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Ah, slingin' drinks. Giving the good folks a drop o’ the pure.

There’s something romantic about sliding some suds down to the day-weary travelers looking for a salve.

But bartenders do more than provide drinks. They’re our unofficial psychologists, healers, and masters of ceremonies. They’re also super-duper talented and can be paid quite well because of that. It’s no wonder people are drawn to the profession. But it can be a tough nut to crack.

That’s why we put together this guide. Follow the steps, and you’ll become a bartender. The steps aren’t in order, though. There is no official step-by-step process to become a bartender. But what we have here are all your potential avenues.

This bartenders guide will lay out the bartending 101 basics you need to get hired as a bartender. Or to improve your bartending if you’re already a working professional.

Understand the Reality of Becoming a Bartender

Let’s get some housekeeping stuff out of the way first. You're going to dedicate your precious time to learning how to become a bartender. Here’s what you can expect in terms of pay, age restrictions, and hours once you become a master mixologist.

If you have any questions please get in touch. Phone: 0333 050 1068. Alternatively, use this contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Required Field. ‍Service bartender: Bartender who works at the service station and prepares drinks for customers not at the bar, i.e., the dining room, the patio, the cocktail area, etc. ‍Shake: To shake drink ingredients together in a shaker ‍Shooter: A small mixed drink taken as a shot, usually about 2-3 ounces. Blood, Sweat and Beers' 13 bottle Isotonic Alcohol Free Wise Pack (Save 5%) (4 Reviews) Quick View. Quickview More Details.

How Much Do Bartenders Make?

The median annual pay reported by bartenders in the U.S. by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is $22,550. Whether or not that figure represents your future earnings as a bartender is open to discussion. The nature of tips and the different types of bars can change things.

So let’s discuss.

We know from experience that in busier bars, making $150-$200 a night in tips is considered a good night. Making $100-$150 is acceptable. We’ll work with those figures. These figures go up if you master how to upsell drinks as a bartender.

Let's take $150 as the average tips in a night (if things generally go well for you that year). We’ll multiply that by the amount of workdays in a year: 260. That’s $39,000 in pre-tax tips alone. Let’s now assume that you’re making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour as your base pay. That’s another $15,080 pretax, which puts your total pretax earnings at $54,080.

Those earnings put you in a 22% federal tax bracket. To get a read on your bartender earnings, we need to factor in state and local taxes, which vary. So, we calculated the average state income tax for a single filer in the $54,080 tax bracket: 5.52%.

If a bartender claims 100% of their tips at a busy bar, they stand to make an average of $39,197 post-tax.

Taking home almost 40 Gs ain’t too shabby. And that’s just the average. There are absolutely bartenders who clear $100,000 a year. They exist, I’ve met them, they’re cool, and you can probably be like them if you try.

How Old Do You Have to Be to Bartend?

Much like state income tax, the minimum legal age required to tend bar varies by state. It’s the magic of living in a federal republic. Believe it or not, most states in the U.S. only require a minimum age of 18 to bartend in on-premises establishments. That means the alcohol being sold there is meant to be consumed there, not taken elsewhere.

Here is each state’s required minimum age to bartend:

The states that require a minimum age of 18 to bartend are Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Those that require a minimum age of 19 to bartend are Arizona, Idaho, and Nebraska.

And the ones that require a minimum age of 21 to bartend are Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, DC, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

States that allow those under 21 to bartend typically require the young bartender be supervised by someone 21 or older. This information, like all laws, is subject to change so please check with the relevant municipality before making any decisions. See the full list here.

What Hours Do Bartenders Work?

For the busiest, most-profitable shifts, a bartender can expect to work evenings from about 4 p.m. to midnight.

Beginning bartenders will get the lower-traffic lunch and early-weekday evening shifts. Established bartenders get most of the evenings, especially the very lucrative Friday and Saturday nights.

If you’re bartending at a sports bar, however, Sunday lunch shifts will be huge. If you have a huge patio, great weather, and you’re on a popular street, days might be better than nights. Like most things in this guide, we’re taking a high-level look at general trends.

If that all sounds good to you, and you’re ready to embrace then you’re ready to move on.

Get Experience as a Barback

The easiest way to move into a bartending position, if you don’t have experience bartending, is to transition into it from the barback position. Barback responsibilities are perfectly suited to the transition to becoming a bartender. Barbacks learn:

• All the bartender lingo and how to communicate behind the bar
• How to move behind the bar, which can be tricky with some bar layouts
• How to clean the bar from top to bottom
• How to prepare and how to stock a bar, with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic inventory
• To deal with basic customer requests
• The right types of glassware, garnishes, and steps of service
• The standard liquor bottle sizes and wine bottle sizes

As a barback, you’ll do everything a bartender does but mix drinks. You’ll often work off the bartender duties checklist. Even though you’ll pick up a lot of mixology wisdom just by watching bartenders do it, you’ll still need practice. Learning mixology, cocktail recipes, and cocktail creation are the most important things for a barback to learn to become a competitive bartender candidate.

Transition from Serving

Like the barback strategy, this approach utilizes existing relationships and related experience. Servers have one thing down pat that’s absolutely crucial to bartending: customer service. Drink pairing, menu knowledge, and ingredient knowledge are all old hat to a strong server.

The missing pieces, then, are non-theoretical mixology (i.e., making the drinks) and learning the layout of the bar. The latter is easily learned. Therefore, servers, focus on mixology and learning how to hit accurate pours. When the time comes, you’ll be as attractive a candidate for the new bartending position as any bartender out there.

Become a Master of the Pour

Knowing what goes in drinks is one thing. Accurately pouring liquor to create those drinks to hit your target pour costs is another. Which a liquor cost calculator can help with. Here are three ways to make sure your pouring is not costing the bar money.

Know Your Standard Pours

Every bar manager wants, first and foremost, bartenders that can quickly and accurately hit all manner of standard liquor pours. By not pouring too much, you save the bar money. By not pouring too little, you keep the guest experience consistent. If you’re comfortable with standard liquor pours and able to hit them every time you try, you’re a valuable bartender.

There are multiple pour volumes for different drinks and different liquors. Read the standard pour article linked to above and you’ll be on your way.

Learn Pour Counts and Free Pouring

There are, of course, jiggers. Jiggers allow bartenders to measure out pours exactly. But the problem with jiggers is that they’re slow. After you’re done pouring the liquor into the jigger, there’s a whole extra arm motion to dump the jigger in the glass or mixer. Any bartender in the weeds will tell you that jiggers are slow goings.

The alternative to jiggers is learning how to free pour. Free pouring is simply pouring straight from the bottle—usually with a pour spout for consistency. A bartender who can consistently hit standard pours by free pouring is worth their weight in gold. Because they’re accurate and fast.

A popular strategy for free pouring is utilizing pour counts. You can read more about pour counts and other strategies for practicing free pouring in the above linked to article.

Know How to Pour Wine

There’s a whole lot of serving wine at bars, especially restaurant bars. And especially wines by the glass. And with a new type of pour comes a new type of standard pour. Yes, the standard wine pour. Learn how to pour a perfect glass of wine and your bar manager will cherish you.

Like liquor pours, accurate wine pours help keep variance and pour costs down. That’s the reason for all of this standardization in the first place. If you can help your bar’s profit margin by pouring drinks quickly and to spec, then you’ll be a welcome part of the team.

Know Your Mixology

On to the fun stuff! Bartending is making drinks. Get good at it, and you’ll make some decent money. Here are the basic tools you’ll need, some information about primary spirit types, and a few collections of cocktail recipes you should know to make the most out of your well liquor.

Basic Bar Tools

Cocktail Strainer

A cocktail strainer is a metal bartending accessory that's used to strain ice out of a drink that's been shaken, stirred, or mixed in a shaker or a different glass. It's basically a metal sieve with a handle. There are two main types. The Hawthorne strainer, which is a disc with holes in it with a handle and two stabilizing prongs on each side and a metal spring around the edge. And the Julep strainer, which is shaped like a little bowl (with slits in it) with a handle. The Hawthorne is much more commonly used.

Peeler

A common citrus peeler and zester to create twists and zests.

Bottle Opener

Your standard bottle opener for opening bottled beer.

Cocktail Spoon

A 30- or 40-centimeter long metal spoon, also called a bar spoon, that's used to mix, muddle, stir, and layer cocktails.

Jigger

An hourglass-shaped, two-sided metal measuring tool with a large side and a small side used to pour standard shot volume accurately. The large side is typically 1.5 ounces (the standard pour for a shot) while the smaller side is .75 ounces.

Corkscrew

A standard corkscrew for opening wine. Ideally, a corkscrew with a folding knife in the handle.

Shaker

A two- or three-piece metal device used to mix drinks by shaking them. There are three primary types of shakers. The Boston shaker is a two-piece with the mixing side and the bottom inserted into each other before shaking. Each side can be used separately for mixing, muddling, or stirring. A separate strainer is needed to use the Boston. The second is the Cobbler shaker, which is a three-piece shaker that's tapered at the end and has a built-in strainer on top. And finally the French shaker,a two-piece shaker with a metal bottom and a metal cap. Like the Boston, the French shaker requires the use of a separate strainer.

Know Your Liquor Types

You have to be intimately familiar with the six primary types of base liquor. They are brandy, rum, gin, tequila, vodka, and whiskey. They make up the vast majority of cocktail bases and neat orders. If you know their flavor profiles, pairing options, glassware, and common recipes, you'll be steps ahead of the game.

Cocktail Recipes

Drinks Every Bartender Should Know

Here’s a list of all the drinks every single bartender must know. We included the most common cocktails, the simplest cocktails, and the most classic cocktails. All together, they’re the cocktails that you’ll encounter again and again during a bartending shift. If you know them like the back of your hand, you’ll be doing great.

The Most Popular Cocktails

Here’s some data around the most popular cocktails in the U.S. It includes which cocktails are popular in which cities, what time of day certain cocktails are popular, and more. We definitely considered it while making our list of what cocktails a bartender should know. The post has a ton of useful, interesting information for bartenders and bartenders-to-be.

Seasonal Cocktails

Some cocktails are popular only during certain seasons. Whether that’s because of their ingredients or reputations, it is what it is! Some drinks are just better when the planet leans a certain way. Here are our list of the best summer cocktails, fall cocktails, winter cocktails, and spring cocktails.

If you have a collection of tasty seasonal cocktails recipes at the ready, you’ll be able to make amazing, unique recommendations to your guests. It’s a great upselling opportunity and a great customer experience. It's customer satisfaction in restaurant industry 101.

Go to Bartending School

Bartending school can be a massive springboard for the right people. You have to at least look into it. And you’ll have to weigh the pros and cons to decide if bartending school is worth it. Here’s an annotated version to get your thoughts flowing:

Bartending School Pros:

You’ll Learn A Lot

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This shouldn't be a surprise, but you'll learn a lot in bartending school. From setting up an entire bar for service, to customer psychology, liquor history, upselling, advanced mixology, inventory (like how many beers are in a keg), and more. If you're starting from square one, the amount and breadth of material in bartending courses will be great for you.

Bartending Experience

Like the above, if you've got no experience and you're having trouble getting your foot in the door, bartending school offers that experience. You'll spend days practicing bartender duties like nailing the perfect standard liquor pours, learning to handle customers, pours, and getting your hands dirty with real front-line mixology techniques.

Networking

This applies mostly to in-person bartending schools: you'll make friends. And once your graduating class starts getting hired, you'll all of a sudden know a bunch of bartenders. There is nothing as convenient for a prospective bartender than having a bunch of gainfully employed (and sympathetic) bartender friends to help you find a job.

Bartending Job Hunting Support

This may be one of the biggest benefits. Bartending school often provides post-graduate job assistance.

Bartending School Cons

Takes Time

It'll take about 40 hours of class time to graduate, and those hours are usually in the evening over the course of a few weeks. You'll be sacrificing 2-3 weeks of evenings.

Costs Money

In-person bartending school runs about $400 to $800, while online courses for bartending school are significantly cheaper: between $50 to $200.

Not Technically Required

We'll get into this below, but going to bartending school isn't required to get a bartending job. Bartending school's real value is exposing you to a huge amount of industry knowledge, giving you a chance to practice, and supporting you with networking and job assistance. If any certificate or licensure is needed to legally bartend in your area, it's often easy to get online for much cheaper than the cost of bartending school.

Get a Bartending License

Many cities, states, or counties require certificates or permits to bartend, but there isn't an official bartending license in the U.S. You’ll have to check your local laws to see what’s required. That said, even if it’s not required, it could make you a more competitive candidate for a bartending position.

Google like crazy, do your research, and find out exactly what's required and offered in your area. You’ll often find that you don’t have to go to a bartending school to get a bartending permit. You’re usually able to get any required local certificate or permit on your own through the issuing agency for much less money than attending bartending school. Some are online and take only hours to complete. Then you’ll have a nice new line to put on your resume.

But if you do go to a school, don't assume they’ll provide everything you need to get a bartending job—like local permits or certificates. They usually do, but double check.

That’s How to Become a Bartender

All of the steps in this bartender’s guide should help you learn how to become a bartender. As we said at the beginning, it’s not a step-by-step process. But, over the years, talking to and working with thousands of bartenders, we got a feel for how it’s done. Any one of the ideas in this article can be the route you successfully use to become a bartender.

And once you get that sweet bartending gig, you’ll recognize quickly what makes a shift smooth and what doesn’t. And one of those things is managing your bar inventory with a bar inventory app.

Liquor inventory software like BinWise Pro will streamline your bar inventory and save everyone in the building hours, which gives bartenders more time to do what they’re best at: healing our psychological wounds.

If you're figuring out how to run a bar, one thing you'll learn quickly is that it’s impossible for you to run your bar by yourself. Therefore, bartenders are one of your most valuable assets because they can take some of the responsibilities off your plate. They play an essential role in bringing in revenues for your business. In your bar’s day-to-day operation, bartenders are either mixing drinks, interacting with guests, delivering the best customer service, or selling more liquor and beverages. That's all just bartending 101.

And, hey, the more money a bar brings in, the higher the bar manager salary.

For a smooth operation at your bar and to ensure bar profitability, it is extremely important that your bartenders are aware of their responsibilities. And that they're always in sync with each other. One of the best ways to ensure a high level of performance from your team is to have a bartender duties checklist in place. A good bar manager always give their staff the tools to succeed. If you hire a bartender who just got their license to bartend, this checklist will be pivotal in making them successful.

That's why we put together a free downloadable checklist of bartender duties—including opening, side work, and closing responsibilities.

Bartender Opening Checklist

Bartenders are typically responsible for opening the bar since they are usually the first ones to arrive. This is a big part of a bartender's duties. First, they can make a quick property check for any visible damage. Then they can proceed to go through the bar opening and closing checklist and complete the following tasks:

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• Unlock beer and wine coolers
• Unlock and inspect beer taps to ensure they are functional
• Check bar inventory and restock any items if necessary
• Place floor mats behind the bar
• Cut and prepare garnishes and other perishables
• Prepare mixers and juices
• Assemble, fill, and start frozen drink machine
• Stock glasses, mugs, highballs, pilsners, wine glasses, snifters, etc.
• Double-check all bar drink-making tools and equipment (strainer, shaker, jigger, ice scoop, ice cream scoop, wine opener, bottle opener, stirrer, bar mats, pour spouts, etc.)
• Restock ice
• Make sure all trash cans are emptied and liners are replaced
• Restock disposable items (napkins, straws, utensils, coasters, skewers, etc.)
• Restock items for food menu (if the bar serves food)
• Rinse and clean bar sink
• Have backup beverage canisters and CO2 tanks ready to replace emptied ones
• Wipe down the bar’s counter, tables, chairs, and stools
• Turn on the light, music, bar TV, neon lights, and bar signs
• Get and count opening bar bank from the bar manager
• Get a new comp and waste log from the bar manager

A lot of this may also fall into barback duties depending on the structure of your bar.

Bartender Closing Checklist

Learning To Be A Bartender

The first thing to do when closing is ensure all guests have left the bar and all doors are locked. Having guests linger around can severely slow down the closing process and prevent your bartenders from completing the tasks or leaving on time. While the manager takes care of the bar manager duties, like ordering the full bar liquor list, you can take care of yours. Here is the bar closing checklist for bartenders:

• Lock beer and wine coolers
• Clean and lock beer taps
• Take floor mats to back dock
• Empty trash cans and replace liners
• Melt any remaining ice from the night before in the ice bins
• Cover and store all perishable items in their appropriate places. Discard if necessary
• Cover and store all mixers, juices, sweet and sour, etc., in their appropriate places
• Empty frozen drink machine. Refrigerate leftover and clean machine
• Clean and restock glasses, highballs, pilsners, wine glasses, snifters, etc.
• Clean all blenders and mixers
• Restock disposable items (napkins, straws, utensils, coasters, skewers, etc.)
• Restock beer cooler
• Restock liquor empties
• Wipe down service well liquor bottles (all alcohol bottle sizes should be wiped)
• Wipe bar top, counter, chairs, and stools
• Sweep and mop the floor
• Clean soda gun nozzles
• Empty, rinse, sanitize, and clean the bar sink
• Turn off the light, music, bar TV, neon lights, and bar signs
• Give bar bank to the bar manager
• Close and lock the cash register
• Turn in comp and waste log to the bar manager

Bartender Side Work Duties & Checklists

Being a good bartender requires more than just knowing the standard pours. In addition to opening and closing the bar, there are also running bartender side work duties like cleaning and doing maintenance around the bar. This activity can be done either daily or weekly, depending on your bar’s unique operation. A general bar cleaning checklist includes the following tasks:

• Clean beer cooler
• Pour Clorox in floor drains
• Polish brass railing
• Polish brass and chrome beer taps
• Polish espresso machine
• Wipe down displayed liquor bottles
• Clean bar mirrors
• Rotate beer and wine coolers
• Clean cash register, credit card terminal, telephone
• Clean back bar
• Rotate, soak, and sanitize pour spouts

It is really important to create accountability for them to make sure they are doing their job. A good bartender knows that their work affects other staff. If they don't put a bottle back in the right spot, then the next bartender will have to spend time searching for it. When they could be making drinks or up-selling guests instead. You don't need to go to bartending school to know it's not good to make the next person have to work twice as hard.

It's also helpful if bartenders spend time preparing and setting up the bar area for the next bartender before they leave.

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• Restock garnishes and other perishable items
• Restock beer cooler
• Restock liquor and beverage
• Check liquor expiration date to avoid liquor going bad
• Cut and prepare fruits
• Restock sweet and sour, juices, mixers
• Restock mugs, glasses, highballs, pilsners, wine glasses, snifters,
• Restock ice
• Check liquor, and wine backups for each service well and back bar
• Check how much beer is in a keg and if it needs to be replaced
• Restock disposable items (napkins, straws, utensils, coasters, skewers, etc.)
• Restock items on the bar’s food menu, or any other types of menu in use
• Rinse and clean bar sink
• Count bar bank and report back to the bar manager

While these tasks don’t need to be done in this specific order, it is important that they are all addressed. And completed throughout the day. Setting up your bar right before opening, closing your bar properly, and keeping your bar clean and well-organized. These are all important activities to ensure a smooth operation at your bar. Here's some of our picks for the best bar and restaurant cleaning supplies, too.

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Having a bartender duties checklist—and keeping it safe and sound in your bar operations manual—is one of the most effective ways to communicate these responsibilities to your team of bartenders. And hold them accountable for their work. It is also easier to train bartenders if you have a duties checklist ready. You can also send other staff to alcohol server training so you can sell even more drinks.

Download our free printable bartender duties checklist and customize it to fit your unique bar or restaurant operations.

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If you find this article helpful, contact us to learn more about how BinWise Pro can help you manage your bar more effectively! It'll help get a handle on your liquor inventory control by keeping track of variance (variance definition here), pour cost, and par levels.