Career Start or Hobby Interest – Start With a Bartending Course
It’s the age of the cocktail! Learning to become a cocktail bartender and mixologist is on the rise. And it’s no surprise! Moving forward from the recent pandemic the world continues to transform.
Today, nearly half (47 percent) of cocktail drinkers say they are interested in exploring the art of mixology, according to CGA, global food and drink research consultancy.
The prospects for bartending as a professional career are on the up too. Employment is forecast to grow by almost one-fifth (18 percent) over the next ten years. More than 105,000 annual job opportunities, on average, are predicted according to recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In sunny Cyprus, of course, and across the Mediterranean and beyond, the skills of a fully trained bartender are always in demand. Graduate bartenders, with their favourite shakers, jiggers and muddlers are seen in every type of event venue across Europe and the US.
So what type of person would be drawn to the heady nightlife world of cocktail bartending? If you’re reading this, you may already have more than a passing interest!
Cocktail Bartending – whether as a hobby or career move
It’s a little known secret that so many men and women take up cocktail bartending!
Young students may start straightaway after leaving school. It’s certainly also true that many bartenders are often students or young people with a day job.
For cocktail lovers, it’s already a “shoe-in”. Many often turn their recreational interest into a part-time hobby. It can often be the case that someone is looking for a career change. They see the profession as a perfect way to learn exciting new skills, and travel the world. Every bar tending job can find you mixing your favourite ingredients for excited customers at a new location.
Understanding how and why ingredients work with each other
Of course, learning to bartend is more than remembering how to prepare exotic drinks. Or the technical ability to mix, match and balance flavours. The art of the cocktail and creative mixology involves in-depth knowledge and real understanding into how and why ingredients work with each other.
The bartender needs to be an artist too. Both in method and presentation, because you will also need to learn to be both a show person as well as a team player.
Mastering customer-facing skills
There simply is a wealth of sophisticated customer-facing skills that need to be mastered. A huge part of bartending is your engagement with the customer.
As well as a trained eye for mixing ingredients you will also need to have a sympathetic ear! You will need to listen and respond to all manner of customer requests.
An online bartending course can offer more than a dive into the basics.
Trying out all the big cocktail classics
A bartender needs to know all the ingredients used, their origins, including spirits, and how they are made and can be transformed. Then there is understanding everything about how the bar mixing equipment is to be properly used.
A big excitement is getting to grips with all the various mixing techniques, and trying out the recipes of the big cocktail classics. How about trying to improvise your own version of a well-known cocktail, like a Margarita?
It’s also an opportunity to go on to complete your professional education. The fully trained and skilled bartender has always sought after. But major establishments and venues will want to be sure of a bartender’s skills by asking for proof of qualifications and past references.
Key to opening career doors in the hospitality
There was a time when aspiring bartenders would simply learn their trade and further their career “ on the job”. Today, the route to bartending success will need to start with on a formal training course. Your qualified certification can be the key to opening doors to a full career in hospitality.
It also lays down a firm foundation that can enable a bartender to climb steadily on their chosen career ladder. Whether at a large or prestigious hospitality venue or in a personal capacity, to become a head bartender, mixologist or into management.
There are many demands made of today’s professional bartender. Yes, it’s still true that experience is a great teacher. But without the basic groundsheet of knowledge laid down at the outset by formal bartending tuition, it can be difficult to make initial progress or, at a later stage, when competing for a position.
See yourself mixing smooth Mojitos in 5-star venues? Set your career on a firm footing Check out our full range of online bartending courses now!