World Bartender Day

What the day is

World Bartender Day is observed on February 24. Bartending is one of the few service trades with a recognized professional literature going back over a century and a half.

Origin and background

The founding book is Jerry Thomas's bartender's guide, published in 1862 and generally held to be the first cocktail book printed anywhere. Thomas was a celebrity in his own right, touring and performing, and his best-known drink involved passing flaming spirit between two vessels in an arc. The book did something more lasting than showmanship: it wrote down recipes that had circulated only by word of mouth, and in doing so established that this was a craft with standards rather than a job anyone could improvise.

The substance of the work is less visible than the flair. Most of a bartender's competence is organization, since a busy service depends on the station being set up so that every bottle, tool and garnish is reachable without looking. Speed comes from layout and sequence, not from hurrying.

The one piece of technique worth knowing as a drinker concerns ice. Shaking and stirring are not stylistic alternatives. Shaking chills fast, aerates, and adds cloudiness and small ice fragments, which suits drinks containing juice, egg or cream. Stirring chills more slowly and keeps the drink clear and dense, which suits spirit-only drinks. Both also dilute deliberately, and that dilution is part of the recipe rather than a flaw, which is why a cocktail served without any melt tastes harsh.

The less discussed part of the job is judgment about people: pacing a room, noticing who has had enough, and getting someone home safely.

How to take part

• Tip, and tip on the round rather than the last drink.
• Order clearly and all at once when the bar is busy.
• Ask what the bartender likes making rather than reciting a list.
• Notice the dilution. A properly made drink is partly water by design.
• Drink responsibly, and make it easy for staff who have to make that call.