# The best way to learn to mix drinks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268 "2019-09-15T15:07:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/1 "2019-09-15T15:07:56Z")
I’m assuming since I’m asking for the best this is more of GD than GQ. Pretty sure it’s not CS since I’m not asking about the drinks themselves. It might be a IMHO though … My son is thinking of becoming a bartender and eventually a mixologist. I was thinking for his 21st birthday of paying for bartending school. Would it really be worth it? Is there a better way to learn to make the basic drinks and flavor combinations to invent your own? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/2 "2019-09-15T15:14:52Z")
There is always Jerry Thomas’s classic _Bar-Tender’s Guide_, explaining the basic categories and principles of cocktails as well as containing recipes. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/3 "2019-09-15T19:40:27Z")
I once went to bartending school, but I still couldn’t get a job because I had no experience. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/4 "2019-09-17T15:57:05Z")
Have a look at this thread. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=882069](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=882069) There are so many bartending jobs that are 90% beer and wine and maybe the occasional jack and coke. And, of course, in many places, the bartenders are also hired for their looks. So, if he wants to make creative cocktails, the employment scene might not be too huge. In many cities, the bigger nightclubs aren’t open 7 days a week either. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/5 "2019-09-17T16:23:03Z")
I’m not a professional, but I enjoy serving my friends my twist on established recipes (often from the book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails) or my own original creations. I found the book, The Joy of Mixology, by Gary Regan, very useful. It classifies drinks into families, giving a sort of formula for making a drink in that family, which provides some basic structure to improvise around. I have no idea about bartending school or jobs, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/6 "2019-09-17T16:41:46Z")
Moving from GD to IMHO. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/7 "2019-09-17T16:46:16Z")
At least 99% of bartenders didn’t go to any cocktail mixing school, they got a job at a bar or restaurant doing something else, usually washing dishes and busing tables, and worked their way up to it. _Nobody_ hires bartenders with zero experience, period, bartending school graduate or not. In fact I’d wager most places will specifically look for people who never went to bartending school, because they want you to do things _their_ way, which is likely not the way you were taught at Acme Bartending Academy. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/8 "2019-09-17T19:44:51Z")
Do not pay for bartending school. My DIL went to bartending school. In the first place, it was kind of expensive. In the second place, they don’t use actual alcohol, ever. They use colored water and the final exam is based on color and speed of the result. In the third place, when she tried to use her bartending school certificate of completion to get a job, the places she went just laughed at her. Now, she did learn stuff. For instance she can explain why a beer is a pilsner and not an IPA, and what ind of glass to pour it into. I am not sure if she got that from bartending school or if she knows it because she loves beer. But it’s not much help in getting a bartending job. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/9 "2019-09-17T20:29:43Z")
I tried and tried and tried but I kept “test drinking” my mixtures and could never remember what I did right, or did wrong. :smack::D:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/10 "2019-09-17T21:49:52Z")
I know this is the worst kind of unsolicited-advice-from-a-distance, but I’m just saying that I’m not sure that I’d do much to support the career choice of bartending in someone who’s not yet old enough to have ever been in a bar legally. If they want to be a bartender, best advice is to work in a restaurant washing dishes for a while. If they love it (either the hospitality business in general or sleeping late/working while their friends are socializing) so much that they can deal with that for a year, then maybe bartending might work for them. - If they just want to learn to mix drinks for their friends rather than be a pro, then a better investment is a book and a few bottles of booze and mixers. ---
**Author:** ![meow\_meow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@meow\_meow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meow_meow)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/11 "2019-09-18T00:18:36Z")
I’ve been a bartender for almost 30 years. Started while in college. It’s my side thing now, although I did do it for one year full time right after college. After that, always just on the side. I don’t recommend bartending school. I did it, it didn’t help me get a job. And in the restaurant industry it is considered pretty laughable. I worked as a server in a hotel bar first. High turnover in hotels, it didn’t take long to get a bartending slot. Now I just do banquet bartending at a higher end hotel. Weddings mostly. It’s a good way to get that first experience if bartending is what he wants to do. Hotels that do fancy holiday parties, weddings and events is where I’d start. They are always short handed around the holidays. Learn as you go. Most people are simple. Vodka tonic, Jack and ginger…Even the more exotic sounding drinks aren’t hard to figure out how to make. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/12 "2019-09-18T11:32:21Z")
I know many bartenders, none have formal training. The best way to get a job bartending is to have bartended. Put in applications everywhere, and stress that you are willing to work any hours offered. Get a job that is sketchy (work for tips, no pay otherwise) so that you can use it on future resumes. Hook up with someone who works weddings and take their overflow. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/13 "2019-09-18T15:10:36Z")
I worked as a bartender during a labor dispute back in 1989. It was beer, wine and some kind of spirit and coke 98% of the time. Learned how to make a mean Moscow Mule without using ginger beer. Used Bud from the tap and a splash of ginger liqueur instead of ginger beer. Got lots of compliments for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/14 "2019-09-18T15:54:52Z")
The Tipsy Bartender channel on YouTube is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/15 "2019-09-19T03:31:05Z")
I don’t know where you are, but I’ll assume it’s somewhere in America. That means it would be tough for an under-21-year-old to really know how to make good cocktails. Mixing drinks is a lot like cooking, there are two ways to go about it. One is to stick to the recipes and do what other have figured out, which is fine. You can make some tasty drinks that way, you just won’t be blazing any new trails. The second method is much more fun and harder to pull off. You have to know how things taste, know how flavors compliment or clash, what flavors are over-powering, what is works best subtly, how much ice is right, etc. This \*absolutely \*requires experience. At the least you’d have to use method one and play around. Knowledge of liquors, liqueurs, toppers, garnishes, syrups, etc will help, _a lot_. Buy the boy a book about mixology and some bar equipment. Then point him the direction of a good YouTube channel and your full liquor bar (or that friend of yours who has a full liquor bar[or, if you have the cash, buy him a full liquor bar]) and have him figure it out. It might take awhile, and there be _so many_ failures, but it’ll show if he’s got the determination/talent. I have no advice on how to break into bartending. It’s always been a hobby for me. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/16 "2019-09-19T04:06:43Z")
Ok, I DID go to bartending school and no, it didn’t use real booze. But it DID get me a bartending gig right away, though it was an opening shift in a hotel lounge. So it was super slow. However, I was able to pay off the school within a a couple months easy. So I totally think it was worth it. And THAT experience got me far better gigs afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-way-to-learn-to-mix-drinks/840268/17 "2019-09-20T02:30:06Z")
Learn how to mix a good martini, gin always. One and done! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk