HISTORY OF BARTENDING

THERE IS NO BIGGER JOY THAN BARTENDING.

AUTHOR: SANDY VERMA

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 ANCIENT TIMES
Traces of bartending can be found back in ancient Greek, Roman and Asian societies working in what were called "public
drinking houses." Most of the bartenders in that time brewed their own drinks and were alehouse owners or innkeepers.

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ASIA – 4 BC ERA
Sura is a strong distilled alcoholic beverage. It is
referred to as an anesthetic by Sushruta (a
surgeon in India, around 4 BCE) before the
advent of surgical operation. Other ancient
medical authorities also mention
it; Charaka referred to making a woman with
a miscarriage senseless to pain by administering
alcoholic drinks like Sura, Sidhu, Arishta, Madhu,
Madira or Asava.

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100-44BC
Bartending began as a trade thousands of years ago. Historical accounts from the time of Julius Caesar show that inns
situated show that inns situated along the major transportations routes served wine and provisions to travelers.

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 1100’S
The Brazen Head is Dublin’s
oldest pub. They claim it goes
back to the 1198, but historians,
say the earliest mention of their
license to sell booze is 1668.

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 WESTERN EUROPE

Bartenders were part of the elitist groups in

France, England, Germany and Ireland around
the 15th century. Bartending was considered to
be one of the wealthiest trades at the time.

By the 15th century, bartenders throughout

Europe were primarily known as innkeepers, and
these professionals typically produced their own
spirits and ales.

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1700’S
License allowing Stephen Reed to
operate a public house and sell liquor,
1786. Most early taverns and public
houses in Western Pennsylvania were
located along the region’s sparse major
roadways. This house was located on
the Great Road to Fort Pitt at Nine Mile
Run in Mount Pleasant Township,
Westmoreland County. At the time,
Pittsburgh itself had little more than
1,500 people. MFF 2741, Detre Library &
Archives, Heinz History Center.

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PRE-PROHIBITION (1830’S)
The bartending profession traveled over to the
New World from Western Europe. The Pioneer Inn
and Tavern Law was passed by the United States
Congress in 1832, allowing inns and saloons to
serve alcohol to patriots not leasing a room.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, bars went

from being seedy spots hidden in alleyways to
popular gathering spots. Bartenders began
dressing up to work and following set recipes.

Source: Alcohol Professor

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 JERRY THOMAS (OCTOBER 30, 1830 – DECEMBER 15, 1885)

Jeremiah "Jerry" P. Thomas

was an American bartender who owned
and operated saloons in New York City.
Because of his pioneering work in
popularizing cocktails across the United
States as well, he is considered "the father
of American mixology.“
In addition to writing the seminal work on
cocktails, Bar-Tender's Guide, Thomas
displayed creativity and showmanship while
preparing drinks and established the image
of the bartender as a creative professional.
As such, he was often nicknamed
"Professor" Jerry Thomas.

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COLOURED BARTENDERS
(1890’S)
Black bartenders, prohibited from going into
white saloons, founded the exclusive “Colored
Mixologists’ Club" in 1898.

Black bartending in white saloons remained

uncommon. In 1893, a black waiter was
promoted to bartender at the Atlas Hotel in
Cincinnati. The decision caused fury among the
bar's white clientele, who boycotted the hotel.
Louis Deck, black waiter, was eventually fired and
the hotel shut down.

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 WOMAN BARTENDERS (1895)
Women, meanwhile, barely worked as bartenders. A rudimentary census in 1895 found just 147 women working as
bartenders, compared to nearly 56,000 men. Source: The Wall Street Journal

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PROHIBITION (1919)
In 1919, mostly under pressure from the
temperance movement and its political allies, the
United States ratified the 18th Amendment in
which the manufacture, transportation and sale
of alcohol was prohibited. This put a temporary
halt to the bartending profession.
After the rise of the cocktail in the early 20th
century, Americans were faced with prohibition
laws from the Federal government. However,
bartending culture remained alive throughout
prohibition. Working in underground
speakeasies, bartenders continued to provide
their patrons with delicious cocktails. In fact,
familiar cocktails, such as the gin and tonic, were
invented during the Prohibition Era.

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PROHIBITION
Prohibition in the United States made
the bartending culture stronger than
ever before in history and gave
bartenders an aura of mystery and
power. Gangsters in the mob owned
social clubs and bartenders were well
paid for supplying them with the
illegal substance of alcohol. The
bartenders from the Prohibition
period are credited with creating some
of the most famous cocktails that we
know today, such as Long Island Ice
Tea, the Highball, and Gin and Tonic.

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PROHIBITION
Job opportunities for bartenders became so
scarce during Prohibition that thousands of
bartenders fled to Cuba.
Americans inhabited many of the 7,000 Cuban
bars, according to Difford's Guide. The
amount of Americans emigrating to Cuba rose
from 33,000 in 1914 to 90,000 in 1928.
Many Cuban bartenders grew frustrated at the
Americanization of Havana's night scene, and
formed the Cantineros Club to reclaim their
institutions.

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END OF PROHIBITION
(1933)
When a majority of states ratified the 21st
Amendment to repeal Prohibition in 1933,
bartenders were able to go back to work.

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WORLD WAR -2
(1839-1945)
After men headed overseas to fight in World
War II, women picked up shifts. Women
worked these shifts in part because they
were the only jobs available to them at the
time.

Source: Tales of the Cocktail

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LATE 1940’S
In the late '40s, however, women lost their jobs after
men came back from the war. Some states passed
laws barring women from the profession altogether.

"Some of that is really just about men wanting to be

able to take their jobs back, but some of it is anxiety
over the breakdown of the family and women
becoming too masculine and losing their values,"
Christine Sismondo in her book "America Walks Into
a Bar: A Spirited History of Taverns and Saloons,
Speakeasies and Grog Shops."

Source: Tales of the Cocktail

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1970’S
While California still had a law barring women
from pouring alcohol in 1971, the mid-1970s saw
an increase in the number of women behind the
bar.
The Wall Street Journal suspects the change
occurred after a Holiday Inn chain discovered bar
revenues went up up when women did the
mixing.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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 1980’S
In the 1980s, bartenders, led by "King
Cocktail" Dale Degroff, began a
revolution to bring back American pubs.
Degroff began mixing "historically
inspired" cocktails at the Rainbow Room
in New York City, according to
Smithsonian Magazine. The Rainbow
Room's guests included Tony Bennett and
Rosemary Clooney.

The bartender says before the 80s,

bartenders would use soda guns and
packages of sour mix to make drinks. His
work helped restore "proper, thoughtfully
classic drinks" to American bars.
Degroff has since won two James Beard
awards and founded The Museum of the
American Cocktail in New Orleans.
Source: Tales of the Cocktail

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 FLAIR BARTENDING (1980’S-2000’S)

Flair Bartending is thought to have emanated

out of the T.G.I Fridays Company, specifically at
their establishment in Los Angeles with a man
called John Bandy.
As the story goes, John Bandy was awfully bored
at some point in the ’80s and was tired of the
same old meet and greet with the customers
and so, he decided to switch it up. He began
experimenting with all manner of bar tools,
teaching himself how to frisbee toss bar napkins
and catch a flying cocktail tin behind his head. In
fact it was John Bandy who taught the actors in
the only other great contributor to Flair
Bartending in history, the film Cocktail.

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Source: www.molecularrecipes.com
MOLECULAR ERA (2010’S)
Molecular mixology brings science to the shaker to
create new flavors, textures, surprising presentations
and enhance the overall drinking experience.
Bartenders and chefs leading the molecular mixology
movement have created incredible cocktails and
drinking experiences. Cocktail spheres that explode in
the mouth, cocktail caviar, edible cocktails, multi-
color layered cocktails, cocktails that resemble lava
lamps, cocktails with foams and bubbles, cocktails
infused with surprising leather and cigar flavors,
powdered cocktails, cocktails with suspended
elements, cocktail gums, paper cocktails, solid
cocktails, cocktail marshmallows, flavored ice
spheres, frozen ‘nitro’ cocktails, cocktail popsicles,
cocktail glasses filled with cotton candy and much
more!! The creativity and imagination of these
mixologists is endless!
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REVIVAL OF CLASSICS
(2010-2018)
Mixed spirits drinks have been far from on-trend
for a few decades. These days, however, the
comeback of the cocktail is complete.

The revival of the classic cocktails by great

bartenders (made, delivered and communicated
properly), and discovery by consumers, means
we are in the exciting period of classic cocktails
along with molecular cocktails creating a new
trends in the industry

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PROGRESSIVE
BARTENDING
The modern age cocktails have become
very progressive by using technology in
cocktails. The Rotovap, Sous vide or Egg
clarifications are the new age trends to
take the experience of cocktail making to
next level

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TODAY & NOW
Today, bartending usually requires some kind of
training, and you must work your way up before
you can be employed at prestigious bars.
Many bartenders teach themselves to mix drinks,
or learn the job. Aspiring bartenders have the
option of going to bartending school to obtain a
knowledge and learn techniques and understand
sensory evaluations. The best way to become a
bartender is through experience and working
your way up

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THANK YOU

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