A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barkeeper, barperson, barman, barmaid, bar attendant, or taberneiro) is a person who serves usually alcoholic beverages behind the bar in a licensed establishment. Bartenders also usually maintain the supplies and inventory for the bar. A bartender can generally mix classic cocktails such as a Cosmopolitan, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, and Mojito. A professional bartender has developed a palate to distinguish different flavours, which in turn gives him or her an ability to mix those flavors in such harmony that it results in a very palatable cocktail. Where tipping is a local custom, bartenders depend on tips for most of their income. Bartenders are also usually responsible for confirming that customers meet the legal drinking age before serving them alcohol. In certain countries,[which?] bartenders are legally required to refuse more alcohol to drunk customers.
United Kingdom [edit]
In the United Kingdom, bar work is often not regarded as a long-term profession, but more often as a second occupation, or transitional work for students to gain customer experience or to save money for university fees. As such, it lacks traditional employment protections and therefore has a high turnover.[1]
The high turnover of staff due to low wages and poor employee benefits results in a shortage of skilled bartenders. Whereas a career bartender would know drink recipes, serving techniques, alcohol contents, correct gas mixes, licensing law and would often have cordial relations with regular customers, short-term staff may lack these skills. Some pubs prefer experienced staff, although pub chains tend to accept inexperienced staff and provide training.
It is not custom to tip bartenders in the UK as employers are legally obliged to pay at least minimum wage.
United States [edit]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics maintains and publishes extensive data on occupations in the United States, including that of bartender. It publishes a detailed description of the bartender's typical duties[2] and employment and earning statistics by those so employed.[3]
Bartenders in the United States may work in a large variety of bars. These include gay bars, piano bars, and dive bars.[4] Also growing in popularity is the portable bar; it allows a bar to be moved and set up in events and other venues. Therefore, such bartenders are quickly transitioning from the traditional notion such a job, in which one stays put in a single location.[5]
References [edit]
- ^ Lucas, Rosemary (2004). Employment relations in the hospitality and tourism industries. Routledge. pp. 27–42. ISBN 978-0-415-29712-7. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
- ^ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (January 2010). "Food and Beverage Serving and Related Workers". Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bulletin 2800 (2010–11 Library ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 492. ISBN 978-0-16-084318-1. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 4, 2009). "35-3011 Bartenders". Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2008. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
- ^ Cocktail Lounge definition from The Free Dictionary
- ^ "Mobile Bar System". ZipBar. Retrieved 2013-04-02.
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British student working as a barmaid
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Bartending
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