Bartending Experince

I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and still live here. For better or worse Wisconsin has a strong drinking culture.

In a somewhat non-surprising fact, Wisconsin allows individuals to bartend as early as the age of 18 (although the drinking age is still 21). As a young man in Wisconsin, I thought this would be a really fun loophole to exploit.

As you might imagine, most bars and restaurants in Southeast Wisconsin weren’t eager to have unexperienced 18 year old bartenders. (Northern Wisconsin, likely a bit more lax.) To avoid the “We can’t hire you because you have no experience” argument, I attended a one-week class at a bartending school in Milwaukee in 1989.

There, my classmates and I learned how to make commonly requested drinks by mixing a lot of colored water. Also, we learned all about garnishes, different kinds of booze, how they are made, and standard bar operating practices. This was really fun and informational.

However, much to my eighteen year old surprise, this training still didn’t cut a lot of ice with potential future employers.

Fortunately, I had a friend whose parents owned The Great Wall of China Restaurant in Racine. They had great food and an even better bartender every Friday night (yours truly). This experience, and getting older, allowed me to work at a Country Club, a variety of restaurants, and even some private parties in the ensuing years. My last pro bartending gig was at an Applebees in Greenfield WI in about 1995. That building is currently in a landfill somewhere.

From there, I was the amateur mixologist for friends and family. I don’t cook much (or very well) so this skill was my contribution to many gatherings.

Prior to the last several years, my mocktails were limited to what I had learned behind the bar. This typically was a cocktail, hold the liquor (Virgin Mary, Daiquiri, Margarita) or a soda drink with grenadine (Mickey Mouse or Kidde Cocktail).

Using this bartending know-how helped me create the mixology mocktails on this site.

From my experience bartending, the non-alcoholic beer and other beverages were frequently ordered by those who had a problem with alcohol or were pregnant, but wanted the social aspect of being at the bar with friends. The current lot of non-alcoholic spirits is designed for those who like the taste of their drink without the alcohol. My mixology mocktails aim for this too but by being more natural with a mostly tea base.