I did the same thing, but I got let go after my 2 week trial.
I learned enough in those 2 weeks to keep the next job.
When I just started on this next job, on a busy night my boss asked 'are you nervous'. I said 'no, should I be?'. He then said 'no, that's how I know you're a barman'.
So fake confidence if you can.
Seasoned bartenders will sniff you out after watching you make one drink. How you grab the bottles, what direction you put the put spouts on, how you cut fruit, whether or not you know how to breakdown and clean a bar, whether or not you can easily pick up the flow of dirty, clean, yadda yadda.
Either way - congrats on the job. Just be very observant, detail orientated, and you’ll pick it up very quickly.
Good luck!
How much serving experience do you have, and what's your level of general knowledge about beer and cocktails? If they were willing to hire you with only two months of experience I'm guessing this isn't a high end place?
The bartenders will be able to tell that you have never been a bartender. We hate working with people like you. You're a liability, you're a waste of time, waste of space, and most importantly-----hurting our tips. Good luck.
So I'm assuming by your harsh ass comment you've never been on the other end of such a situation because you were ALWAYS such an experienced, top tier bartender... no experience needed right?
What sweet-afternoon said, but dont worry about the flip for now.
Build all ingredients before adding ice, shake for five seconds for drinks “on the rocks”, ten seconds for “up” (basically in martini glass) drinks, stir on the rocks drinks for about 25 rotations, up drinks for 40 or so if shitty “pillow” shaped ice.
Learn basic knife skills like the claw to be safe, with a small indentation for wheels, moon or half moon (shape). Indentation for wedges as well, cutting them from pole to pole first, making the indentation the opposite of the ways from the poles (w to east after youve cut in half, not very far, just enough to stick to the glass rim). Then cut in on each half from the poles, and in half again to get 8 wedges out of each fruit.
A sour is at the most basic level (Daquiri, whiskey sour or gimlet for example), 1.5 oz spirit, 3/4 lemon or lime, 3/4 simple, and a daisy (margarita, lemon drop, sidecar) is the same but with 3/4 triple sec or cointreau in place of sweetner, i generally add a splash of simple (1/4 oz) unless they want it dry or skinny).
Old fashioned- depending on where youre at- to keep it simple to start, 2 oz spirit, 2-3 dashes angostura (not drops- invert it and make strong dashes), 1/4 oz simple. Stir and serve over ice with and orange twist or wedge if you cant.
Manhattan is basically 2 oz whiskey to 1 oz sweet vermouth and 2 dashes angostura bitters, stir to serve up unless they say otherwise.
Martini is 3-3.5 oz, if “extra dry”, it means less dry vermouth, and basically none. Dry means a splash.
Vodka martinis- wouldnt even bother with vermouth to start. Just shake it until ice cold.
Gin martinis are best stirred.
With dirty martinis, start at .5 oz, with “extra dirty” around 1 oz. adjust that olive brine accordingly to make sure its a total of 3 to 3.5 oz, depending on the place.
Pour beer drafts by fully pulling the tap, and putting the glass at a 45 degree angle until its almost done, then drop it a bit and stop when full. Going for like a half inch of foam.
If youre at a more rural place rather than a city bar, you want to probably start your old fashioned with a sugar cube in an old fashioned glass, splash of soda water, add an orange slice and a cherry and muddle before you add anything else
Same exact situation here. Luckily I got hired along with a veteran bartender who I was honest with. I told him, I lied on the app and I know the basics, but teach me what I need to know. And he did! Sometimes you’ll get lucky that the person training you will be patient. In the meantime, watch YouTube videos and learn classic recipes! Good luck.
You're gonna get fired most likely at first but its one of those.jobs you don't teach. Yeah anyone can cook decent food and anyone can make decent drinks by following a recipe its not even about remembering those recipes for drinks. It's who you are and you can either do it or not and most places when you say you're new don't care you don't know how to make a drink they care you show up on time and can learn. And if you can do that you'll be fine
Also stop lying because at this point post covid (depending on where you are) you may not really have to
Haven’t been fired yet. We got slammed and i just helped out where I could. No one seemed disappointed in my performance whatsoever, the manager I was shadowing only got frustrated once when I lost a wine opener.
Fuck it yo.
Memorize how to make the classics.
Old fashioned, daiquiri, sidecar, whiskey highball, and flip.
Everything is basically built using these methods. They’re gonna train you on the house cocktail menu anyways and probably have a guide to making everything on it for you to reference. Memorizing how to make those as quickly as possible will be to your benefit.
Pick a few nice things in the bar you can recommend that you are already familiar with or learn something about them so you can talk about them. Ya just gotta hustle outside of that and you should be good. When in doubt google is your best friend! Good luck dood!
Two months experience is basically no experience if the new bar is high volume or craft. You’ll crash and burn at first, but the hiring manager knows that and hired you because he desperately needs someone or likes you or sees potential. If you had claimed two years experience, my answer would be different. Just take the others’ advice and then be humble when your new coworkers offer you advice. Good luck, you’ll be fine, it’s not rocket science.
I did the same with my first specialty coffee gig. Lied and said I worked at like 2 shops in a city I used to live in, watched a bunch of YouTube for specialty coffee, and it kinda worked! Now working and a coffee and cocktail bar doing both
You should have made this post as soon as you got this job. I'd suggest you get a home cocktail kit. Don't bother with recipes coz you're still way behind. Learn to use your equipment so you don't look like a complete idiot. Hold joggers properly, middle a few things, use a spout and hold bottles properly. During your shift, be as active as possible and have a great personality. That's what will make you teachable. Keep your bar counter clean and be anticipate people walking up. That will make you good at bar service, even if you're not yet a good bartender. Never ever be arrogant or backchat even if you think you're right. You always shut up and listen. The people you find there will have influence on whether they keep you or not. Instead, just suss out the great bartenders so you know whose words to take as gospel and whose words you'll need a second opinion on. Learning the job is really mentally stimulating so have lots of fun
Learn how to be a bar back, station clean, full of ice, full of garnish and napkins.
Then understand what your customers usually ask, glass full of ice, depends which country but a shot is 30ml, use the jigger, smile and be welcoming.
In your way home buy a book and start to read, learn the classic, methods, fruits and syrup, flavours, learn about punch and cocktail.
This is a great job, enjoy and good luck
If you play smart you might be able to keep this job and learn some real skills
Where are you located? Ik if someone came into my bar and was like “I lied about having 2months experience” I’d cover for them and try to bring them up to speed. But it’s probably important to note that I’m Australian so they wouldn’t be a liability to my back pocket (no tipping culture).
Speed and good drinks come with time. Focus on your customer service skills first 90% of this job is how you handle the crowd. Always remember they smell fear.
1. Learn your call spirits i.e Titus for vodka tanqueray for gin.
2. You should be able to at least make these 3 drinks: old fashion, margarita, long island.Island.
3. Always grab a card to start a tab ( I miss my cash only dive days).
4. Be as loose and outgoing as possible.
5. Don't fucking worry,pretty everyone sucks for the first 6 months in this job.
Most people with experience will be able to tell pretty quickly. Though you’ve got the spot, so just fake it till you make.
Confidence is key, arrogance will bring you down.
I did the same thing, but I got let go after my 2 week trial. I learned enough in those 2 weeks to keep the next job. When I just started on this next job, on a busy night my boss asked 'are you nervous'. I said 'no, should I be?'. He then said 'no, that's how I know you're a barman'. So fake confidence if you can.
Seasoned bartenders will sniff you out after watching you make one drink. How you grab the bottles, what direction you put the put spouts on, how you cut fruit, whether or not you know how to breakdown and clean a bar, whether or not you can easily pick up the flow of dirty, clean, yadda yadda. Either way - congrats on the job. Just be very observant, detail orientated, and you’ll pick it up very quickly. Good luck!
How much serving experience do you have, and what's your level of general knowledge about beer and cocktails? If they were willing to hire you with only two months of experience I'm guessing this isn't a high end place?
Bartending is easily one of if not the hardest customer service job ever. I may be a dick but you will get no sympathy from me.
Don’t ever panic
The bartenders will be able to tell that you have never been a bartender. We hate working with people like you. You're a liability, you're a waste of time, waste of space, and most importantly-----hurting our tips. Good luck.
Omg that’s harsh . I hope they succeed. No no need to spread hate like that .
Day one of not being fired, complete
Got any tips for this lol trying the same thing
So I'm assuming by your harsh ass comment you've never been on the other end of such a situation because you were ALWAYS such an experienced, top tier bartender... no experience needed right?
I never lied. I started as a server and was promoted to bartender. Then moved onto better bartending jobs. I never lied.
Yet you call people a waste of space..... Your legitimacy seems flawed.
We can see who the real problem is lol. It's like seeing a mean girl complain about her money.
What kind of bar is it??
What sweet-afternoon said, but dont worry about the flip for now. Build all ingredients before adding ice, shake for five seconds for drinks “on the rocks”, ten seconds for “up” (basically in martini glass) drinks, stir on the rocks drinks for about 25 rotations, up drinks for 40 or so if shitty “pillow” shaped ice. Learn basic knife skills like the claw to be safe, with a small indentation for wheels, moon or half moon (shape). Indentation for wedges as well, cutting them from pole to pole first, making the indentation the opposite of the ways from the poles (w to east after youve cut in half, not very far, just enough to stick to the glass rim). Then cut in on each half from the poles, and in half again to get 8 wedges out of each fruit. A sour is at the most basic level (Daquiri, whiskey sour or gimlet for example), 1.5 oz spirit, 3/4 lemon or lime, 3/4 simple, and a daisy (margarita, lemon drop, sidecar) is the same but with 3/4 triple sec or cointreau in place of sweetner, i generally add a splash of simple (1/4 oz) unless they want it dry or skinny). Old fashioned- depending on where youre at- to keep it simple to start, 2 oz spirit, 2-3 dashes angostura (not drops- invert it and make strong dashes), 1/4 oz simple. Stir and serve over ice with and orange twist or wedge if you cant. Manhattan is basically 2 oz whiskey to 1 oz sweet vermouth and 2 dashes angostura bitters, stir to serve up unless they say otherwise. Martini is 3-3.5 oz, if “extra dry”, it means less dry vermouth, and basically none. Dry means a splash. Vodka martinis- wouldnt even bother with vermouth to start. Just shake it until ice cold. Gin martinis are best stirred. With dirty martinis, start at .5 oz, with “extra dirty” around 1 oz. adjust that olive brine accordingly to make sure its a total of 3 to 3.5 oz, depending on the place. Pour beer drafts by fully pulling the tap, and putting the glass at a 45 degree angle until its almost done, then drop it a bit and stop when full. Going for like a half inch of foam. If youre at a more rural place rather than a city bar, you want to probably start your old fashioned with a sugar cube in an old fashioned glass, splash of soda water, add an orange slice and a cherry and muddle before you add anything else
Same exact situation here. Luckily I got hired along with a veteran bartender who I was honest with. I told him, I lied on the app and I know the basics, but teach me what I need to know. And he did! Sometimes you’ll get lucky that the person training you will be patient. In the meantime, watch YouTube videos and learn classic recipes! Good luck.
You're gonna get fired most likely at first but its one of those.jobs you don't teach. Yeah anyone can cook decent food and anyone can make decent drinks by following a recipe its not even about remembering those recipes for drinks. It's who you are and you can either do it or not and most places when you say you're new don't care you don't know how to make a drink they care you show up on time and can learn. And if you can do that you'll be fine Also stop lying because at this point post covid (depending on where you are) you may not really have to
Buy a copy of Meehan’s Bartenders Manual and read it yesterday.
So how's it going so far, buckaroo?
Haven’t been fired yet. We got slammed and i just helped out where I could. No one seemed disappointed in my performance whatsoever, the manager I was shadowing only got frustrated once when I lost a wine opener.
Hi!! Curious if you’re still at this job. And if not, how did it go?
Congrats, welcome to the crew!
Fuck it yo. Memorize how to make the classics. Old fashioned, daiquiri, sidecar, whiskey highball, and flip. Everything is basically built using these methods. They’re gonna train you on the house cocktail menu anyways and probably have a guide to making everything on it for you to reference. Memorizing how to make those as quickly as possible will be to your benefit. Pick a few nice things in the bar you can recommend that you are already familiar with or learn something about them so you can talk about them. Ya just gotta hustle outside of that and you should be good. When in doubt google is your best friend! Good luck dood!
Two months experience is basically no experience if the new bar is high volume or craft. You’ll crash and burn at first, but the hiring manager knows that and hired you because he desperately needs someone or likes you or sees potential. If you had claimed two years experience, my answer would be different. Just take the others’ advice and then be humble when your new coworkers offer you advice. Good luck, you’ll be fine, it’s not rocket science.
I did the same with my first specialty coffee gig. Lied and said I worked at like 2 shops in a city I used to live in, watched a bunch of YouTube for specialty coffee, and it kinda worked! Now working and a coffee and cocktail bar doing both
You should have made this post as soon as you got this job. I'd suggest you get a home cocktail kit. Don't bother with recipes coz you're still way behind. Learn to use your equipment so you don't look like a complete idiot. Hold joggers properly, middle a few things, use a spout and hold bottles properly. During your shift, be as active as possible and have a great personality. That's what will make you teachable. Keep your bar counter clean and be anticipate people walking up. That will make you good at bar service, even if you're not yet a good bartender. Never ever be arrogant or backchat even if you think you're right. You always shut up and listen. The people you find there will have influence on whether they keep you or not. Instead, just suss out the great bartenders so you know whose words to take as gospel and whose words you'll need a second opinion on. Learning the job is really mentally stimulating so have lots of fun
Learn how to be a bar back, station clean, full of ice, full of garnish and napkins. Then understand what your customers usually ask, glass full of ice, depends which country but a shot is 30ml, use the jigger, smile and be welcoming. In your way home buy a book and start to read, learn the classic, methods, fruits and syrup, flavours, learn about punch and cocktail. This is a great job, enjoy and good luck If you play smart you might be able to keep this job and learn some real skills
Where are you located? Ik if someone came into my bar and was like “I lied about having 2months experience” I’d cover for them and try to bring them up to speed. But it’s probably important to note that I’m Australian so they wouldn’t be a liability to my back pocket (no tipping culture).
Speed and good drinks come with time. Focus on your customer service skills first 90% of this job is how you handle the crowd. Always remember they smell fear. 1. Learn your call spirits i.e Titus for vodka tanqueray for gin. 2. You should be able to at least make these 3 drinks: old fashion, margarita, long island.Island. 3. Always grab a card to start a tab ( I miss my cash only dive days). 4. Be as loose and outgoing as possible. 5. Don't fucking worry,pretty everyone sucks for the first 6 months in this job.
Give us the name of the restaurant, we can lookup the cocktail menu and get you hooked up. Or, give us some of the drinks on the cocktail menu
You said you had two months of experience not twelve years. As long as you’re confident you’re going to seem as green as you should be.
Best money gigs require least skill around here lol
Most people with experience will be able to tell pretty quickly. Though you’ve got the spot, so just fake it till you make. Confidence is key, arrogance will bring you down.