Behind the bar: getting your masters in mixology

There are some things that just cannot be taught in a class. That’s what Devon Chen ’13 learned as a freshman after she took the Bartending 101 class offered through the Princeton Formal Services Agency.

“I once had to sweet talk a guy out of a bar fight, which was kind of scary. He was a nice guy; he was just unaware of his own strength ... That was definitely not in the training,” Chen said.

Bar fights aside, in just four hours the Bartending 101 course teaches students how to enter a shift and open a bar, how to make martinis and popular variations of martinis, how to make highballs, the most popular cocktail recipes and hands-on practice free pouring drinks.

While learning how to mix drinks may be more enjoyable, student bartenders must also learn about less fun topics, including how to handle people who have had too much to drink.

“It rarely happens, but occasionally you get someone who hits the limit, and you have to deny service, which can get kind of awkward,” student bartender Chloe Ferguson ’13 said.

After completion of the course, students are certified to bartend anywhere in the United States.

Chen is now the manager of the Princeton Formal Students Agency. Not only does she contact her roster of about 40 student bartenders about jobs, but she also organizes the Bartending 101 class, which happens once every semester.

If a student wants to bartend through the Princeton Formal Students Agency, the potential bartender must also complete a responsible alcohol service test online and score highly on the Princeton Formal Services Agency test.

“The test is very technical. They will ask you for exact ounce weights and the exact recipes, and you have to recite them from memory, and there are a lot of them. There will be questions about the difference between tequila and mezcal, how to serve cognac, when to use which kind of glass and more. It is very straightforward but is definitely something you need to study for,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson took the class her freshman year after seeing posters advertising it around campus. She was offered one of the 10 spots on the bartending roster based on her score on the written test and has been taking jobs on campus since then.

“We operate on a very flexible basis. We have a listserv of our bartenders, and every time a client needs a bartender we email the entire list. Those who are available reply, and we have a system that tries to distribute jobs evenly based on who replies more often and who has taken a job recently,” Chen said.

Chen said that so far this semester the agency has hired for 22 jobs and that they average about 30 per semester. Events on campus can range from serving drinks at upperclassman social hours in the residential colleges to academic department social events.

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The pay, of course, is a big incentive for most students. According to Chen, student bartenders receive, on average, $15 per hour for simple beer and wine pouring jobs and $20 per hour for events requiring a full bar and drink mixing. Even better, bartending conversations can be stimulating, both in terms of getting to know individuals and receiving better tips.

Still, there are other perks to the job.

“One of the most fascinating parts about the job is that you get to look into departmental liquor cabinets, which are really revelatory in their contents. I think Hellenic studies has enough wine to supply Athens for the next year. Art history has a big liquor cabinet, too. You open this metal locker full of wine. Definitely a Princeton touch,” Ferguson said.

Both students agree — when you serve others, the job serves you back.

“It’s a great student job. It is a life skill in the sense that if you have any ambition to entertain ever as an adult, this is one skill that will serve you well,” Ferguson said. “Everyone gets something different out of it.”