Bartending Guide

Question arises when working at bar with other bartenders how tips are split and how work is divided? I've worked at a super busy night club with 3 other bartenders at main bar. Each bartender would keep there own tips so there was no splitting tips at the end of the night. Each bartender took care of there own station. At the end of the night all the bartenders cleaned there own station and we all helped clean bar tables off and collect glassware to be washed and beer bottle...s left to the trash. Nobody left until everything was clean so we all did what we could to finish cleaning as fast as possible. We had one bar back that swept and mopped floor at the end. We all tipped out the bar back at the end of shift. 10% of our tips was the minimum more if you wanted. Bars where tips are put in one jar and split at the end is tuff because the fastest bartender makes most of the tips and slowest bartender makes the least so dividing amongst a few bartenders could be unfair for bartender that is the fastest. In this case the fastest bartender should delegate work like cutting garnishes, cleaning glassware, stocking beer, getting ice. Whatever any of the slower bartenders could do to keep the fast bartender making drinks. Especially if there was no bar back to do the work. I feel the best way is for each bartender to make there own tips and take care of there own stations to avoid problems. See more

I was bar hopping in Santa Cruz and got to talking with a bartender. He was telling me about serving as requested by customers. He said, I never have an issue with figuring out how to serve drinks the way customers specify but when I serve a corona or a modelo beer I always cannot figure out how to get the salt on the rim of the beer as customers want. He says, I always give them salt on a napkin so they could put it on there beer. He asked, do you know how that could be done...? it’s impossible. You can’t dip the bottle to put salt on it cuz the beer will spill. And if you sprinkle the salt on the beer it gets all over. He said, nobody’s been able to figure it out. None of the bartenders here have figured it out either. He asked again, how can you do it? I said, I know how. He said, you do?! How he says? I say you get a wedged lime and you dip it in the salt on one end of the wedge. Then you insert the unsalted end in the open beer bottle. He said, your the only one that has had any response. I said, I’m a bartender. I know why nobody knows. It’s a normal practice in a Mexican bar that serves tons of beer. I learned that technique as a customer watching bartenders at a Mexican bar salt and lime a beer. It’s not a normal thing at an American bar and nobody teaches that at a Bartending school. The bartender was amazed on how simple it was. He thanked me for answering his long searched question of how to correctly salt a beer :) See more

Closing bar @ end of shift. Clearing tables/ bar top, sweeping/ mopping floors, washing glassware, wrapping garnishes into refrigerator, wiping well/ liquor bottles, covering spouts, burning ice, cleaning jockey box, and taking out trash. Things that should be done throughout your shift when time allows it so at the end of your shift there's not much to clean. Counting your bank, be organized. Heads up on bills. 100s, 50s, 20s, 10s, 5s, 1s separated in groups, go through receipts close out tips. A ice cube on a napkin helps to keep your finger wet so you can count money and go through receipts so that money or receipts don't stick together and you possibly miscount. Count your tips and give your bar back 10% The Daily routine

I was bar hopping in Santa Cruz and got to talking with a bartender. He was telling me about serving as requested by customers. He said, I never have an issue with figuring out how to serve drinks the way customers specify but when I serve a corona or a modelo beer I always cannot figure out how to get the salt on the rim of the beer as customers want. He says, I always give them salt on a napkin so they could put it on there beer. He asked, do you know how that could be done...? it’s impossible. You can’t dip the bottle to put salt on it cuz the beer will spill. And if you sprinkle the salt on the beer it gets all over. He said, nobody’s been able to figure it out. None of the bartenders here have figured it out either. He asked again, how can you do it? I said, I know how. He said, you do?! How he says? I say you get a wedged lime and you dip it in the salt on one end of the wedge. Then you insert the unsalted end in the open beer bottle. He said, your the only one that has had any response. I said, I’m a bartender. I know why nobody knows. It’s a normal practice in a Mexican bar that serves tons of beer. I learned that technique as a customer watching bartenders at a Mexican bar salt and lime a beer. It’s not a normal thing at an American bar and nobody teaches that at a Bartending school. The bartender was amazed on how simple it was. He thanked me for answering his long searched question of how to correctly salt a beer :) See more

What are the prices of drinks? The lowest price drinks are served from the well. The well is the location where liquor bottles are located below the bar in front of where the bartender is stationed to make drinks. The well consists of Vodka, Scotch, Gin, Rum, Whiskey, Brandy, Tequila. The well liquors are brands that are not well known usually. Some high end bars have call liquors as there well liquors. Usually the well liquors are lower priced. Liquors located at the back ba...r behind the bartender are call liquors which are more expensive than the well. Usually the lower shelves on the back bar are the less expensive call liquors. The liquors placed on higher shelves are more expensive so the higher the liquor is placed the more it costs. Personally I think it is very difficult to differentiate a 10 dollar shot to a 25 dollar shot of any particular type of alcohol. As far as the strength of alcohol for the most part they are all 80 proof or 40% alcohol. Whatever the proof is divide that number in half and you will get the alcohol percentage. If you just want a strong drink the well would probably be the way to go because all alcohols are the same proof give or take a few that are a higher proof. Cheers See more

Bartending @ a nightclub is very fast paced and a beggining bartender would find it extra challenging. Personally I began Bartending in an upscale hotel environment where there is more time to serve efficiently and politely. Then I bartended @ a banquet hall, where there is less time to interact with the customers. Lastly I bartended a high producing nightclub where it's so slammed with customers ordering drinks there is even less time to serve customers. In all cases you ha...ve the time to engage the customer before they order by placing a napkin in front of them saying, hello, what would you like, serving there drink and saying thanks. I found by doing these basic things every time I made more tips than bartenders who I worked with who sold more drinks than I did but did not serve the same way every time. In a hotel setting more time is available to interact with a full bar and food menues, this adds to the total bill and gives bartenders the opportunity to get higher tips with excellent service. In a banquet bar it's less interaction and more drink speed service, remembering what customers order can be helpful in getting good tips. At a nightclub it's everything combined with flash and less time. Cheers See more

Getting ready for business Some bars mark there liquor bottles before each shift to keep inventory and match sales to liquor sold. A one litre bottle has 33 ounces so if poured by the ounce it should ring out at 33 drinks. I pour 1 1/2 oz usually per drink which would be 2 drinks instead of 3 for every 1/10th of a bottle. Marking bottles in my opinion is a headache but some bars use this system so it is something that bartenders should understand how to do, rather than not k...now. The bottles to be used are marked where the liquor line is and after the shift each bottle is measured by the amount of liquor used in 10ths. So if the bottle for example was marked with a marker at .6 before the shift and after the shift it was at .3 you would have used .3 percent of that bottle which should equal to 6 sales if you pour 1 1/2 oz like I do or if your bar requires a 1 oz pour it should reflect on sales as 9 drinks sold. So if you are over pouring it will reflect on your sales See more

Many times customers ask for there drinks to be made in tall glasses with less ice thinking they will be served more alcohol. Every drink is made in different glass sizes served with ice just below the rim to give the cocktail correct proportions based on the liquor to mixes used. Putting less ice in a drink causes the mix proportions to be higher causing the drink to taste watered down and the cocktail will not taste the way it should. When less ice is used bartenders will c...ompensate the extra room in the glass by adding more mix not alcohol. I recommend if you want to get a strong drink, to drink a martini of your choice of alcohol because a martini glass is a 3oz pour which is equal to 3 shots. So if you like grey goose for example, a shot would be somewhere around $9.00. If you order a grey goose martini up it will most likely be the same price but 3oz instead of 1oz if you ordered a shot. Chase the martini with some club soda and the carbonation will shoot it to your bloodstream faster. Cheers See more