These are great times to become a bartender.

Being involved with the beverage industry for more than two decades and being an influencer in creating “bartending” as a profession and converting it into a paradigm, I have witnessed the journey of bartending profession from evolution to these revolutionary times.

With the turn of the century, the industry has become a hotbed of cocktail innovations, craft beers, Mixologists creating “WOW” experience for consumers, consumers multiplying exponentially due to globalization and being loaded with disposable income, and liquor companies realizing the potential of the consumer growth have begun to recognize the value of bartenders.

The Golden Age of Bartending is being re-claimed and that too as of now, as you read this write up.

There are 4 parameters linked to this profession- a bartender, liquor companies, bars and the consumer. The industry is consolidating at all levels; and that too in all four parameters.

A bartender has graduated to being a Mixologist and further acquiring new skills to become a Bar Chef. Liquor companies are aggressively strategizing growth at all levels of manufacturers, distributors and retailers. They are employing bartenders as Brand Ambassadors in order to connect within the industry for placements of brands and stock movements. They are investing in educating the consumer as well the bartender, about their product craft and investing on product applications through these brand ambassadors. The bar owners are investing in brand building and investing in multiple outlets via collaborations and partnerships. The fine dining is dying a slow death and experience dining and trend drinking is the new culture. Social media, especially, Instagram and Facebook have revolutionized the entire F&B gamut. To woo the consumer, “Value for Money” offered is more today, as compared to yesteryears. Consumer preferences have gone from whiskies to vodkas and back to whiskies and craft drinks. The cocktail has reemerged with a vengeance.

This profession and the industry is looked upon as a game changer, which today comes wrapped with strategic investments in

1. Employing of labor with skills, techniques and creativity,
2. Marketing & Brand Development
3. Sales & Distribution
4. Alliances and Collaborations

Being in the booze business for 25 years now, I have seen fundamental shifts in all aspects, though the most important person in the drink business chain, the influencer, gate keeper of choice of brands is still the bartender.

Earlier, way back in early 90’s, the bartender would make some popular cocktails and twist classics a way bit would be a star. Flaring and juggling of bottles turned heads and brought instant recognition and earnings. There was a drama. Second half of the 90’s saw glow glassware and ice cubes and theme parties, where the bar became a part of the show and entertainment and bartender became “Showtender”.

I founded a company of my own by the name “Shaken or Stirred?” in 1996.

We as a bar company evolved quickly. Due to wedding scene in India, I as a bartender became a national craze due to lack of supply of good bartenders. I started a concept of beverage catering and I started hiring freelance bartenders for events. I started my internal bar academy which later became a national bar academy by the name “Institute of Bar Operations & Management”. It became a different profitable vertical. Few years down the line, my friends Yangdup Lama and Neeren Tiwari started a bar company by the name “Cocktails & Dreams”. It also became an instant hit. Shatbhi Basu started “Stir” Bar Academy in Mumbai. She was the first lady bartender in the count. Irfan Ahmed, a very talented young bartender started gaining popularity in Kolkatta. Bartenders became stars overnight. An industry started to bloom. Then came the first cocktail bar to India- “Thank God it’s Friday”. Corporates, as well individuals loved the concept. Cocktail culture caught on fire.

Tough part was that in those days, alcohol was considered to be a social stigma and parents of youth did not want their kids to get into bartending profession. Hence 90’s and millennium turn around saw the imbalance of demand and supply. It still exists.

By 2003, we as a company were fully established and started consulting for liquor brands, hotels and standalone restaurants. The exponential growth of F&B sector and emerging chains and standalone bars gave industry the much-needed shot in the arm. My company, my colleagues and me became “Wolves of the Bar Business”. I led the pack. The money was good. We took care of our wolves till they started falling out of the pack and started under cutting the services and prices. We stuck to our guns and changed our strategy. We started charging more so that the competitors cannot bridge the gap, but added more value to our services. The drama evolved, foreign bartenders were hired to work for us and also upgraded the skills of our own bartenders. The evolution took turn and evolved into revolutionary ideas. In 2003, 2004 and 2005, we started our bar competition “Bar Wizard Awards” to award and reward the personnel, outlets and organization contributing to the advancement of the industry.

Though, in today’s times, the aspirations and motivations have changed the nature and outlook of bartending and the people who work that craft. Today, bartender is looked upon as a Mixologist or a bar chef. What has happened is that liquor companies have started recognizing the potential and value of bartenders as influencers. They started having competitions with big prize monies and international travels. This motivates the entire bartending community and influences the aspirational goals of bartender. Giving bartenders the job as brand ambassadors which gives them instant recognition and monies, helps the brand move faster through the community. This is fabulous marriage and is here to stay as long as the liquor company makes its own share of monies.

The cocktail world is booming and it has come back more popular than ever. Today, a good bartender is a celebrity of his own kind earning anything from 50K to 10 lacs a month.

Our down line bartenders are placed all over the world and making a global impact.

The way I see bartenders evolving today as:

1. Bartenders to Bar Chefs

Journey in the bartending world, thanks to the cocktail culture, has elevated the art of bartending – from bartender to Mixologist to bar chef. Regardless of the level, it’s an exciting time to be behind the stick with the craft moving beyond, “what will you have?” to “try this.”

What excites them is the creativity. Today industry has created a space for artistic people to choose bartending as their way of expressing themselves. So we’ve got more and more artistic people behind the bar, and I think that just keeps progressing. Molecular mixology has opened more avenues in terms of creativity. I greatly admire Chef Heston Marc Blumenthal to create this whole new world of molecular gastronomy.

Some of the best Indian Mixologist leaving their mark on the global platform are Devender Sehgal (8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong), Hemant Pathak (Junoon, NYC), Sanjay Naik (Joel Robuchon,Singapore), Sherine John (Tresind, Dubai).

2. Brand Ambassador

Liquor companies have realized that to generate interest in their brands and products, they need to capture the hearts and minds of the key influencer and gatekeeper, the bartender. Who better than another bartender? And so, another career path became available to bartenders.

For those who enjoy and excel at a brand ambassadorship, the opportunity to expand into a spirits company can be a likely further step in career development. Particularly, since major companies are beginning to understand that brand success and even revitalization comes from the bar trade and the people who know it well.

Khushnaz Raghina (Diageo brands), Pankaj Balachandran (Monkey Shoulder).

3. Becoming the boss

Upward mobility and career advancement is not solely in the domain of the desk bound.

I suppose this aspiration has always been there, but I notice more and more that bartenders I know and meet have become creative directors, bar supervisors and/or Food and Beverage Managers. As multi-unit establishments expand and grow, the need for qualified leadership will also grow.

The key ingredients are a passion for the food and beverage industry, managerial skills, and for some, an advanced degree. Above all it helps to have a mentor and a work environment that nurtures and rewards business talent.

Rohan Carvalho (Beverage Innovation Head- Café Coffee Day, Founder- Bar Square), Varun Sudhakar (Beverage Innovation Head- Pizza Express).

4. The entrepreneurial spirit

Opening one’s own bar is a risky proposition, with compounded risks if food is part of the equation. Tough, but not impossible, assuming the financial and managerial resources are in play. Aman Dua (Drink Designers, Philtre), Yangdup Lama (Speakeasy, Side Car), Vaibav Singh (Perch).

However, the entrepreneurial path is not limited to opening an establishment.

If opening a bar is risky then launching a distillery is, well, perilous. And yet, many try and some succeed. In addition to financial resources, it takes training, patience, long hours, and people skills. Bar-Back Collective (Rohan Jelkie, Arijit Bose, Pankaj Balachandran, Vaibav, Anand Virmani).

I ventured into a brand IBOM (Institute of Bar Operations & Management) which umbrellas three verticals- www.barwizard.in (bartender school), Bardevils (Beverage Catering), Grassroots Innovative Workforce Solutions (F&B Consulting, HRD, Auditing). We are in the expansion mode through franchise module.

I guess, I just like being a bartender. I am happy to contribute to this industry and create phenomenal bartenders, bars and moments.

Much love & good vibes, have a “Sandy-astic” life !

Sandy Verma

#weddingbartenders #bartendersforhire #volumecocktails

In a country like India, bar events are taken very seriously. Whether its social events like weddings and related events or corporate events related to awards and rewards, team building or conferences, or be product launches or fashion shows, bar is a key attraction. Managing bars with high volumes of dispensing is not easy.

If you’ve been to a major cocktail event in the last 20 years, chances are Sandy Verma had something to do with it. Sandy has become the very first guy to call when it comes to making cocktails in giant volumes. At times there are multiple functions and aligned back to back; dinners getting over in the wee hours followed by lunches carrying onto sundowners and even dinners. It’s an enigma!

Few years back, Sandy undertook the biggest event of all in Punjab, a sprawling social event in a Chandigarh Stadium attended by approximately 50,000 people. That amounts to hiring 200 bartenders; 50 bars; hundreds of gallons of simple syrup and lime-juice; thousands of kilos of ice.

It takes days of planning the resources, organizing vendors to drop their supplies in time, organizing licenses, liquor purchase, bills post negotiations with liquor companies, strategizing menus, designing uniforms, organizing store and prep spaces, distribution of alcohol and inventories running into thousands of bottles brand wise.

Tips to handle large volume bar events:

Plan well to execute smoothly. Get your information and paperwork ready to the tee. Plan the menu sensibly.

Try to get as much information about the set-up and situation as possible beforehand, so you know what you’re walking into and can prepare accordingly. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Have all your information in place- Background of the event, venue and accessibility, number of guests, background of people and cultures, kind of event, purpose and focus of the event, entertainment, layouts, entry and exits, behind the scene prep area, bar space and lengths, number of bars strategically placed in each area, distribution network and supply chain, storage area, inventory sheets with each bars requirement, manpower supply, food menus to make your suggestions for beverages.

Once you have all the information in place, now we have to plan on paper.

Know your audience and food menu and tune your cocktails and volume accordingly. Do not keep too many cocktails on the menu. Limit your inventory by having house specials according to the local tastes and availability of products. I would recommend 6-8 cocktails and 4 non-alcoholic cocktails in the menu. Have a separate section and bar for molecular cocktail bar. You can’t serve every thing to every one.

Get the rates of all products from your vendors. Squeeze them for discounts for bulk purchases. Prepare your excel sheet with requirements of alcohol, ingredients and cordials according to the menu selected. Get your projected costs for the event and forward it to your client, safe guarding your profits. He is happy to have this given to him on a platter.

How to figure out the volume of liquor and material?

The hardest part is figuring out the volume.

Once you have the information on number of people attending the function, their culture, nature of kind of function, entertainment and duration of function, find out if there are any ladies or kids in the function. Ladies with kids will drink less or perhaps, might not drink alcohol at all. The consumption of alcohol by the guests attending a corporate and fine dining event will be less than that for the people who are attending a pre wedding cocktail party with a known DJ, who are likely too let their hair down and will dance till the wee hours.

In a corporate event, 60% guests are likely to take 1-3 drinks per head, on an average. In a pre wedding function, 70% guests will take 3-5 drinks on an average. The variance in forecast and actual should not exceed 15%.

How do you choose which recipes are best for an event?

In a corporate function, wine and malts will be on a flow along with some classic cocktails. Younger generation is likely to consume white spirits and cocktails- Gin cocktails; Martinis or Aperol will be preferred over other drinks. Kamikaze, Jagermeister or Sake bombs will vanish once the party gets going with youngsters. Plan your menu and forecast consumption brand-wise carefully. Brunches should have Campari, Champagne, Pimms and Aperol based drinks. Sangria, Bloody Mary, fresh fruit and herbs based cocktails is a must.

There are so many factors: your audience, the style of the event, whether or not you’re working with a brand. But the biggest is probably knowing what your bar set-up is.

How to handle perishable ingredients, like ice and fresh juice?

Always order more ice than you think you’ll need. It’s the backbone of making a drink, so err on the side of too much. I use the thumb rule of 1 kg per person and a little extra incase the weather is hot or the event is outdoors. The chilling ice blocks are not a part of consuming or drinking ice.

The same goes for glassware. Never assume that you will have the time (or the facilities) to wash glassware, so prepare by having more than you need. Always order 3-4 times more than the number of guests. One set is held in the hand by the guest, one for washing through clearance, one set on the bar counter and one as a backup.

When it comes to fresh ingredients, work with integrity and generosity. For instance, if you are making a sour of some kind, batch your citrus and simple syrup together, because the sugar preserves the juice and cuts one step out of building your drink. Additionally, instead of muddling fresh herbs or fruits, make syrups out of them; it’s less of a mess, more consistent, easier to control. Use zip locks with no air to preserve your fruits and herbs.

Strategize. Always have a commissary and a feeder bar in the back of the house. Ensure a proper storage area.

Never risk your operations by not having space for your operations in the back area. We have our own warehouse for prepping, a warehouse for bottling and labeling batched cocktails in Delhi and ensure to make one when travel outstation and we also always build a commissary for dispatching batched ingredients to various bars that are spread out across the space. Always have a dedicated in charge at each drop zone to call in for more supplies when needed. Having a little garnish cutting section and a shots making section is not a luxury but a necessity.

There has to be a separate storage space for liquor with lock and key. Inventory is manned at all times. Make sure there is adequate lighting, power points for charging mobiles, if case be then have a printer too.

How are events good for bartenders? Play it well and create euphoria.

Events are important way where we get to showcase our cocktails to masses. It’s also a great way to make great money, great friends and create experiences for masses. It’s great to go into a standalone bar and belly up in front of a craft bartender for that experience, but then one needs to shell out good amount of bucks to try variety. But not everybody gets to do that. Working in events means that more people get to experience our craft and we get to share what we love with a larger group of drinkers. I also think it teaches bartenders to be incredibly efficient while still crafting great drinks.

Train your bar team well.

When your bar team is slinging anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 cocktails per night, remembering two dashes here and a perfectly rimmed glass or garnishing your drink properly, there is no easy feat. Still, that quality meets quantity approach should be practiced for high-volume bars, where behind-the-stick pros should tackle the best ways to deliver top-notch drams to their patrons in record speed.

Time and Quality go hand in hand. Bar backs tend to get excited. Do a site recce with your team before the event

Every body in your team should realize importance of their role. They should be briefed thoroughly with the flow of events, timings, scope of work, menus and recipes. Each one should understand their job responsibility and accountability.

Bar backs generally tend to get excited and want to serve the customers directly. Not happening. They have a job to do. If they come forward to serve across the counter, then who will do their job? Let them know that they will be involved in direct service towards the end when it’s slow or towards the last end lag of the event. It’s a very fast paced environment and one needs to save time. It’s all about shaving few seconds here and shaving few seconds there and shaving few seconds everywhere one can scrape.

Don’t move — not any more than you have to.

Always design a strategic bar setup, so that we can put out 30 cocktails without taking two steps in either direction to produce them. It’s about having the right sized well, having your bitters in front of you, and having your garnish, tool, and breakdown stations close by.

Save time with consistency.

Muddling fruits and certain herbs is usually not the best way to incorporate flavor because, as we all know, one strawberry can differ from another — not just in size, but in sugar content, acidity and flavor. Making a syrup or infusion, though, can be a more consistent way of incorporating flavor. You can use refract meter to check the sugar content while making batches. Also always make bulk batches with date and time mentioned on the label.

Batch your spirits. But batch them in the right way.

Batching is a great way you can maintain that high quality, because you’re taking a five-touch cocktail and cutting it down to one or two touches. What’s nice is that since we’re using sealed containers and keeping them in chilling units. You don’t have to worry about oxidation or temperature changes. You can actually prepare your batch a couple of days earlier.

Batch a lot of spirit-based ingredients that are usually used in smaller portions within a cocktail, which helps for two reasons. It saves time because you’re only picking up one bottle instead of multiple, and the biggest margin of error is usually in the smallest measurements of ingredients. More people make mistakes in that 1/4th ounce (7.5ml) pour than they would in that ½ ounce (15ml) pour. If you go slightly over or under the required pour, it’s probably not going to affect the drink as much as when you go over or under a quarter-ounce pour because generally, the smaller the pour, the more flavor impact it has. It’s a lot more efficient to combine the right ratios and have a one-ounce pour instead of four quarter-ounce ones. Ingredients with slightly higher sugar profiles actually do better together because they help maintain the quality and consistency of the drink itself.

Create a workplace of accountability.

Once a great barman said “If you’re the type of bartender who likes to pick up a bottle of Cognac for a cocktail and then put it down in a completely different place, you will not fit into this environment. Everyone needs to be subscribed to the same philosophy, and working fast does not equal working efficiently.”

Keep your product around a while — but not too long.

Oxygen is every bartender’s enemy, so the container used to store your batches in is important. Use store n pour jugs with spouts on them, so you can control the oxygen in the vessel as you fill the bottles. Always label your bottles before filling. Once chilled, it’s difficult to label them. Also you want minimum oxygen because it’s oxygen that will cause your components in the batch to change.

Don’t be scared to throw away ingredients that bring doubt to your own sensory experience, because if you want to produce high-quality drinks, you have to have fresh produce to use.

Talk while you rock.

You can talk as much as you want, as long as your hands and feet are moving. Our Bar Wizards are trained to introduce patrons to other guests with similar interests. If you had a party at your house and two people walked in the door who didn’t know each other, you’d introduce them — that’s what a good host does. After all we are just not bartenders, … we as Bar Wizards are “Show Tenders”.

If you do slip up, make it up to them.

Everybody wants all of his or her cocktails out in seven minutes or under. First and foremost we want everyone to have a cocktail in a timely manner. If busy, involve them in a conversation. Apologize for the delay. They can see that you are busy. Serve with a smile. Trust me, it works wonders.

Job is well done! Lets count the bottles again

Every body enjoyed their tipple. You made friends and tips. Did your “Ciaos”. Had a great evening. Bravo.

Now comes the part where you need to count your bottles and stocks again. The venue is always not the prettiest in the end. Don’t sulk. Start picking up all alcohol bottles from the counter and back to liquor room. Line them up brand wise and segregate them in an orderly fashion of sealed, open and empty bottles. Count them, pack them, hand the stock over to the in charge and hit the sack. Tomorrow is yet another day.

The above article is just a synopsis of a process-oriented activity. To know more, log on to www.barwizard.in or write to sandy.verma@barwizard.in

One of my friends remarked, “ Sandy, you got an interesting job, you always get to party, get people drunk and you make your money” and I just smiled back in acknowledgment of his words. I was way too busy behind the bar belting out my concoctions on my bar shift, but felt a great urge to make him understand the nuances of my job. Well, here is the first hand read of what job I do.

We are bar chefs.

Whenever I undertake consulting jobs, I always ask the management about their concept, vision and menu. It helps me understand the target customer behaviors and their drinking patterns. It also excites me to create a cocktail and wine menu that compliments the food. It’s an exciting challenge like the famous ad for “Kohler” taps. The tap is the key subject; now design a house around it. Similarly, I would like, one day a chef to accept the challenge- this is my cocktail menu, design your dishes around it.

Whether you are a Chef or Mixologist, it is important to refine and develop your palate to understand the flavours when making any well balanced serve.

What we refer to, as our “palate” is really how we taste with our various senses. Each sense reacts differently. While creating a perfect serve, we as chefs or mixologists, need to blend all our sensory experiences harmoniously. It does not happen overnight. There are several ways that you can improve your palate and over time you’ll be surprised at how differently you perceive the taste of spirits as you detect their subtle nuances.

Having the ability to recognise key flavours can help you craft a well-balanced serve and also help you create exciting new cocktails. Most importantly you will not only be able to give your customers the best recommendation that suits the flavours they are looking but also an experience which will set you apart from the rest.

In order to identify various sensory experiences, we need to learn

• How to evaluate by sight, nose and taste
• Use of appropriate vocabulary
• Understand “Umami”
• Various factors apart from senses that influence our evaluation

What senses do we use?

Ranges of senses are used when eating or drinking. These senses are

Sight (Define the sight evaluation on the following parameters)

• Color
• Transparency or opaqueness
• Dullness or gloss
• Size
• Shape
• Amount
• Defects, decay, infestation

Smell (Evaluation by nose is done for the following)

• Aroma- Fruits, Flowers, Vegetables, Grains, Botanicals, Oaky, Sweetness, Citrusy
• Condition- Clean, Feints, Woody, Stale, Taints, Fresh
• Intensity-Neutral, Light, Medium, Pronounced
• Maturation- Un-aged, Short aged, Matured

Touch (Texture- Tactile)

• Qualities felt with fingers, tongue, palate, teeth
• Index of quality
• Smoothness, stickiness, graininess
• Crispness, crunch

Taste The tongue can detect five basic tastes:

• Bitter
• Salt
• Sour
• Sweet
• Umami

Tongue plays an important factor for taste evaluations. The tongue is the main sensory organ of the taste sense. The upper surface of a tongue is covered with taste buds that contain taste receptors. The human tongue has on average 3,000 – 10,000 taste buds. The bumps we can see on the tongue are called papillae. Taste buds sit on top of these papillae but are not visible to the human eye. There are five elements of taste perception: salty, sour, bitter, sweet and umami (or savory).

It is a myth that different tastes come from different areas of the tongue, these tastes can all be detected anywhere on the tongue.

The taste sensitivity is dependent on the following factors:

• Taste affected by other stimuli
• Time: Location of taste buds
• Threshold-Concentration required for substance identification
• Sub-threshold-Substance not identified, but will affect perception of another taste. For instance if salt is added to fresh lime soda sweet, it will increase the sweetness but decrease the sourness of the drink.
• Temperature affects flavor in the following manner:

1. Warm foods taste stronger and sweeter than cold foods;
2. Salt stronger in warm foods
3. Volatility of substances increase at warm temperatures, so they smell stronger-pungency
4. Taste buds most receptive at temperatures between 68-860F

• Psychological factors

1. Flavor perceptions based on color, color intensity, texture (thickness)
2. General health and well-being
3. Time of day
4. Adaptation-Previous exposure to substance, especially salt tastes.

• Olfactory – Smell

1. Ability to detect chemicals dissolved in air
2. Aroma impacts on taste
3. Don’t taste greasy, chocolate, mint – smell, mouth feel, or combination

• Varies over the lifespan
• Highest taste sensitivity occurs in babies
• Number of taste cells in humans declines with age
• Serious decline in taste cell numbers begins ~45 y.o.
• By 70 greatly lowered ability to taste
• Other Factors

1. Social and Family
2. Cultural
3. Religious beliefs
4. Nutrition and Health
5. Economic and Marketplace factors
6. Technological developments
7. Emotional and psychological factors

What is Umami?

Umami is a savoury taste, often known as the fifth taste. It is a subtle taste and blends well with other tastes. Most people do not recognise the taste unless attention is especially drawn to it.

After eating Cheddar cheese or tomatoes, there may be a “savoury” taste lingering- this is umami

Tasting Flavour Wheel

The perfect way to help develop your palate is to become more familiar with some key flavours. Use flavour wheel to help you as every genre of food and beverage have tasting wheel charts. It becomes easier for you to relate and recognise the smells, aromas, flavors etc for your sensory evaluations.

Always ensure you are comparing other spirits from the same category

• Jot down your thoughts on everything you are tasting so you don’t forget
• Always taste from lightest strength to the strongest strength spirit
• Ensure liquid is always at room temperature
• Do not taste too many samples in one tasting
• Do the tasting in daylight to be able to see the natural colors of the liquid
• Take your time

A combination of these senses enables you to evaluate food and beverages.

Well, a Chef or a Mixologist develops his serve keeping all these factors in mind. Not all people perceive the flavors, aromas in a similar fashion; hence the sword of judgment is always hanging over these two creative genres of professionals. Creating a dish or cocktail is a very sensitive task. A thorough knowledge of smells, textures and aromas to create not a serve but a “Wow” experience for a customer through their well-executed workmanship is required.

Phew! It’s indeed an interesting job.