How To Become An Extremely Fast Bartender

By Jeremy Sherk

No matter what type of establishment you want to work at, bartending speed and efficiency is something you must hone. If you want the respect from patrons, which turns into tips, getting their drinks to them quickly is mandatory.

Your speed and efficiency behind the bar is crucial to your level of tips as well as the quality of bar you can work at. Whether you intend to work in a high volume establishment or not is irrelevant. Even in a slower paced restaurant or lounge, you never know when you’re going to be hit with a rush.

By going slow behind the bar when there are people waiting to be served, it’s costing the bar money and it’s costing you money. That’s the way you need to look at it. A group of 15-20 people can often come in unexpectedly so you must be ready and able to shift into high gear when necessary or else you’ll get eaten alive. If you can be prepared for it, you’ll be rewarded.

efâ‹…fiâ‹…cienâ‹…cy [ih-fish-uhn-see]
accomplishment of or ability to accomplish a job with a minimum
expenditure of time and effort.

It’s important to understand the difference between speed and efficiency. Speed is just raw power and energy that you’re exerting, it’s simply how fast you’re moving.

However, efficiency has nothing to do with speed. Efficiency, as the definition states above, is the ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of time and effort. This is a result of systems, preparation, planning, and organization. It’s working smarter, not harder. It’s finesse, not force.

When you throw a fast bartender into an efficiently set up bar, the result is well taken care of  customers and drastically high sales. That same bartender placed behind an inefficiently set up bar will require a greater expenditure of effort to accomplish the same results. So it goes without saying that an efficient bar setup is the ideal situation and what you should aim for.

With that said, please don’t underestimate the importance of speed. Both efficiency and speed are crucial to becoming a fast, money-making bartender. Just because you’re efficient doesn’t mean you can slack it behind the bar, being efficient simply means you won’t be wasting any effort.

If you’ve ever been “in the weeds”, you know that there’s no time to waste. You’re flying and moving as quickly as possible. Having a systematized, efficient bar setup will allow your night to flow. You’ll be able to stay in the zone without hitting any unnecessary speed bumps.

Being “in the weeds” will no longer take you over. You’ll actually find yourself relishing the opportunity to be behind the bar when it gets crazy.

Increasing Speed

All speed requires is the decision to move fast. But to take it to the next level, it’ll require practice. If you’re wanting to improve your speed, simply practice at home.

For example, fill up an empty liquor bottle with water, stick a pour spout in it, and just crank out shots as fast as possible. Doing this for just 10 minutes a day will drastically increase your shot pouring speed in as little as a week.

You can also try setting up a few different bottles with water to more closely resemble an actual behind the bar experience – where you’re moving back and forth, grabbing different bottles, etc.

Increasing Efficiency

So how do you become more efficient?

1) Contemplation

Look at your bar surroundings. Is there anything that can be improved? Is there a certain action you hate doing, because it eats up so much time?

Now, while you may not be in a position to start reconstructing shelf and fridge space to suit your needs, a minor change like the location of your shot glasses can make a drastic difference to the amount of effort you expend in during a shift.

And if you’re in a position to influence bar reconstruction, do it if it’ll increase your bar’s efficiency. The bottom line is, become aware of your bar’s environment and make changes if necessary.

2) Preparation

Showing up 30-60 minutes earlier to prepare for your shift can make a world of difference to your night. Extra preparation time before your shift will result much less time and effort expended during your shift.

3) Systems

Systems allow you to execute without thinking, and that’s exactly what you want as a bartender. You shouldn’t have to think about where to reach for your grapefruit juice when someone orders a Seabreeze. It should be automatic and second nature.

Have you ever seen a bartender buckle under the pressure of a mob of customers all screaming for a drink? It’s not a pretty sight.

When every action is second nature, you can keep your cool easily, even when it gets crazy. Systems mean you follow the same procedure each time. You don’t do things randomly, you do them the same every time. Everything from the way you set up your bar, to the sequential order you make drinks, etc.

4) Organization

While organization is a requirement of a good system. It’s important to stay organized throughout the night as well. Especially if you work alongside other bartenders.

Put things back in their place. Make sure you’re on the same page as your co-workers. It drove me nuts when I used to work with bartenders who didn’t put things back, or worse, because of their lack of preparation, have to come to my well/work area and grab a bottle.

As an efficient bartender, you’ll pull in the highest sales and tips, and create the most enjoyable experience for your customers. Instead of dreading “the weeds”, you’ll welcome the craziness of working in a busy establishment because you know you can handle it.

Whether you already bartend, are fresh out of a course, or never mixed a drink in your life – the Make Money Bartending program will give you the knowledge and confidence needed to land your dream job and make serious cash as a professional bartender. Learn more >