Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR)

Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) is an education and certification program in distilled spirits and mixology founded in 2005 by a quintet of notable experts in the field: drinks historian David Wondrich, pioneering bartender Dale DeGroff, author and wine expert Doug Frost, restaurant and bar consultant Steven Olson, and author/editor F. Paul Pacult; they were quickly joined by bartender and educator Andy Seymour. See DeGroff, Dale; Olson, Steve; and Pacult, F. Paul. Its intensive 5-Day Certification Program in New York may be the cocktails and spirits equivalent of the master sommelier and master of wine certifications.

BAR has run the 5-Day program twenty-one times as of 2021, with almost 650 students receiving certifications in total, including a great many of the bar industry’s most influential figures. In 2008, the organization added BarSmarts, an intermediate-level certification that has also been used as a prerequisite for the 5-Day Certification and can be done online or in one-day “BarSmarts Advanced” classes held throughout the United States. And in 2015, the organization created BarStarts, a customized training program for bar and restaurant groups. As of the beginning of 2021, the two programs have certified over sixty-five thousand graduates between them.

See also bartending schools.

“Beverage Alcohol Resource.” https://beveragealcoholresource.com/ (accessed February 3, 2021).

By: Jason Horn