The Elixir of the Youth

Alternative Careers | July 28, 2010 | Share

In today’s times, there are innumerable services that an individual wants and needs, and therefore there are innumerable professions and careers for the youth to choose from. Gone are the days when only engineers and doctors were the most respected people in society. Gone are the days when a government job alone could assure a secure future. Today, sitting in front of a laptop and going through boring files all day long is not the only job that comes with good income.

Bartending is strictly not a career that a typical Indian parent would like to see their child choose. It is not a mainstream career. But bartending is an art and a very enjoyable job for those who are passionate about it.

Job profile and responsibilities:

To put it simply, a bartender is one who serves drinks at a nightclub or pub. Most people enjoy an alcoholic beverage at the end of a long and tiring day. Also, the variety and number of available drinks is so huge that people like to try new concoctions when it comes to alcohol. Every customer tends to have his own cocktail recipe and it is on the bartender to mix drinks and serve the cocktail just as the customer has asked. Mixing up such drinks and learning new recipes can be just as pleasurable as drinking them.

Bartenders also need to develop a relationship with their customers and understand each one of their tastes. Bartenders are always loved for how they can surprise their customers. Very often, a customer walks into the bar, and asks the bartender to surprise him with a drink. The bartender now gets an opportunity to use his own cocktail recipes to prepare the perfect drink for the customer.

It is the bartender’s responsibility to keep a check on his customers and make sure they don’t get too intoxicated. If he feels that a customer is inebriated and showing impaired judgment, he should stop serving alcohol to that customer and if required, even call a cab to get him home.

Often, people go to a bar after a bad day and want someone to listen to them. Bartenders should be patient listeners.

Bartending also involves entertaining customers besides serving them drinks. Flair bartending is the act of entertaining customers using bar tools and bottles while preparing a drink. It involves moving around cocktail shakers, glasses and bottles in a quick fashion – juggling, flipping and manipulating flaming liquor. Some flair bartenders even like to perform magic tricks with bar equipment.

Flair bartenders can make a boring party an exciting, buzzing one in no time at all! Flair bartending is another fun art to learn for bartenders. What makes it fun is that there is no perfect instruction manual on how to do it, and it is for the bartender to experiment and learn, and even come up with new tricks! In fact, there are several flair bartending competitions that take place around the world, some of the biggest being Roadhouse World Flair in London, and Skyy Global Flair Challenge in 14 different countries. The Skyy Challenge invites the most talented bartenders from five continents to battle it out and showcase their dazzling flair bartending tricks. It is one of the most prestigious titles for a bartender.

Courses

There is no recognized degree as such for bartending. Often, bartending is taught as a part of a hotel management course. What one really needs to know about bartending is what one learns with experience and not by studying. A bartender needs to know hundreds of completely different cocktail recipes. These are not memorized from a recipe book, but come with experience and experimentation. Similarly, knowing what glassware to use for what drink, and how to detect symptoms of intoxication in customers comes best with experience. So, a bartender need not have necessarily done a course in bartending or hotel management.

The best colleges in India to study hotel management are:

1. Oberoi Centre of Learning and Management, New Delhi
2. Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bangalore, Aurangabad and Ahmedabad
3. Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal
4. Christ College, Bangalore

The time duration of the course varies from institute to institute and could vary between 6 months to 3 years.

Salary:

Bartenders who have a hotel management degree to their name generally get paid more than those without the degree at the beginning of their careers. Those who can perform flair bartending get paid more than those who only know how to mix and serve drinks. Those with more experience get paid more than those who are just getting started in the profession.

Those working at big restaurants and hotels get paid more than those working in small pubs. The salary could be anything between Rs. 10,000 a month to Rs. 1,00,000 lakh or more depending on experience and skill. In addition to the salary, more than 80% customers leave a generous tip. On a busy night, a bartender could earn Rs.1000 or more from tips alone. On a relatively quiet night, a bartender may earn just Rs.200 or so.

Bartending is an interesting and challenging job. The best bartenders are those who are energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate about bartending.

Harshini Shanker