A bartender is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but also occasionally at private parties. Bartenders also usually maintain the supplies and inventory for the bar. As well as serving beer and wine, a bartender can generally also mix classic cocktails such as a Cosmopolitan, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, and Mojito.
A pisco sour is an alcoholic cocktail of Peruvian origin that is typical of Peruvian cuisine and Chilean cuisine. The drink's name comes from pisco, which is its base liquor, and the cocktail term sour, about sour citrus juice and sweetener components. The Peruvian pisco sour uses Peruvian pisco as the base liquor and adds freshly squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup, ice, egg white, and Angostura bitters. The Chilean version is similar, but uses Chilean pisco and Pica lime, and excludes the bitters and egg white. Other variants of the cocktail include those created with fruits like pineapple or plants such as coca leaves.
A sour is a traditional family of mixed drinks. Sours belong to one of the old families of original cocktails and are described by Jerry Thomas in his 1862 book How to Mix Drinks.
Flair bartending is the practice of bartenders entertaining guests, clientele or audiences with the manipulation of bar tools and liquor bottles in tricky, dazzling ways. Used occasionally in cocktail bars, the action requires skills commonly associated with jugglers. It has become a sought-after talent among venue owners and marketers to help advertise a liquor product or the opening of a bar establishment. Competitions have been sponsored by liquor brands to attract flair bartenders, and some hospitality training companies hold courses to teach flair techniques.
Brian Van Flandern is an American mixologist, spirits historian, and award-winning cocktail book author. He has been called "America's Top Mixologist" by Food Network. His book, Vintage Cocktails, won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards|Gourmand World Cookbook Award for best Cocktail book in the World 2009.
A Signature drink is any unique or original drink that expresses the nature of the person or establishment creating it.
A well drink or rail drink is an alcoholic beverage served using the lower-cost liquors stored within easy reach of the bartender in the counter "speed rail", "speed rack", or "well".
Warren Bobrow is a mixologist, chef, and writer known as the Cocktail Whisperer. Bobrow is a freelance mixologist specializing in Craft Spirits. He has developed bar programs and implemented their cocktail and ice programs. Warren served as master mixologist for several brands of liquor, including the Busted Barrel rum produced by New Jersey's first licensed distillery since Prohibition.
Cheryl Charming is an American bar professional and published author of 16 books on cocktails and bartending. She currently works as the Bar Director at the Bourbon "O” Bar in New Orleans, Louisiana, and in 2014 was named the New Orleans Magazine Mixologist of the Year. She is nationally known for her bartending and books.
Ada Coleman (1875–1966) was head bartender at the Savoy Hotel in London for 23 years, one of only two women to have held that position. While working at the Savoy, she invented the "hanky panky", a distinctive variation on the sweet martini cocktail.
Speed Rack is a speed bartending competition for women in the United States that was cofounded by bartenders Ivy Mix and Lynnette Marrero. In 2011, Mix approached Marrero, who was the president of the New York City chapter of LUPEC, about creating a competition to showcase talented women in the craft cocktail world. The competition raises funds for Breast Cancer education, prevention and research, while promoting women bartenders in an largely male promoted industry.
Yangdup Lama is bartender, bar-owner, entrepreneur, author and mixologist based in India and is known to be one of India's finest mixologists.
Eryn Reece is an American bartender. She is the bar director for Banzabar and Freemans Restaurant, both in New York City. In 2013, Reece was named Speed Rack National Champion. In 2014, The Daily Meal named her one of the top 25 bartenders in the United States. Reece has been profiled in, and her work featured in, PUNCH, The Daily Beast, Maxim, WPIX, The Spirits Business, Thrillist, and other media outlets.
Ivy Mix is an American bartender. She is head bartender and co-owner of the James Beard Award-nominated bar Leyenda in Brooklyn, New York. She co-founded Speed Rack alongside Lynnette Marrero. Mix was named Best American Bartender of the Year at Tales of the Cocktail in 2015.
Julie Reiner is an American mixologist, club owner, and author. Reiner is one of New York's most influential bar owners, having established the Flatiron Lounge, Lani Kai, and the Clover Club. Major publications have featured Reiner's drink recipes, including The Wall Street Journal, Playboy, Esquire, GQ, and Time Out London. Reiner has trained many female bartenders.
Takumi Watanabe is a Japanese bartender. He has worked in the Sailing Bar in Sakurai Nara since 1994. He is known for the cocktail Takumi's Aviation.
Gary "Gaz" Regan was a British-born bartender and a bar-writer in the U.S. He was known for his book The Joy of Mixology.
Natasha David is a German-born American bartender, mixologist, and author. In 2014, David opened the cocktail bar Nitecap on New York's Lower East Side, which was acclaimed by critics and became known for its selection of boilermakers, slushies, and spritzers. David also competed on Iron Chef America. Nitecap closed in September 2020 due to the pandemic concerning Covid-19. In 2022, David authored the cocktail recipe book Drink Lightly, which features 100+ recipes for low and no-alcohol drinks. David has consulted for notable restaurants and bars such as Soho Grand Hotel and Roxy Hotel. Her cocktail recipes have been featured in many publications and books, such as New York Times, Bon Appetit, and The Essential Cocktail Book. Ms. David has also been awarded as Zagat's 30 under 30, Eater's Bartender of the Year, StarChef's Rising Star, and Imbibe Bartender of the Year. She co-owns You & Me Cocktail with her husband Jeremy Oertel. The company is responsible for a range of projects including Paul Sevigny’s Baby Grand and the forthcoming revamp of Pravda‘s cocktail program.
The craft cocktail movement is a social movement spurred by the cocktail renaissance, a period of time in the 21st century characterized by a revival and re-prioritization of traditional recipes and methods in the bar industry, especially in the United States. The renaissance spanned from 2004 into the late 2010s. By 2017, high-quality ingredients, techniques, and liquors began to be ubiquitous in bars across the United States, leading writers to declare the renaissance over.
