A toast to success
Shatbhi Basu, mixologist and founder, Stir Academy of Bartending is interviewed by Sanchita Guha.
How is bartending as a career growing in India?
I started with eight students in 1999 as the first academy to open in India for the specialised skill of bartending. Over the past five years, bartending schools have mushroomed all over the country! Today, I train selectively about 50-75 a year. But the demand is far more. There are usually always more jobs than bartenders!
How many women opt for it?
Just a handful. But I think you are far safer working in a bar than in any other public place. No one can touch you behind the counter and colleagues are very protective. The way you work, the way you hold yourself, show control and confidence helps you command respect.
My advice to women who want to be in my shoes is: Don’t try and be one of the boys. Work just as hard and efficiently... maybe more. But never forget, you are a woman. Guys tend to ignore you at first; that soon turns to curiosity, then awe. That goes for all truly professional women.
Why is hotel management training not enough for this career?
As part of HM studies, you go through alcoholic beverages from the perspective of background knowledge without foraying into professional skills. So, those wishing to take up bartending and mixology as a career need to upgrade themselves.
They learn the meaning of vodka, its history, distillation process; we teach them how different styles of vodka are distinct. They know whiskey types by definition; we allow them understanding by nose and palate.
Between top bartenders in the West and those in India, is there a big gap in skills, earnings etc?
Sure, there is. Bartending has been a recognised skill there from the turn of the 20th century. They are respected, even feted. For us, it has been just 10 years. Our levels of confidence and knowledge are not quite there. Kids look for glamour and money even before developing themselves.
Also, the mantra of Indian hospitality is: We are here to serve. That’s good, but it can instil servitude, making them feel they are at a lower level socially than the customers. Not so in the West.
Author: HT Horizons
Date: 27th Nov., 2009
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