Training and Certifications Required For Bartenders

Training and Certifications Required For Bartenders

by | Apr 13, 2016 | Career

Serving alcohol is a big responsibility, both in the eyes of the law and in terms of safety. Because of this, if you’re going to be bartending, or serving alcohol in any capacity, the proper training and certifications are not just advisable but most likely mandatory. While the specifics vary from state to state, here are some of the general rules to be aware of as a bartender or server.

The act of serving alcohol is hedged around rules to keep people safe, so many municipalities require bartenders, servers, or anyone else who physically handles/serves alcoholic drinks to have certification in responsible alcohol serving. Furthermore, most places require that training be completed and certification be in hand within 30-60 days of starting.

The course can go by many names depending on the state. For instance, those in California call it Responsible Beverage Server Training while Texas folks call them Texas Alcohol Bureau Control Classes. Whatever the name, they are all about the same thing: making sure everyone complies with the law and that they’re safe while doing so. As for specifics, here are the topics covered:

  • Current state and local laws
  • When and how to check IDs, including how to spot the fakes
  • Legal consequences of serving someone who is under age
  • Effects of alcohol and signs of impairment
  • Intervention methods and techniques

Most of the time, these classes have to be in person and you will want to check with your local government to make sure the town will accept that particular class’s certificate especially if you’re moving elsewhere.

Where can you find such training programs? Sometimes the local police or state alcohol boards provide classes as well as the certificate, but you can get it just as easily from certifying bodies such as ServSafe and Server Certification Corp. These certificates can last a year or two, depending on the issuing body and municipality.

Fortunately for bartenders and others serving alcohol, the legal requirements end there. There isn’t any place that requires a bartender to take classes or be certified in drink-making, just to be trained in safety, which is always the #1 priority.

Need to get certified?

Click here to get all of the information you need, including training options, class dates and times and links to register.

Get ServSafe Certified in Denver

Get ServSafe Certified in Denver

by | Apr 12, 2016 | Career

The ServSafe Program leads the way in providing comprehensive educational materials to the restaurant industry through face-to-face and online instruction. Certification classes are provided monthly by the Colorado Restaurant Association. If you’re not located in Colorado, check your State’s Restaurant Association website for event information.

ServSafe Alcohol

The purpose of the ServSafe Alcohol ® is to ensure that servers, bartenders, and managers have the information they need to understand and implement the skills of responsible service. Participants should leave the program confident in their ability to make sound decisions and handle potentially intoxicated guests. A workbook is provided as a reference tool for your operation.

 

Next Class:

9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Colorado Restaurant Association
430 E 7th Ave
Denver, CO 80203

 

Who Should Attend: Managers Supervisors Bartenders, Servers, Barbacks, FOH, Owners, Operators
Cost: $40 CRA members, $55 non-members
Registration form (REQUIRED): View/Download here

 

ServSafe Food Safety

ServSafe Food Safety® is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The Manager Certification course is a 1-day immersion course, offering basic food safety concepts. This program has a certification exam; passage of the exam is acceptable in 95% of American jurisdictions with a training requirement.

 

Next Class:

8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Colorado Restaurant Association
430 E 7th Ave
Denver, CO 80203

 

Who Should Attend: Managers, Supervisors, Chefs, Line Cooks, Prep Cooks, Kitchen Managers, Owners, Operators
Cost: $140 CRA members, $180 non-members
Registration form (REQUIRED): View/Download here
7 Things To Know About Wunderkind ‘Bar Chef’ Shaun Traxler

7 Things To Know About Wunderkind ‘Bar Chef’ Shaun Traxler

by | Apr 6, 2016 | IndiNews

All it takes to know that Shaun Traxler is one of the most creative up-and-coming bartenders in the industry (aside from tasting one of his concoctions), is checking out his Instagram account.

From images of his “Bedrock Breakfast”, the aptly titled alcoholic interpretation of Fruity Pebbles to “Deez Nutters” with butter washed rum, egg, salted peanut and honeycomb syrup, Traxler’s creations are anything but standard happy hour fare.

For those who know Traxler, however, this comes as no surprise, since the man himself is anything but your typical bartender.

In fact, he sees himself as a different breed completely, preferring to refer to himself as a “bar chef” instead of a mixologist.

From his professional beginning as the winner of a statewide mixology contest in Arkansas to his current full-time gig running the bar Sideways on Dickson in the same state, Traxler has still managed to fit in making guest-lecturer appearances at national conferences and keeping up a continuous flow of hard-to-believe new adults-only drink recipes.

And when he finds himself with a rare block of free time in his professional schedule? That’s easy. He fills it, just as he did in late March 2016 when he partnered with Bay City, Michigan’s bean roaster Populace Coffee to host “Coffee and Cocktails”. In an interview with Bay City Times the day before the event, Traxler shared the reason behind his distaste for the title “mixologist”, where he gets the inspiration for his creations and what he sees for the future of his career. Here are 7 takeaways from the Q&A with the self-titled “bar chef”.

Bowling alley beginnings

Traxler credits a bowling alley job at Pinny Lanes in Pinconning, Michigan with giving him his first taste of working behind a bar. While his official job title was mechanic, his love of bowling kept him wandering the lanes to check out games. There, bowlers would catch him and ask that he fetch drinks for them. While the unofficial orders were more often for soft drinks than beer, the experience gave him his first taste of life as a bartender. From there he worked the bar at a Buffalo Wild Wings, and nearly every position thereafter was as a bartender.

Foodie at heart

Traxler’s professional experience has largely been behind the bar, but his personal passion has always been more for food than drink. As a result, he finds inspiration for new cocktails primarily in the dishes he loves the most.

Traxler attributes the complex and unusual flavor profiles typical of his creations to his love for food.

One example? An arugula-pear salad topped with gorgonzola became the inspiration for a drink that married gorgonzola-washed tequila, pear, balsamic shrub and arugula. The verdict? “It tastes really good,” according to Traxler, which we’re sure is an understatement.

‘Bar Chef’ explained

Aside from the fact that his concoctions sound more like they belong on the light fare menu than they do the drink menu, Traxler shies away from the term “mixologist” for another reason as well. “It’s a term that has…become bastardized,” he opines. “…you’ll see people putting gummy worms in a cocktail and calling themselves a mixologist.” Hence, the title of “bar chef”.

A day in the life

When he’s not hosting events like the one with Populace Coffee or indulging in recipe-inspiring meals with his wife, Traxler spends his time behind the bar at Fayetteville, Arkansas’ Sideways on Dickson.

He laments that the crowd is comprised mainly of college students, but adds that there is also a craft beer and cocktail menu that he is proud to have created. “…you can dip your toes into every market,” he boasts of the 150 beers, 115 whiskeys and 24 ciders Sideways stocks.

Professional endgame

While he is content running Sideways for now, ultimately Traxler aims to open his own bar. He hopes to achieve his goal within three years but stipulates that he has yet to settle on where he wants it to be. While he appreciates the potential in cities such as Detroit, he adds that having a child in Arkansas means that realistically he will probably stay in the state for the long run. What he does know is what vibe he is aiming for.

“It’s going to be super intimate. I’ve always wanted to do something that incorporates live jazz…”

Those with shallow pockets may not want to hold their collective breath, though. Traxler also wants his establishment to be “…super intimate with very expensive drinks.”

Personal favorites

Surprisingly, despite the entire collection of recipes and potential recipes at his disposal, Traxler is a meat-and-potatoes man when it comes to pouring one for himself, preferring whiskey neat (like the bottle of Elijah 18 he got for his last birthday) and, of course, beer.

To check out more of Traxler’s creative libations, drop into Sideways. Even easier? Check out Instagram and take in the photos featuring his newest recipes for some inspiration.

The Women Who Have Made Spirits History

The Women Who Have Made Spirits History

by | Mar 28, 2016 | IndiNews

While there have been a number of pioneers and inventors who have revolutionized the spirits industry, too often the women who have made spirits history are excluded, or the importance of their contributions are diminished. In this post, we would like to highlight the brilliance and ingenuity of the many women who have led to the vibrant spirits culture that we now live in.

Mary Hebraea

The first alchemist

Without the work of Mary Hebraea in the 1st Century, the world may never have experienced the spirit at all. Hebraea, an alchemist, is often credited with having invented the first alembic still, which is a still wherein vapor is carried through a tube from a heated vessel into a cooling vessel where it recondenses into liquid. This distillation method is, in principle, the very foundation of the spirits industry. Anyone who loves a stiff drink owes much to Hebraea’s invention.

Helen Cumming

Pioneer in distaff distillation

Helen Cumming was not an inventor, but she was a fierce fighter for the love of spirits during an era when the high taxes on their production were illicitly avoided. In the 1800s Cumming worked the stills at Cardow Farm, owned by her and her husband John. Cumming was known for craftily avoiding the excise men who had come to cut the couple’s profits: she would bake bread to cover the yeasty smell of fermentation, often inviting the tax collectors in for tea and scones, and even invented a flag-based signalling system to alert fellow distilleries of the presence of government officials.

Queen Victoria

Her Majesty of Scotch Whisky

Queen Victoria, who reigned for the last 63 years of the 19th Century, was notoriously fond of Scotch whiskey. Her passion for it, as well as her popularizing the now common Scotch & soda mixed drink, led to the decline of Cognac as the most popular spirit and the rise of the whiskey-dominated market we see today. Without her support, the Scotch industry would undoubtedly be much more marginal than it is now. In addition, Queen Victoria serves as the icon of Bombay Sapphire due to her leadership at the time of its distillery’s first formulation.

Pauline Morton Sabine

The Society Queen Who Dethroned Prohibition

Though it might seem strange to include a fierce backer of Prohibition on this list, Pauline Morton Sabin switched sides when she realized how ineffective actually-existing Prohibition really was: after supporting heavy restrictions on alcohol in public, politicians would frequently toast with alcoholic beverages behind closed doors. Bootleggers and other nefarious business dealings troubled her, as well. Resigning from the Republican National Committee, she founded the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform which served a vital role in the eventual repeal of Prohibition. Without her change of heart we might still live in a dry country.

Gertrude ‘Cleo’ Lythgoe

Queen of Rum Row

Gertrude Lythgoe is one of the most famous bootleggers of the Prohibition era. Upon the announcement of Prohibition, Lythgoe moved from her New York home to the Bahamas where she dominated in a male-driven industry. She was renowned for her intellect and beauty, but also for her fierce actions: when men believed they could disrespect her, she would haul them to her office and make clear that they could desist or take a bullet. Primarily a smuggler of whiskey, she was once charged with importing over 1,000 cases into New Orleans but managed to secure her acquittal.

Rita Cowen

The mother of Japanese whisky

Rita Cowan is the woman who is single-handedly responsible for the entire Japanese whiskey trade. She met her future husband, Masataka Taketsuru, while studying at Glasgow University and he asked her for her help and knowledge in producing Scotch-style whiskey in his native Japan. The two were married in 1920 and moved to Japan shortly thereafter. Their venture was a huge success, and Cowan is now often referred to as the “mother of Japanese whiskey.”

To all these women who have made spirits history and to those who have yet to make their mark, cheers to you!

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The Best Cities for Restaurant Jobs May Surprise You

The Best Cities for Restaurant Jobs May Surprise You

by | Mar 14, 2016 | Career

When it comes to finding jobs in the restaurant industry, the grass is always greener in the next city over. However, the places you think of as restaurant meccas may not be the ones you want to pack up and move to.

We’ve compiled a list of cities that we think are the best places for various career paths, factoring in the local restaurant scene, job market, rent, regional economy, state minimum wage for tipped workers, and the average resident’s spending habits. The results included some unexpected winners…

Best city for Servers: Seattle, WA.

Minimum wage for tipped workers in Washington is a staggering $9.47. That’s more than you would earn in California or New York, and, unlike both cities, in Seattle you might find a decent apartment for under $1000 a month! Seattle also has a vibrant restaurant and bar scene; it’s famous for its seafood, but every kind of cuisine is represented.

Best city for Bartenders: Las Vegas, NV.

This one is probably less of a surprise. Minimum wage in Nevada is above average – $7.25 for those who claim health benefits, $8.25 for those who don’t- and in the tourist haven of Las Vegas, you can expect generous tips.

The median amount a Bartender takes home $22 an hour in Sin City.

That goes pretty far in a town where a fair-sized one-bedroom apartment might cost $700 a month. Between its thriving bar scene and its famous casinos, Las Vegas always needs Bartenders, so landing a job, at least, isn’t much of a gamble.

Best city for Cooks and Chefs: Boston, MA.

Minimum wage is only $3.00 in Massachusetts, but the job market favors Chefs and Cooks in the foodie hub of Boston. The median cook can expect to take home $14.40 an hour. In Boston, as in most cities, Cooks make less than a dollar an hour in tips.

Boston’s rent, more than that of most cities, varies wildly by neighborhood, but generally stays under $1000 for a one-bedroom apartment.

Best city to find your first restaurant job: Austin, TX.

It’s true that Texas’ minimum wage is a measly $2.80. However, with unemployment at 3%, Austin’s job market couldn’t be much tighter, driving wages up along with beginning workers’ prospects.

In fact, Austin’s restaurant industry is the fastest-growing in the city.

The city is known for Tex-Mex and southern barbecue, but fine dining and international cuisines are on the rise. Best of all, rent is fairly low, usually around $800 or $900 for a one-bedroom apartment.

Best city to start a restaurant: Buffalo, NY.

If you’ve never been to Buffalo, you might picture it as a crumbling ex-factory town under several feet of snow. You would be right about the snow, but in recent years the former shipping hub has been going through an economic boom, beginning with its restaurants.

One in seventeen Buffalonians works in a restaurant and the city boasts no fewer than five farmers markets, but wages and property values are still relatively low. So if you want the lowest possible starting cost with the largest possible clientele, perhaps you want to learn to make beef on weck.

 

 

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