Bartending

I have been going to bartending school for the last two weeks. I do not feel right if I do not write anything about it.

It was like three weeks ago when Chia suddenly called me and said, "Zoe, do you know that bartender can earn quite a lot? Maybe we should try this job when we finish our aupair life..." Then she told me she found a few bartending schools in different areas. I immediately have very high interest in this topic and started doing the research about bartending schools. I called to a few schools and ask the fees and schedules. Finally, I found one which is really "worth" (cheapest) among all of the others and it was just about 25minutes away from my house. I went for interview and being accepted, and then I started my student life. At least I am able to change my status to a "to-be bartender" instead of "aupair".

For your information, I like to drink. I only drink everytime when I meet with Chia. I need to emphasize this, just for your understanding. I do not like to drink alone and I am not addicted to drink at all. I just like to drink when I meet with friends, especially good friends. Chia is a "Drinking Queen" now as compare with last time. She can drink more and more and hard to get drunk.

Everytime whenever we went out for a drink, we do not know what to order, even with a menu. We would look at the menu for a long long time and simply called one. Even after we ordered some drinks, we have no idea what is it looks like, how it tastes and what are the ingredients inside. I feel excited when I have the chance to know more about liquors, cordials and the knowledge of mixology. I am now got to know what kind of liquors or cordials inside the drinks whenever I order them. I know different kind of juice drinks, sour drinks, creme drinks, martini and manhattan, ice tea drinks, layered drinks, blended drinks, drinks on the rocks and many more. It was exiting to know all these but not for the exam though.

I have to memorise more than 100 different kinds of drink receipes. I need to take both written and practical test before I can get my certificate for being a bartender. Besides the receipes, I need to know different kinds of liquors like Whiskey (American, Bourbon, Canadian, Irish and Scotch), Vodka, Tequila, Brandy (Cognag), Gin and Rum. Those are six basic liquors which there are still a lot of different brands and different kinds of liquors under them. Besides, I need to know different kinds of Cordials, the origin of the cordials and their flavors. These are really killing me! Anyway, I am really have high interest in them so the studying process is not as hard.

After going to school for two weeks time and completed my 40 hours of practical and lecture, I finally have the chance to take my test today. I was just on time today to take my exam because I needed to rush to McCaffrey to get more cup cakes for the kid's birthday (which is uncessary but being asked to do so anyway) at the early morning. I then being stopped by the police because of speeding. Luckily he was a nice guy and just giving me a warning. (This was the 5th time I was being stop by the police since I am here in US) Because I was just on time, I had no time to study when I got there.

The passing marks for written test is 84%. We need to retake the exam if we get the marks lower than that. For the practical part, we cannot make more than four mistakes. (If you happen to mix only one wrong liquor or cordial into a drink, you are considered making one mistake) Besides remembering the receipes, we still need to know what glassware to use, what garnish to put and the way of making them. There is a session which required us to make shots, about 2 to 8 shots. In this session, we need to make the drinks in mixing glass and then pour into tin before pouring into the shot glasses. The challenge of this part is that the amount of the liquor need to be just full for the shot glasses, not more or less. Sounds hard? Oh ya!

The good news is, I pass!! I am so happy that I do not need to retake. My result was consider good compare with those "guai lou". At least I could make every given drinks with only some minor mistakes. (Not more than three minor mistakes and none of the drinks were wrong. Yeah!) Please just give me some space to express my happiness here.. At least this is a very good news for me after all these while... Hehe!