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The 2016 competition season is in full swing. I can just about feel the breeze from hundreds of tummy butterflies as bartenders from here to … well, everywhere, get their game faces on. Hopefully you’ve got a good and trustworthy coach to guide you through the challenges to come, but they’re not easy to find. Ask a dozen grizzled old bartenders for their best piece of advice on winning bartending competitions and in all likelihood you’ll get twelve different bright ideas: develop a strong thesis, balance your acid with your sugar, don’t forget to laser beam your wash line, bring your own ice, no spilling, double shake, reverse dry shake, speak up doublestir CLEANUPYOURMESSSTANDUPSTRAIGHTCOMBYOURHAIR!

As far as industries go, service is about as fickle and inconsistent as they come. Which makes sense in some ways, I suppose, as the needs of all the personalities that make up our client base are as numerous as the wildly divergent personalities themselves. The arena we bartenders work in seeks to find a middle ground between pleasing as many people as possible and presenting a drinks program to them that we’re proud of, with our own personality, ideology and favourite products represented. As bars continue to become more quality-conscious they become leaner and more esoteric; product choice is made on a more educated basis than “it’s what we’ve always had.” The problem, of course, is providing the experience that the guests whose tastes do not match yours are looking for. Where to draw the line?