When looking for a job as a bartender, the first thing an applicant is asked: “Do you have the servers’ certification?” This certification proves that you have passed the testing of your knowledge of the laws concerning serving alcohol to the public and the rules regarding minors and public intoxication. The bartender must be aware at all times the amount of alcohol is being consumed by the customers, particularly drawing upon bartending training and their own personality to regulate customers that intend to become very inebriated at the bar.

Although adults hold their own responsibility, if accidents occur due to the bartender allowing customers to consume far too much alcohol, the bartender and the bar can be held responsible. That draws questions as to how much is too much and at what exact point would a serving bartender and the establishment itself become responsible for some other adult’s behavior and lack of social protocol. In other words, how drunk is too drunk?

Getting it figured

Some bars and establishments have bought a gadget similar to the breath-a-lizer, so that inebriated customers can “prove” that they are un-drunk enough to have yet another drink of their favorite buzz. It’s getting so scary to leave oneself open to the possibility of lawsuits for contributing to the actions of drunk drivers, bar equipment supply companies now sell these gadgets directly to bar owners and bartenders. Bar establishments have gone so far into protecting themselves, that some request that their bartenders take a CPR course and get primed to be able to operate a defibrillator device, just in case a customer can’t be transported out of their bar and to a hospital quick enough and the customer needs a heart jump-start right on the minute. Bartenders that have passed a CPR/AED course can get authorized to carry their own personal defibrillator device.

The law mandates that a bartender must refuse to serve an inebriated customer, who is by visual observation, becoming unbalanced, falling off the stool, extraordinarily slurring speech or falling on the floor. If the drunk customer is leaving the bar with car keys, but is clearly unable to drive, then the bartender should attempt to have the customer wait for a taxi. The bar manager should be immediately notified if the inebriated customer insists on leaving the bar to get into a vehicle to drive or tries to take a swing at the bartender for attempting to intervene. The bartender should, if possible, follow the customer out the door and get the license plate number, a description of the car, and the direction the car is driving in. The bar manager should call the police to hopefully intercept the car before they possibly harm themselves or others with their reckless and unsafe driving.

Bartenders are also responsible to ensure that persons that don’t look 21 years old or older do not sit at the bar and order alcoholic drinks. Bartenders should ask for identification, and determine the accuracy of it. Bartenders can refuse to serve persons without verifiable identification, if their age is in question.

Alcohol consumption can be measured

Most people won’t drink more than three drinks, four at the most. Alcohol is absorbed through the mouth, throat and small intestine, and is eliminated at a rate of .5 ounces per hour. In other words, a one ounce drink will take two hours to be eliminated from the body tissues. Bartenders will know this, because the servers’ certification course includes that data and statistics and bartenders will pass their certification course only by knowing the answers to questions relating to the biology of alcohol consumption.

Making drinks for picky drinkers

Bartenders have to take care to maintain a clean bar for customers at all times. Glasses that drinks are served in should be clean and dry. The bartender’s hands should be clean and disinfected with hand sanitizer prior to making any drinks for customers. When pouring drinks, bartenders should try to just handle the stem of the glass or the middle or bottom portion of stem-less glasses. Only an ice scooper should be used to scoop the ice. Ice should never be scooped with the hands or fingers. The glass itself should not be used to scoop ice. Tiny bits of glass shards could contaminate the ice and cause injury. If a glass chips or breaks near the ice bin, then consider that ice to be contaminated and immediately pour a little grenadine over it so other bartenders will know that the ice is not to be used for customer’s drinks.

Lots of customers will watch a bartender mixing their drink, and also mixing others’ drinks. Part of the watching is to make sure that the bartender is making a “clean” drink. No wiping at the nose, swiping the hair back, scratching the bod or coughing into the open drink glass. Some customers are so picky that if it even looks like the bartender’s finger has touched any of the inside of the glass, the customer will refuse the drink and insist on another drink being made. The way to avoid that type of customer complaint is to always make a clean drink. If something needs to be scratched or if the bartender feels a sneeze coming on, just walking a short distance away will solve the problem. Then, with newly washed hands, the bartender finishes up the customers drink. No complaint there, so the customer will likely be very happy with their pretty and clean drink and ask for another when done with the first one, or the second one.

Bars have different rules regarding bartenders having drinks behind the bar at the same time as serving drinks to customers. Most establishments don’t allow bartenders to drink and work at the same time. If the bar allows bartenders to have a drink, then the bartender should make a big deal out of washing and disinfecting their hands immediately afterward. Taking out a paper towel to dry the hands in full view of customers will greatly boost the bartenders’ tick on the scale of trustworthy bartending. When several bartenders are working a bar, returning customers will always try to sit near the bartender with the “clean hands”.

A clean bar for sloppy customers and clean customers, too

Some customers are sloppy and others are downright nasty. The bartender really should ask a customer to stop putting cigarette ashes, chewing gum wrappers, food leftovers, dirty tissues and other debris all over the bar. Bartenders shouldn’t feel shy about telling customers to be clean at the bar. Politely asked, the customer shouldn’t get irate and complain to the bar manager that their feelings have been trampled upon.

The bar itself should be as clean as possible at all times. The bartender should empty the ashtrays after at least two cigarette butts, and wipe the bar with a damp cloth after each customer leaves. If there are spills on the bar while a customer is still sitting at the bar, then the bartender should politely inform the customer of the need to wipe the bar. Usually the customer will comply and lift their glass. Other customers don’t think a messy bar is a problem, so a little diplomacy may be in order for a bartender to get the job done.

Knowing when not to tell a bar joke

Many bartenders know a few bar jokes and like to tell them. When customers are regulars, the bartender gets to know them a little bit and basically knows what jokes would be acceptable. When new customers come in, the bartender should look at them to correctly gauge their personality and status to decide if a joke should be told to them, so as not to be offensive and drive away a customer. For instance, a lot of women that will go to a bar alone sometimes complain of the rudeness of the bartender. Surely, the so-called rudeness was not intentional – the bartender simply judged the woman by her physical appearance, thinking that because she was well-built, she would like an off-color, rather raunchy joke. The woman customer won’t be a repeat customer or become a regular, that’s for sure. A bartender has to be careful in the assessment of people. If the bartender is in doubt about a joke, but wants to try it out, try it out on the regular fellas, and take a peek at the other customers to gauge their reaction. If embarrassment is noted, the bartender can just tell another joke that’s not so bad, so as to clear the air. The best policy is when in doubt, just don’t.

Call drinks for customers that like the best of the best

Upselling can make a bartender get a bigger tip. Offer a customer a top shelf brand name. Some drinks are call drinks, such as scotch and soda or rum and coke. The difference in your tip may depend on which scotch and which rum is chosen by the customer. On the other hand, offering a call drink to a customer that doesn’t have much money may cause the customer to become nervous. Leaving it light, and sort of off-handedly asking a customer about their preferred drink, is sure to keep the low-funds customer sitting at the bar, even if it’s just to have the buck-fifty beer special and an empty ashtray.

Making drinks that anyone would like

That’s basically what bartenders do – make drinks, right? A good bartender-personality, great jokes and nice tips insure that a pleasant time is to be had by all. But what if the bartender makes nasty, disgusting-tasting drinks? The customers will surely let their feelings be known. Some ingredients just don’t taste good mixed with other ingredients. The right balance of ingredients is imperative in getting the delicious, palatable drink.

There are literally thousands of drink recipes and variations of drink recipes. It’s impossible to memorize them all. No matter how seasoned the bartender, or how many drinks the bartender has memorized, there will always be a customer sooner or later, that will ask for a drink that the bartender never heard of. Therefore, a bartender should keep at all times, a little index card box containing recipes written on each card, in alphabetical order. When a customer orders a drink that is not immediately able to be fixed, then the cards can be referred to. That will help insure that the customer will be satisfied and will come back again and again for their favorite drink, mixed the way they like it.