Lifestyle of Bartending Series

Interested in bartending? We have a whole slew of info for you - first the bartending series, where you can learn the ins and outs of becoming and being a bartender. Then a cocktail series, and then finally a bartender series to know bartenders and what they are up to now. Enjoy!


How to Become a Successful Bartender

Bartending is a unique job that combines serving drinks, entertaining guests, and managing a busy bar all at the same time. It can be a thrilling and fulfilling experience for those who love being in the center of the action, but it can also be a source of frustration for those who are not well-suited to the demands of the ...

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Bartending Lifestyle Series – NYC Big Apple Experience!

Two months ago I had the opportunity to travel to one of the biggest, brightest, busiest cities in the world, New York. It’s a bartenders dream to be able to even get the opportunity to experience the Big Apple. It is home to some of the world’s greatest bars, restaurant & nightclubs and I wanted to see them all. Shawn ...

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Bartending Series – Days of My Life!

I have been infatuated with this industry for the better part of my life. I fell for the people, the lifestyle and the aura that surrounds working in a bar. From the drudgery of working the bar during the day, prepping, cutting and stocking. To the intense rush, you get when you step into that bar on a Friday night, ...

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Preparing For The Day of Bartending Competitions

You have made it to the show, congratulations! It is the morning of the competition and now you are just 12 hours from being in front of 200 plus people mixing your creation for the world. You have prepared endlessly, but are you ready for the spectacle that is the arena? (This really gets into the Zen of bartending, it ...

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Preparing Yourself For Bartender Competitions (Part 1 of 2)

I have talked about the psychology that is involved in entering a mixology competition, now I want to take the next step of preparing yourself properly for one. It is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Standing in front of a crowd is some people’s biggest fear and it was mine for a long time. The hot ...

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Cocktail Mixology Basics! (Just What You Need to Know)

It’s hard to take something that I have been doing for so long back to the basics, but I am going to try. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s hard to do what guys like I do. Bartending is only a skill like ice skating or knitting and a skill can be nurtured and trained. Anyone can make cocktails; it ...

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Got that Bartender Job – Now What? (Surviving the 1st night)

You Got the Job, NOW WHAT? A Newbies survival guide to surviving the first night You have gone to the interviews, preening yourself to make that best first impression. The interviews were sweat induced 20 questions from the upper echelons of the restaurant. But you beat the gauntlet and now you have the job that everyone wants, bartender. What can ...

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Bartending Lifestyle Series – New Bartender Survival Guide!

Shawn Soole December 7, 2006 So you think you’re ready? You have finished Bartending School and you’re now ready to get your first job in the big bartending world. Here are some helpful hints on what can make or break your first job interview. 1) Get your resume sorted. Have your resume as up to date as possible. If you ...

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Cocktail Series

Cocktail Series – Drunk Punch Love!

Shawn Soole February 12, 2007 This lovely creation comes about thanks to my chef being a bored one day. He had made some sugar syrup and decided to infuse some with a mixture of spices. We had a vanilla, star anise, mint and Turkish delight flavoured sugar syrup. I literally felt like a kid in a candy shop, I didn’t ...

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Submit your Cocktail Recipe! Pick Your Favorite

I have put up a few of my cocktails I have had on various lists and bars. Some of them easy others a little bit more complex, all interesting and usable. But I always worry that the drinks I put out are going to come off as pretentious, obnoxious and arrogant. The simplest of drinks are often the best, the ...

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Cocktail Series – Ginger Lynn Cocktail!

Shawn Soole February 5, 2007 This cocktail came from one of my latest fetish ingredients – Ginger Marmalade. There’s an annual mixology competition back home in Australia that uses Chartreuse as the main ingredient. Chartreuse is a scary spirit to work with, it’s not for the faint hearted. It’s extremely alcoholic, highly herbaceous & hard to match up with other ...

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Cocktail Series – Cool Hand Luke!

Shawn Soole January 22, 2007 This cocktail is one of my signature cocktails; it follows me everywhere I go. I think that every bartender worth is salt has one. It took me about 18 months to perfect it and it’s really simple for both the amateur home bartender to the experienced mixologist. It was actually a dare from my work ...

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Cocktail Series – The Daiquiri!

Shawn Soole January 11, 2007 Some classics weren’t created by bartenders; they were created out of pure necessity. Jennings Cox, an American engineer working in the copper mines outside Santiago had to entertain local engineers one night and found he was out of gin. Cox collaborated with a visiting engineer, Pagliuchi and came up with a mixture of rum, sugar ...

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