I wouldn't worry too much about what the popular drinks were. First, what the
younger people drink in those clubs never stays the same. Second, people
don't know the real names for drinks a lot of the time and resort to vulgar
terms to describe a very old and respectable shot. You can debate if this is
a good thing or a bad thing all you want too but it simply *is*, and as a
bartender you just have to determine what people want. So, if someone comes
up to you and says "I want a 'spank that ass', (which is a drink by the way),
your reply would be "Sure, just tell me what's in it". If they can't tell
you, ask them to find out. Let's face it, your there to entertain them but if
they don't really know what they want no amount of bartending school is going
to help you determine that.
Experience and exposure would be more beneficial to anyone in a hands on
atmosphere. If you want to know what people are drinking in Vancouver, go out
to the popular bars downtown and sit as a patron up at the bar. Don't be
there to get hammered, be there to learn, watch and listen. You may get a
chance to ask the bartender on duty if he has a minute to converse (which all
bartenders should by the way).
What people drink in one area, isn't always what their drinking in another.
> I'll try to keep this short. I have been working as a bartender at a
> restaurant for about 6 months now, but I would like to work in a club
> because the money is better.
>
> I did not go to bartending school, I was "trained" by my restaurant.
> Sadly this training did not actually include how to mix drinks
> (mostly just how to clean). I just need to know what's popular in Vancouver,
> Canada. So I'm just wondering how those of you who have worked a night club
> learned what you needed to learn. Did you have to go to bartending
> school? did you just try to learn as many as you possibly could
> before starting? did you just learn them as they were requested? is
> it acceptable to tell people that you cannot make what they want, but
> that you can make them something you think they'd enjoy as much?