Common Bartending Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

While some may believe bartending is just mixing drinks, you’ll quickly discover that it takes precision, skill, and attention to detail.

Even the most seasoned professionals can fall prey to common bartending mistakes. In this blog, we'll explore how to avoid common errors in bartending. The good news? Most of these are easy to avoid with TIPS certification training.

#1: Not Garnishing Drinks

You’ve heard of putting the cherry on top? There’s a reason it’s a saying.

Garnish not only creates a nice presentation but also introduces a pre-sip aroma that can bring out the drink's flavor. You can learn the value of garnishes by taste-testing various cocktails with and without.

#2: Not Using Proper Measuring Tools

One of the biggest rookie bartending mistakes is to skip the jigger because free pouring looks cool.

Improper measuring of ingredients can not only ruin a cocktail but also wreak havoc on your bar's inventory. Not to mention, too much variation in the amount of alcohol you serve puts you at risk of overserving patrons.

#3: Reaching For the Wrong Serving Glasses

There’s a reason that cocktail recipes specify the type of glassware to use, and it’s not just about aesthetics. The characteristics of a cocktail glass can make a huge difference in enhancing the properties of a drink.

For example, the tall nature of highball glasses, Collins glasses, or zombie glasses will accommodate lots of ice, while the narrow diameter will keep drinks cold. The narrowness also preserves carbonation, which is why it’s used for drinks based on soda or tonic.

Lowball glasses, also called old-fashioned or rocks glasses, are short and broad, which makes them great for cocktails that require muddling ingredients into spirits.

The broad, shallow nature of a coupe glass is best for cocktails served with no ice. People hold them by the stem, which prevents the drink from being warmed by body heat.

Hurricane glasses, with their large volume and tulip shape, can accommodate the many ingredients and mixers used for fruity drinks, while the flared tip highlights aromatic notes before you sip.

Glassware is one of the areas where learning the science behind the craft leads to avoiding bartending errors. Once you know the why, you’ll never forget the what.

#4: Using Glassware To Scoop Ice

At some point in your early bartending career, you’ll think it must be more efficient to skip the ice scoop and use the glass.

Patience, padawan. There’s a reason that ice scoops are a staple in an efficient bar workflow. You’re not the first to think of it, but it’s considered poor practice for two reasons:

1. It’s a food safety problem. You're bringing your bacteria-laden hands and the outside of the glass that's been touched by many others into direct contact with the ice that someone might consume. The ice will contaminate the beverage, even if the ice itself doesn’t get ingested.
2. The glass might break. If it does, shards will scatter directly into the ice reservoir. Some pieces can get so small that they aren’t easily noticeable, which is a huge safety hazard. You could be forced to burn off all the ice during peak hours, killing valuable serving time.

#5: Drinking On The Job

Drinking on the job is , unfortunately, one of the most common bartender errors. Taking the shots offered by a patron can get normalized as a perk of bartending and even be considered good customer service in a bar that’s trying to be young and fun.

Drinking on the job is not only illegal in most states, but it can lead to other bartender errors. You might mix up drink orders or move too slowly (both of which can affect your tips), get clumsy and break glassware (which will get taken out of your paycheck), or miss a fake ID wielded by a minor (which can actually land you in jail).

These are all good reasons to limit your consumption or, better yet, abstain altogether.

Here’s one more: 41% of industry workers are problem drinkers, which is twice the general population’s average. This is a health risk everyone should take seriously, but if your family has a history of alcoholism, you need to be even more vigilant.

#6: Not Checking ID Properly

Of all the bartending skills to polish until they shine, ID checks are an important one because it’s an area where the consequences are a matter of legal compliance for bartenders, not just a faux pas.

You need to know the hallmarks of a real ID in your state, how to recognize different types of fakes, and ways you can verify that someone’s ID is their own.

Missing a fake ID – or worse, purposefully looking the other way – can have serious legal consequences. These days, all states take underage drinking very seriously because we understand the risks involved in early access to alcohol.

Over the last couple of decades, the best practices for professional bartending and customer service have broadened to normalize ID checks for guests up through middle age. This reduces the guesswork for who looks “young enough” to need an ID and ensures that you’re more likely to catch an underage patron.

#7: Overserving a Patron

In many states, bars, and bartenders legally bear a responsibility toward public safety through the prevention of all illegal alcohol sales.

The mistake of overserving a patron – continuing to sell or serve alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated – is far more common than underage drinking.

You and your employer can be held civilly (or even criminally!) liable for overserving patrons if someone gets hurt or suffers property damage. This is called Dram Shop Liability, and it exists in most of the country. There are plenty of recent examples of jail sentences and 8-figure settlements in many states.

That’s why it’s important that you understand the signs of intoxication, the way blood alcohol concentration changes over time, and have a consistent policy of when to cut someone off.

#8: Not Knowing How to Refuse Service

Since refusing service is the ultimate backstop against overserving a patron, some of the most critical bar service tips involve how to refuse service without offending or irritating the customer.

It’s helpful to not only understand best practices for refusing service but also to understand “slow service” tactics you can use to prevent it from ever becoming a confrontation.

Avoid Serious Mistakes with TIPS Training Online

As you’ve seen from the last few mistakes, getting tips for improving your bartending skills and reducing errors can have stakes that go far beyond bad tipping.

That’s why many bartenders choose to take responsible alcohol service training, even when it’s not required by law or their employer. This type of alcohol server training teaches you how alcohol affects the body, how to monitor guests for signs of intoxication, how to spot fake IDs, and how to respectfully refuse service.

TIPS certification training is a popular option that looks good on a resume and is accepted by many regulatory bodies as a sign that you take your duty to prevent illegal alcohol sales seriously. It focuses not just on the knowledge you need but the skills to apply it effectively.

We even offer TIPS Pre-Paid Passports to make bulk alcohol safety training fast, easy, and cost-effective. Head to our website to enroll today!