, barback positions are more directly related to bartending and can get you the experience you need to move your way up the ranks and start bartending.
Step Four: Practice, Practice, Practice
The last step to becoming a bartender is simply to practice. Practice makes perfect, and is what will ultimately help you hone your skills so that you can start crafting great cocktails and alcoholic beverages for your clients.
A couple of the skills you’ll need to work on as a bartender include:
- Communication skills
- Multitasking
- Teamwork
- Math
You’ll also need to get to know the different tools you’ll be using and learn phrases such as ‘neat,’ which are typically used by customers when ordering drinks. That way, you’ll be prepared to tackle any order that comes your way.
Land Your First Gig as a Bartender
Becoming a bartender is all about getting some experience working with the tools of the trade. Most people do this by going to bartending school, but there are others who just pick up the skill on the job.
Now that you know how to become a bartender, you’re ready to get to work yourself. Whether you choose to enroll in bartending school or you just find yourself a position as a barback and work your way up the ranks, I’m confident you’re ready to get out there and break into the industry.