The History of Bartending

By Tony Sylvester
Beginning of Bartending
The history of bartending dates back to ancient times and can be found in Roman,
Greek, and even Asian societies. Public drinking houses, as they were called in those
times (now called PUBs in England), served as a place for people to socialize. Before
the 15th century, the majority of bartenders were alehouse owners and female
innkeepers who brewed and produced their own liquor.
In western European regions such as England, Ireland, France, and Germany,
taverns were the heart of the social world for many professionals from investors to
poets. Bartenders and bar owners were considered members of the economic and
social elite. They owned property and were recognized as part of one of the wealthiest
trades of all time. This social status of bartending was then passed on to the New
World.
Prohibition and Bartending
Prohibition in the United States made the bartending culture stronger than ever
before in history and gave bartenders an aura of mystery and power. Gangsters in the
mob owned social clubs and bartenders were well paid for supplying them with the
illegal substance of alcohol. The bartenders from the Prohibition period are credited
with creating some of the most famous cocktails that we know today, such as Long
Island Ice Tea, the Highball, and Gin and Tonic.
The Benefits of attending ABC Bartending Schools
ABC Bartending Schools have fully equipped bars for the students to train on. Each
bar is set up as if you were training on the job, with soda guns, blenders, sinks, speed
racks, glassware, ice bins, and bottles so that you will LEARN BY DOING.
ABC Bartending Schools encourage its students to practice as much as they want in
order to improve their skills; there is no additional fee for extra class or practice time.
With a hands-on approach to learning, the instructors really do make a difference. Once
you leave ABC, you’ll be as sharp as a razor.
The History of ABC Bartending Schools
Since 1977, Tony Sylvester has been the key ingredient in forming the largest
bartending school system in the country. Matching the right face with the right place
has been the key to ABC’s success. At the ABC Bartending Schools, students are
taught how to act, walk, talk, feel, and think like a professional bartender.
When it comes to job placement, students are also taught what to say, how to say it,
and who to say it to in connection with job interviews. This gives our students a
competitive edge over people with years of experience.
Being a third generation bartender in the hospitality industry, Tony Sylvester has
established opportunities for his ABC students across the country once they graduate
from what has been called “the Harvard of Mixology schools.” As a private school, ABC
offers its lifetime training services, available at any of their schools nationwide, for only a
one-time fee, something you won’t find at other schools that are based on affiliation.
ABC now boasts 29 schools nationwide, from Honolulu to South Beach, with plans
for more schools opening this year. This multi-million dollar bartending school grants
thousands and thousands of bartending degrees each year in cities across the country.

mix (m ks)
mixed, mix·ing, mix·es
1.
a. To combine or blend into one mass or mixture.
b. To create or form by combining ingredients: mix a drink; mix cement.
c. To add (an ingredient or element) to another: mix an egg into batter.
2. To combine or join: mix joy with sorrow.
3. To bring into social contact: mix boys and girls in the classroom.
4. To produce (an organism) by crossbreeding.
5. Electronics
a. To combine (two or more audio tracks or channels) to produce a composite
audio recording.
b. To produce (a soundtrack or recording) in this manner.
v.intr.
1.
a. To become mixed or blended together.
b. To be capable of being blended together: Oil does not mix with water.
2. To associate socially or get along with others: He does not mix well at parties.
3. To mate so as to produce a hybrid; crossbreed.
4. To become involved: In the case of a family argument, a friend should not mix
in.
n.
1. An act of mixing.
2.
a. A mixture, especially of ingredients packaged and sold commercially: a cake
mix.
b. A blend of diverse elements; an amalgamation: "a mix of mean streets and the

grandest boulevards no other place in Paris is as eclectic and eccentric . . . as the

17th" (Jean Rafferty).
3. Electronics A recording that is produced by combining and adjusting two or
more audio tracks or channels.
Phrasal Verbs:
mix down Electronics
To combine all of the audio components of a recording into a final soundtrack or
mix.
mix up
1. To confuse; confound: His explanation just mixed me up more. I always mix up
the twins.
2. To involve or implicate: He got himself mixed up with the wrong people.
Idiom:
mix it up Slang
To fight.
[Back-formation from Middle English mixt, mixed, mixed, from Anglo-
Norman mixte, from Latin mixtus, past participle of misc re, to mix; see
meik- in Indo-European roots.]

mix a·ble adj.

Synonyms: mix, blend, mingle, merge, amalgamate, coalesce, fuse2
These verbs mean to put into or come together in one mass so that constituent parts
or elements are diffused or commingled. Mix is the least specific: The cook mixed
eggs, flour, and sugar. Greed and charity don't mix.
To blend is to mix intimately and harmoniously so that the components lose their
original definition: The clerk blended mocha and java coffee beans. Snow-covered
mountains blended into the clouds.
Mingle implies combination without loss of individual characteristics: "Respect
was mingled with surprise" (Sir Walter Scott). "His companions mingled freely
and joyously with the natives" (Washington Irving).
Merge and amalgamate imply resultant homogeneity: Tradition and innovation
are merged in this new composition. Twilight merged into night. "The four
sentences of the original are amalgamated into two" (William Minto).
Coalesce implies a slow merging: Indigenous peoples and conquerors coalesced
into the present-day population.
Fuse emphasizes an enduring union, as that formed by heating metals: "He diffuses
a tone and spirit of unity, that blends, and (as it were) fuses, each into each"
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge).