Day 3
We started like the other days: setting up the bar. It sounds like a simple
thing to do, and it is, but I’m glad Dan had us do it every day. I hadn’t
worked in food service since HS (flipping burgers) and repetition of the
routine of daily set-up and tear down helped me feel more prepared for my
first job. After set-up, Dan quizzed us on previous drinks by getting us
behind the bar and randomly calling out drinks. We did okay, but he did need
to remind most of us on types of glasses. Then, he demonstrated juice drinks,
sours, collins, and several wine drinks. I never felt bored watching Dan make
the drinks. I approached this part of the class with the attitude that okay,
here’s a model of how to pour, mix, etc. and I’m going to try to copy it. At
least until I develop my own style. As I pointed out before, our class was
structured so that half made drinks while the other half watched. If I had to
sit and watch 2/3 of the time, I may have felt different, but I felt I learned
from watching other students, too. Tonight, we also started to free pour- no
more jiggers! Again, with practice it was easier than I thought it would be.
Day 4
After setting up the bar, Dan gave us an oral comprehensive review. Wow- had
we really learned this many drinks! He had his camera and asked if we minded
if he took pics. We started with cream drinks and moved on to hot drinks and
then tropicals. Ugh. These were the hardest of all. How could I ever remember
the mai tai or zombie recipe for Saturday’s test? Most everyone in the class
had to "cheat" and peak at our notes to make them. Remembering planters punch
as a dark rum stone sour with grenadine helped a little, but for the most part
no one remembered these recipes. I suppose if I worked in a place that made a
lot of these drinks I’d get it sooner or later, but for now, I struggled along
with the rest of the class. The cream drinks were fun to mix and easy to
remember. Tonight, we also did some speed drills. Dan would put one of us
behind the bar and bark out 4 or 5 different mixed drinks. He chose drinks
that had common primary or secondary liquors so that we could see how to speed
up the mixing. He had me mix a scotch and water, rusty nail, tequila sunrise,
and a brave bull. Most of us did quite poorly the first time. Once we thought
about the drinks in terms of combinations of similar ingredients however, our
speed increased dramatically.
Day 5
This was the last day of my class before the test. As always, we met from 6:30
- 9:30 PM. Our "bar" had two complete mixing stations. Each station had well
bottles of vodka, rum, tequila, gin, whiskey, and scotch. We had the following
mixes: sweet and sour, lime juice, cream, grapefruit juice, OJ, tomato juice,
and cranberry juice. We also used a soda gun. I learned quickly the value of
memorizing the order of the well liquors so that I didn’t need to look for
labels. The shelf behind us held other liquors- a large assortment. We never
changed CO2 tanks or kegs. When three of us worked behind the bar it did get a
bit crowded. Since we were usually mixing the same drinks, teamwork was
important, too. Given our set-up, a class much larger than 6 students would
have been difficult.
Tonight, we learned a bunch of different shooters. As I compared the recipes
we used with those posted here on the webtender and elsewhere, I noticed so
many differences that I became concerned. What if the customer doesn’t like
"my" recipe? How do I know which is the standard? Does it matter? Dan told us
that with some drinks, it seems like they’re mixed differently nearly
everywhere you go. He mentioned sex on the beach as one example.
Day 6
We met on Saturday for our final exams. We met at 10 AM and started with the
classics. They seemed incredibly easy by this point! Dan tested us two at a
time (behind the bar) and 1 drink at a time. It took a while to get through
the drinks he thought we needed to know. We had a lunch break and then
finished up around 3 PM. Everyone "graduated." He could only recall one
instance of a student failing- he said that particular student always wanted
to put Kahlua in everything! He offered her an opportunity to take the class
again, for free, but she never came back. Most of my class had the drinks down
pat. One student had some trouble with more than half or so of the drinks, but
she was able to make them all, albeit slower than the rest.
CONCLUSION
I did a search on webtender and I think I read most of the posts about
schools. I agree that working experience in a bar is at least equal to and
probably the best way to learn bartending skills. However, for someone who
does not want to start out that way, I found the class a great help. It taught
skills in an organized manner and in a way which encouraged questions. My
experience did not teach me anything that would add much to the debate about
whether to attend school or not, but I know that for me, it was a good choice.
Overall, I would recommend this class to most prospective bartenders. The
class helped me with my confidence and general knowledge of mixing. At this
point in my life, I’m not prepared to quit my day job or work as a barback or
server for 6 months. I want to get behind the bar. Although the class was not
a substitute for real world experience (Dan emphasized this point) I feel that
I benefited from it and that I have the knowledge and skill to start
bartending, assuming I can find a veteran to help continue my training.
I was disappointed in a couple of areas. The job placement wasn’t much more
than a couple of listings of positions I had already found in the local paper.
I’m hopeful that Dan’s recommendation, though, will help me. Also, I would
have liked to practice switching CO2 tanks and kegs.
I was impressed with the class overall, though. Dan was a knowledgeable
bartender, a good teacher, and an easy going guy. He made the class fun and
enjoyable. The tuition was $375 for 20 hours. He teaches it once a month.
Email me if you live in Iowa and want his number.