10 Bar Training Courses
One of the most rewarding careers can be bartending. However, it isn’t an easy task that can be without practice. Luckily, there are many who develop online bar training courses as part of the numerous options for learning about bartending and running a bar on the internet, to help support your staff in performing at their highest potential in this hospitality industry.
In this article, we will take a look at ten of the best training courses available. These courses don’t just cover how to make various types of drinks, but also look into other issues you may face when working at a bar. This can include customer service tips on how to deal with unruly patrons, as well as the best ways to present drinks.
What is a bar training course?
Mixing drinks isn't as simple as you think. A lot of thought, work, and experience goes into mixing and building beautiful cocktails and drinks. Certain drinks require specific practices with immense precision that require a lot of training. That's why aspiring bartenders learn for years, and to be competent you need the right learning materials. A bar training course is all about learning the fundamentals of mixology, alcohol safety, recipe making, and more.
If you want to train amazing bartenders you need some great courses, that's why we've compiled a list of the essential bar training courses available online, and ready to deliver to your learners. Becoming a bartender also means you're in customer service, so soft skills like communication and dealing with difficult customers should be part of your learners' repertoire. Staff who have taken bar training also give your customers peace of mind knowing they're compliant with the strictest food safety regulations.
How do you train someone to bartend?
We all know that most skill-based work is best learned on the field, with experience. But, having training materials and taking courses can speed up the learning process and guarantee that your learners know the foundations. This is most important for food safety and food safety regulations. A bar training program also includes liquor laws in particular countries which are so important.
After you've trained them on the laws and regulations, you need to familiarize your staff with the different kinds of alcohol. This is what will set your staff and of course your business apart: staff with amazing taste and deep knowledge of drinks. Beverages have a lot of history behind them so there's a lot of information to go through, and it's truly best tackled in a bar training course.
1. The Bar World of Tomorrow (EdApp)
A top course if you’re a budding bartender and mixologist, The Bar World of Tomorrow, can be found on the EdApp platform. If you haven’t used EdApp before, it’s one of the top learning management systems (LMS) available. With EdApp, you can easily import courses or create your own from scratch using its intuitive drag-and-drop authoring environment.
This bartending course focuses on sustainability. It looks at using fresh ingredients, responsibly serving beverages and alcohol to drink, and dealing with waste management. It’s based on four pillars: ingredients, service, bar, and staff.
Enroll in this course from EdApp so you can take advantage of some great features that the LMS offers, such as microlearning. Microlearning allows you to present the content in bite-sized chunks that are optimal for learners on a busy schedule. Your trainees can be delivered these lessons at any time, and spaced repetition keeps the knowledge fresh in their minds.
2. Serving Alcohol Safely (EdApp)
Another top training course that comes to us courtesy of EdApp is Serving Alcohol Safely. This course is appropriate for professional bartenders, waiters, and sommeliers. It teaches workers about the responsibilities of serving and pouring alcohol, including cleaning, sanitizing, and dealing with difficult customers. It also teaches about various liquor laws in different states and countries.
By using EdApp to deliver this content, you can make the most of mobile-first learning through this mobile teaching application. Chances are your staff is highly mobile and attached to their various devices. With EdApp, training materials are formatted natively to any device because of its responsive design.
In other words, your learners will not be inconvenienced by having to set up a special learning station on a PC. Instead, they can get all the training they need to be delivered right to their favorite devices to be completed anytime and anywhere.
3. Bar Maintenance (EdApp)
Bar Maintenance is another essential bar training course. It goes beyond just learning mixing drinks; it gets into the details that you need in order to keep a cocktail bar in great shape. It covers everything you need to know for before service, during service, and after service, while also teaching about how to work with kegs.
By taking this course on EdApp, you can take advantage of the types of gamification examples that the platform offers. For example, you can play a game that helps you identify the various parts and accessories of a keg. This type of engaging activity helps learners retain the information they’ve learned.
4. Lynnette Marrero & Ryan Chetiyawardana Teach Mixology (MasterClass)
In Lynnette Marrero & Ryan Chetiyawardana Teach Mixology from MasterClass, you will learn all about making various types of alcoholic drinks using vodka, rum, martini, gin, whiskey, tequila, mojito, bourbon, and more. These are two experts in the industry and their course is full of helpful tips and techniques for making mixes using popular alcohol, liqueur, and spirits, such as Bacardi.
The lessons consist of 4.5 hours of lectures. However, unlike the EdApp courses mentioned above, this course is not free. It currently costs 5 per month.
5. BarSmarts
Another option is BarSmarts. This site has several different courses that you can choose from. You can even receive certificate for bartending. The courses include on-demand videos and an exam at the end of each. Registering for the courses involves a small fee, though, of 9 at the time of this writing.
6. The Essentials of Bartending (European Bartender School)
Another option is The Essentials of Bartending by the European Bartender School. It includes 3.5 hours of videos, 34 bartending lessons, and 27 classic cocktail recipes using popular alcohol and spirits. You also receive a certificate upon passing the exam. Although there is a registration fee, it is only 9.99 and lasts for a lifetime.
7. Spirits, Beer, and Wine (EdApp)
Another great course is Spirits, Beer, and Wine. This course will teach you about the differences between many of the most popular types of alcoholic beverages, booze, as well as proper serving techniques. For example, you will see what types of beverage match which types of glassware.
By being hosted on EdApp, you can take advantage of the platform’s comprehensive assessment options. A cumulative quiz has all sorts of different question types, from true/false questions to matching pair questions, among others.
8. Making Your Signature Drink (Skillshare)
In Making Your Signature Drink, bartender Ivy Mix teaches you how to mix drinks to make your own special cocktail and other mixed-drink recipes. It does so by teaching the fundamentals and letting you explore from there. The class includes a 30-minute video and class projects.
This course also requires a registration fee to participate. However, it is possible to try the platform for 14 days to see if you like it first.
9. Online Bartending Course (Local Bartending School)
You can also learn how to become a bartender from the Local Bartending School. This training program focuses on getting licenses in several different states. This foundations course includes 10 video modules and will take about 20 hours to complete. Once finished, you can earn a certificate for most states.
10. Dealing with Difficult Customers (EdApp)
Another essential course is EdApp’s Dealing with Difficult Customers. This course will teach you and your staff what they need to do when customers are disagreeable.
Because it is hosted on EdApp, you can take what is in the course and customize it to your own needs easily. As a course administrator, you just import the course, and from the course creator dashboard, you can make any changes you need. That can mean adding new slides, questions, and media, or deleting parts you don’t want to be included.
Make the drinks of tomorrow with the essential bar training courses!
Build a team of hospitable and knowledgeable bartenders to set your business apart! Bartenders with deep knowledge of drinks and trained with amazing taste can define your brand and business. And it's always important to have a staff that's food safe and compliant with liquor laws wherever you are. Save time, effort, and costs for bar training with these amazing bar training courses today!
In this article, we’ve looked at many different online courses for bars. We’ve seen that there are several good options, including free ones which utilize the features of EdApp. Which type of course are you most interested in?
You may also want to check out these courses:
Learn About Alcohol and Responsible Drinking
Alcohol and Responsible Drinking
Other free course lists
Author
Guest Author Daniel Brown
Daniel Brown is a senior technical editor and writer that has worked in the education and technology sectors for two decades. Their background experience includes curriculum development and course book creation.