Skip to main content

Bartender, Mixologist or only Barman?

We have a serious issue in bars about denominate the positions.

Analogue to "hipsters hate hipsters", serious bartenders reject to be called mixologist. The reasons are simple. After the term became known in the public, a lot of bartenders used this word - unfortunately also a lot of people who are inexperienced.
"Call me simply a bartender" is a trend, which is as unnatural and spineless as the desire to be called a mixologist, without the skills. Because lets be honest - even those, who state this, doesn't want to be seen as "normal" barman [or woman]. They want to be seen as specialists and experts. Hence the bartender title, will confuse people, who are not "bar affluent". What is the difference between the position of a bartender in a pub or dive bar to a bartender in a craft bar?

But lets have a look on the different titles, we are using:
I am using for the "official" words apple dictionary - which I found most suitable for short descriptions.

bartender |ˈbärˌtendər|nouna person who mixes and serves drinks at a bar.In my opinion, there is nothing which speaks against the position/label bartender. However as there is no differentiation between novices, intermediate bartenders and real "cracks", I am really advocating for those, who have skills, which are clearly above the "average" to use a title, which is more matching.
mixologist |mikˈsäləjist|noun informala person who is skilled at mixing cocktails and other drinks.There is a misconception about the designation mixologist. A lot of people guess, that mixologists are just fancy bartenders - however if we are contemplating about the real meaning, a mixologist would be a person, who is pushing the limits of mixing drinks [inclusive creating new drinks, research basics etc]; though the word only describes a very limited aspect of a bartenders routine. Bartending is a profession - mixology is an aspect of bartending. But it doesn't even necessary involve the skills and knowledge to serve sipping spirits. I would see people like Robert Hess as mixologists [a great one and definitely he is not only a mixologist] as he is a hobbyist who happen to be interested and skilled in making drinks. He usually doesn't focus on hosting people [in a bar], beverage service and other important facets in bars.To be mixologist is part of the life of a modern and skilled bartender - but it is not a sufficient job description. On the other hand, people should not shy to be called mixologists, if they hold this skills.
barman |ˈbärmən|noun ( pl. barmen chiefly Brit.a male bartender.Quite straight forward. I usually see the description of barman more as "any" person behind the bar.
barmaid |ˈbärˌmād|nouna waitress who serves drinks in a bar.Brit.a woman bartender.Also straight forward. I guess, this title dies out over short or long, as it might be a bit sexist!?
intoxicologist* |inˈtäksiləjist |nouna bartender who thinks, that he is funny, but ain't[yes I made up the dictionary entry - but really people call themselves intoxicologists [or similar] which is in my eyes not really funny. Alcohol is a serious drug - maybe the most serious and devastated drug in our society. Dealing with it, doesn't need to be at all times über-serious. But you should show at least a certain degree of sobriety - to be aware of the effects and implications alcohol has. This would not mean, to play down its mainly negative points.
One title, which I personally like very much is craft bartender.On one hand it doesn't over-heightens the position as well as doesn't circumscribes the position onlyas person who is skillful in mixing drinks [mixologist] - but it also includes the bartender label, whichincludes being a host [etc]. But craft [see below] is the clue, which highlights the artisan endeavour a skillful bartender has.
 Craft |kraft|nounan activity involving skill in making things by hand: the craft of bookbinding | pewter craft.• (craftswork or objects made by hand: the shop sells local crafts | (as modifier crafta craft fair.• skill in carrying out one's work: a player with plenty of craft.• skill used in deceiving others: her cousin was not her equal in guile and evasive craft.• the members of a skilled profession.• ( the Craft )the brotherhood of Freemasons.pl. same a boat or ship: sailing craft.• an airplane or spaceship.verb [ with obj. ]exercise skill in making (something): he crafted the chair lovingly | (as adj. crafteda beautifully crafted object.DERIVATIVEScrafter nounORIGIN Old English cræft strength, skill, of Germanic origin; related to Dutchkracht,German Kraft, and Swedish kraft strength (the change of sense to skilloccurring only in English). Sense 2 of the noun, originally in the expression small craftsmall trading vessels or lighters, may be elliptical, referring to vessels requiring a small amount of “craft” or skill to handle, as opposed to large oceangoing ships.





Comments

  1. Thank you for sharing such a Magnificent post here. I found this blog very useful for future references. keep sharing such informative blogs with us. hire bartender for private event

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution!  But when Chris, over at A Bar Above  discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re