# Should I go to bartending school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046 "2010-11-01T03:33:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/41 "2010-11-03T05:39:44Z")
I’ve been bartending for 7 years and my first thought was $150 is really cheap for bartending school. My second was bartenders are always extra snooty about the whole bartending school thing but if thats what gets you a job the fastest so be it. Honestly it really doesn’t make much of a difference either way. I always saw bartending school as the equivalent of one of those job recruiting companies. They can definitely help get you in the door places if you don’t have a network of people who work in bars and know of openings before they go public. If you are willing to study drink recipes on your own, then you probably won’t need bartending school. Practice is the key and mixing colored liquids is hardly true practice. If they teach flair, though, then that’s pretty cool and trendy places like that stuff. I will disagree with the barback-bartend first method because the only one of my two barbacking jobs turned into bartending as opposed to all of my serving jobs. The barbacking turned bartending never actually turned into a full position either just a fill-in/every now and then thing. The main problem with this method is turnover tends to be low in places that are not corporate and you learn a lot more barbacking in non-corporate bars. Serving then bartending tends to work out pretty well though. Just make sure you are patient and try to keep open availability. Also, it helps to remind them that you would like to be behind the bar. It sounds like a nuisance but everyone I have seen promoted from within did it by reminding management of their interest in bartending shifts. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/42 "2010-11-03T05:46:02Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > To which I would reply, that’s wonderful. Next time make it the way I want. If you want it made a particular way - tell me. However, if it is something which isn’t in the Bartender’s Bible, and they don’t know what’s in it, then it is kinda open season… There was a tad of hyperbole in my post, but I’ve had customers back when I bartended who would have some kind of assumption I would know this shot they had only ever drunk in a bar in Tucson. I’m sorry, but if you don’t know what goes into a Mike Tyson’s Punchout, and can only remember it was a bit minty, you’re going to get a minty shot which is now what a Mike Tyson’s Punchout is in my bar. I just hope I can remember what I put in it in case you like it and order another or want the recipe. But generally, I’m a believer that if you don’t know what’s in a drink, it’s a bad idea to be drinking it. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/43 "2010-11-03T14:02:45Z")
Listen to the **Jake Jones** guy. He speaks the truth. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/44 "2010-11-03T15:39:03Z")
I need to frequent better bars. I find myself order non-mixed drinks - like a certain bottle of beer or brand of scotch - and I still have to point them out and or correct the bartender. Sure that bottle of Laphroaig is on the high shelf, but don’t just blurt out, “We don’t have that.” Yes you do, honey. Right there. Same place, the guy next to me orders “scotch” meaning whatever’s on the rail, right? He gets Crown Royal on the rocks. We were the only two people at the bar. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/45 "2010-11-03T16:29:15Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I need to frequent better bars. Yes you do. I was in a college town once, ordered a bourbon neat, and I swear to god, the waitress brought me a drink with ice and olives in it. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/46 "2010-11-03T16:45:02Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Yes you do. I was in a college town once, ordered a bourbon neat, and I swear to god, the waitress brought me a drink with ice and olives in it. Well I am sure she thought it looked neat. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/47 "2010-11-03T16:52:32Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Yes you do. I was in a college town once, ordered a bourbon neat, and I swear to god, the waitress brought me a drink with ice and olives in it. I’ve had bartenders–swear to god–ask me what “neat” means. I can’t remember where I was, but perhaps “neat” isn’t the universal term I thought it was. I’ve also had bartenders serve me “neat” drinks in a shot glass. Is “rocks glass, room temp, no ice” not the accepted definition of “neat?” Serious question. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/48 "2010-11-03T16:58:47Z")
Serious answer: yes. But sometimes people hire Candi, the 22-year jerkoff whose clientele, also jerkoffs, exclusively order Jager Bombs, PBR or sweet cocktails named after crude sexual acts. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/49 "2010-11-03T17:00:58Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Serious answer: yes. But sometimes people hire Candi, the 22-year jerkoff whose clientele, also jerkoffs, exclusively order Jager Bombs, PBR or sweet cocktails named after crude sexual acts. Yeah, but, to be honest, it wasn’t a female bartender in any of my cases, nor was it in a college town, so far as I can remember. ETA: And what about “up” or “straight up”? Same as neat, or chilled? I think it should technically be the latter, but when I used to use the term “straight up,” I don’t ever recall a bartender chilling the alcohol before straining it into a glass. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/50 "2010-11-03T17:02:32Z")
I’d order it straight up. There’s no excuse for not understanding neat, but I heard straight up far more often when I bartended. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/51 "2010-11-03T17:06:35Z")
> [@villa](#): > > I’d order it straight up. There’s no excuse for not understanding neat, but I heard straight up far more often when I bartended. Ah, that confirms my suspicions that neat and straight up are synonyms. You answered before my edit, but I heard somewhere that “straight up” technically means chilled and strained. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/52 "2010-11-03T17:13:51Z")
Depends on what. Bourbon straight up - room temperature glass, no ice. Martini straight up - chilled glass, chilled gin/vodka and vermouth. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/53 "2010-11-03T17:18:29Z")
I’ve always understood the term “up” to mean no ice in a cocktail that might otherwise contain it. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/54 "2010-11-03T17:22:44Z")
I don’t know if there is an official meaning. But I will say, I’d regularly get orders for a Jack Daniels up, water back. I’d not chill that. An order for a margherita up, with salt, would get chilled. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/55 "2010-11-03T17:44:31Z")
> [@villa](#): > > I don’t know if there is an official meaning. But I will say, I’d regularly get orders for a Jack Daniels up, water back. I’d not chill that. An order for a margherita up, with salt, would get chilled. Sure. Cocktails “up” are always served chilled, at least the very few that I rarely order. (Gin gimlet, for example.) I’ve never thought “whiskey straight up” would mean chilled whiskey, but someone explained to me there’s a difference, which is why I’ve long since ordered them “neat.” Lemme see if I can find any corroboration. _googles_ OK, there’s an [about.com](http://about.com) article that reflects this, but I don’t listen to anything [about.com](http://about.com) says. There’s this [bitchy waiter](http://thebitchywaiter.blogspot.com/2009/10/neat-vs-straight-up.html) blog post that makes the distinction. And [this](http://ramble.ondragonswing.com/archives/2005_04.php). > [@](#): > > Why didn’t everyone know the difference between neat and straight up?!? > > Neat means poured straight from the bottle into the glass. It’s used for only one liquor. The liquor only touches the bottle, the glass, and your mouth. > > Straight up means shaken over ice. The liquor, or liquors depending on the drink, are poured into a shaker with ice, shaken, and then poured into a glass. No ice is in the glass. The ice just makes it cold. I was just wondering if the resident bartenders make the distinction, as I don’t think I’ve ever come across one who does when talking about unmixed drinks, but somewhere in my alcoholic journey it was pointed out to me that there was a distinction. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/56 "2010-11-03T17:58:37Z")
Intriguing. I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/57 "2010-11-03T18:12:46Z")
All this neat/straight up talk reminds me of an old dive I used to go to. I hosted a little reading series/open mic at this place roughly once a month on a Wednesday. Typically, the place was small enough that it wouldn’t be open on a Wednesday otherwise, so the bartender really appreciated the business I threw their way. So, this was something of a cheapo punk club place most days of the year, and as a consequence they had plastic cups. I didn’t want to have my bourbon/rocks out of a dixie cup, so I brought a pint glass up from a totally different bar that operated out of the first floor of the building. I politely asked if he wouldn’t mind using this glass when I ordered, “Beam, rocks.” There wasn’t much top shelf stuff. “Sure,” he says. He fills the glass half full of ice. (?) Then he pours a full glass of bourbon. It’s the glass of bourbon that Brick from _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_ would drink. Shit. One, can I drink that? Two, “What do I owe you?” “Uh, let’s call it eight bucks.” Well, not only could I drink it and hold it, but at that price, it became my “the usual”! The sextuple bourbon. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/58 "2010-11-03T19:04:04Z")
Anyone ever ordered one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer? I was bored one night and decided to try it. Works for a song, but IRL it is just plain awful. And I’d sit all night drinking any one of the three. ETA: I’m thirsty now. Bye. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/59 "2010-11-03T20:14:25Z")
Yes. And then you should host a dopefest so you can get a little practice and we can critique your efforts. Repeatedly, if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046/60 "2010-11-03T20:17:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Anyone ever ordered one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer? I was bored one night and decided to try it. Works for a song, but IRL it is just plain awful. And I’d sit all night drinking any one of the three. I commonly have a whiskey of some sort and a beer (not mixed together, of course), but never all three at the same time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-go-to-bartending-school/559046.md?page=4)