Essential Bar Skills: Performance Criteria, Mise-en-Place, And Coffee Serving

Bar Skills Checklist

1. A complete checklist of duties for a new employee for preparing a bar for services.

A new employee in a bar should be provided with the performance criteria that he or she should adhere to while rendering their services to customers who have come to the bar. These checklist does provide the needed performance that the employee should demonstrate that are essential for the utmost achievement of quality services. These checklist of duties are:

1. Preparing the bar: the new employee should be made conversant with bar preparation in order to provide his or her services. These preparations entail setting up the display area and the operational area according to the set standards of the bar services.
2. Taking orders from the customers: the new employee is made aware of the manner in which to take customers’ orders, preferably note the orders down to avoid confusion. The new employee should also be taught to check and note regular customers’ tastes and preferences.

1. They should also be taught of the preparation and serving drinks; the new employees should be educated on the methods of preparation of both the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic beverages too. They should do so following the set organizational standards, with correct ingredients, the standard measure, and equipment.
2. Closing down the bar: on the event that the preparation of drinks and their delivery to customers has been made the new employee should be made aware of the procedure of shutting down the operation equipment in a safe way following the manufacturer’s instructions.
3. Work safety to both the customers, fellow employees, and the environment: the new employee should be taught of the safe working procedures specific to the bar. They should also be taught on better methods of production to reduce negative impacts on the environment (Kelly, Harrington, Matos, Turner, & Johnson, 2016).
4. Steps followed while taking a customer’s drink order are:
5. The employee should note down the customer’s order to avoid confusion, or memorize the order if they can.
6. The employees should note the customer’s preference to help them deliver better services in the future.

• The employees, after noting the customer’s preference, should provide valid suggestions and recommendation in drink selection.

1. The employee should always assist the customer in processing their payments.

1. List the steps you should perform when;
2. Preparing and serving drinks;
3. The employee should prepare both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks not only by following the bar’s regulation and standards, but also the legal requirements.
4. The employee should serve the drinks with the accepted garnishes or glassware.

• The employee should check the drinks quality before serving it to the customer and carry out correction if needed.

1. The employee should also work in ensuring minimal wastage and spillages.
2. Attend to spillages and breakages
3. The employee attends to any spillage and breakages promptly to minimize cases of injury.
4. In taking care of the spillage or breakage the employee should ensure utmost safety to all.

• The employee should analyze the cause of spillage and breakage and prevent them in the future. 

1. Prepare a checklist for a new employee for closing down the bar?
2. The employee should shut down the equipment, carefully following the manufacturer’s instructions and the procedure recommended at the bar.
3. The employee should clean the bar following the organization’s standards.
4. The employee should carry out reorder, after carefully assessing the remaining stock according to the organization’s standards.
5. The employee should ensure that the remaining stock is kept in a safe environment with the correct temperature to avoid wastage.
6. The employee should also organize the bar in a condition where it will be usable in the next service.
7. What points would you provide your new employee with in regards to working safely and reducing negative environmental impacts?
8. The new employee should carry out safe and correct working practices that are accepted by the bar.
9. The new employee should avoid wastage by using water, energy and other production resources efficiently. This specifically is during the preparation of drinks to avoid unwanted environmental impacts.
10. To reduce cases of soil pollution, the new employee should re-use plastic and glass containers.
11. The employee should be directed on safe disposal of wastes, particularly those with a negative impact on the environment to minimize environmental pollution. 

1. Why is it important to interact with customers during service?
2. The employee develops communication skills of listening and talking to customers in a polite and friendly way.
3. The employee, over time, will identify the customers’ tastes and preference thus making them serve customers with better efficiency.
4. The employees develop enterprise skills that promote higher sales.

Drink	Brand	Measure	Additive/mixer Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Glassware	Garnish
Gin and tonic	Bloom Gin	Ratio 1:4	standard G&T	Bloom Gin Copa Glass	John’s Premium Tonic
Bourbon and coke	Jim Beam	Ratio 1:3	orange juice	Jim Beam Glass	Coca-cola
Vodka and orange juice	Smirnoff	1:4	fresh lime juice	stemmed cocktail glass	fresh orange juice
Scotch and dry	Johnnie Walker	1:3	Lime juice	Johnnie Walker tumbler glass	club soda
White rum and coke	Appleton	1:3	fresh lime juice	Appleton estate rum	Coca-cola
Dark rum and coke	Coruba Dark Rum		Fresh orange juice		coke
Brandy and dry	Hine Vintage Cognac.	1:5	water	Hine Vintage Cognac glassware	lemonade
Fire engine	Absolut vodka	1:3	sprite	Absolut vodka glassware	Beckford’s raspberry

 How many MLS are there in?

1. A) A full nip of spirits

473.18 mL

1. B) A ½ nip of spirits 

1. What does the term “Mise-en-place” mean when operating a bar?

The term “Mise-en-place” is used to refer as to have all your ingredients in place for a smooth operation. 

1. List five (5) different types of bars and the types of service that you would expect these bars to provide.
2. Hotel bars: these are the kind of bars that other thank only serving drinks, they are always located at a stumbling distance of a bedroom.
3. Nostalgia bars: these are the kind of bars that have an old-timey defining characteristic and serve classic cocktails mostly of yesteryears.
4. Neighborhood dive: these are the types of bars that is jointly owned characterized by an operational native name. they are opened every day.
5. The pub: these bars are relatively larger than the neighborhood dive, more tourist-friendly and cleaner. They attract people due to their cozy styles and lots of drinks.
6. Sports bar: these bars other than serving drinks, they also provide a platform for illegal gambling rings and full-scale brawls.
7. What procedures are required for reordering stock from your Stores Controller or Bar Manager?
8. Analyze the invoices from the previous order by entering them in an excel sheet and them come up with a value of how much products were sold versus what is still available.
9. Create a fresh order totals, by analyzing what is still available and what product you should buy for the next week.

• Looking through every liquor category, create a precise order totals of each.

1. Review the figures, check for errors and determine if the bar need the calculated liquor.
2. When confirmed, classify the totals by means of distributors.
3. Contact each distributor letting them know of your liquor requirements.

• Upon delivery of each liquor category, confirm your invoice with the delivery sheet just make sure everything ordered has been delivered.  

1. Why is it important to display bar stock and ancillary products correctly?

It provides an opportunity for the bar to show off their most profitable and the best liquor to the customer thus promoting sales.

1. From the list of major types of beverages below, list their characteristics and glassware required

TYPE	CHARACTERISTIC	GLASSWARE
Basic and popular cocktails	Bitter, dry, sour, spirituous, floral	Cocktail Glass
Beers	Sweet, carbonated, smooth	American Pint
Wines	Salty, acidic, hot, bitter	Red Wine Glass
Fortified wines	flavored	Dessert Wine Glass
Spirits	Bitter, flavored
Liqueurs	Sweet (added sugar)	Short and Tumbler
Non-alcoholic beverages		rocks glass
Mixed drinks (RTD)		Mixed Drink Recipe Party Glass

 List the types of payments available for different types of bar service for events

1. Cash payment over the counter
2. Payment using a credit card
3. Payment using the phone 

1. What are five (5) options available that would meet specific customer preferences when ordering drinks
2. Soft drinks
3. Wines

• Spirits

1. Cider
2. beer
3. From the list below, state the main operational features & safety & hygiene issues associated with the equipment

EQUIPMENT/SYSTEM	MAIN OPERATIONAL FEATURE(S)	SAFETY AND HYGIENE ISSUES
Glasswasher	Cleaning glasses	Ensure there are no Brocken glasses before washing
Ice machine	Provide clean and cool ice	Ensure the water used is clean
Refrigeration	Maintains drinks at low temperatures	Ensure there is no escape of pressure upon closure of the refrigerator
Dispensing system	Delivers drinks to customers after pay	Keep it in a safe location for easy monitoring

1. List three (3) pieces of information relevant during handover on completion of shift?
2. Provide detailed information of drinks to be served to customers
3. Provide detailed information on the number of drinks sold

• Provide information on customer payment details 

1. List five (5) safe work practices that are specifically relevant to bar operations:
2. The counter should be heavily protected with strong grills to prevent drunk customers from taking drinks forcefully.
3. The cashier chamber should have an enforced door that is only accessed by the authorized.

• There should be security officers to maintain order in and out of the bar.

1. Chemicals used in beer line cleaning should be handled with care.
2. Ensure that all the drinks gas bottle are correctly stored
3. List three (3) environmentally sound methods when using cleaning agents and equipment and water and energy, when operating a bar to reduce negative environmental impacts
4. The bar should be operated with renewable energy such as solar or electricity
5. Harmful wastes from the bar such as plastic bottles should be recycled to avoid environmental pollution.

• cleaning chemicals used should be disposed of correctly

1. List two (2) correct and environmentally sound practices for disposal of bar waste for: 

1. Hazardous substances
2. Cleaning chemical should be disposed together with the sewage system and not to the environment.
3. Metal bottle tops should be collected and recycled   

1. Recyclable glass/plastic bottles and containers
2. The plastic bottles should be reused
3. The plastic bottle should be taken back to the company for recycling.

Section B

Question 1:  List 3 items (perishables and equipment) you need as part of coffee mise-en-place.

1. The processed coffee
2. A heating element (gas cooker)

• water

Question 2:  Identify and describe three storage conditions for roasted coffee beans.

1. Store in moisture free environment: Coffee Is hygroscopic, meaning it has the property of absorbing moisture from the environment thus the roasted beans should be stored in a less moist storage location.
2. Store the roasted beans at room temperature: coffee beans lose its fats at high temperatures affecting its overall flavor.

• Store the coffee beans in normal air condition: since coffee beans lose their aromatic flavor just like wines, an ideal storage location is where the room air has a high pressure and calm.

Question 3:  Identify four coffee styles that can be produced from the espresso machine.

1. Café Americano

Question 4: What are a Barista and list two of his/her responsibilities?

A barista is a person whose job is to serve hot drinks from behind a counter. A barrister has the responsibility of:

1. Promoting the consumption of coffee through carrying out educational campaigns on advantages of coffee
2. They carry out grinding and selling coffee to customers 

Question 5:  Name the two main species of coffee bean and their commercial uses.

1. Arabica: used in making coffee beverages
2. Robusta: used for instant coffee making

Question 6:  Why is it important to check and or adjust the grinder throughout the service period?       

This is to ensure that the diameter of the espresso machine and the contact width used for mounting the flanges are within the accepted parameter for best quality output (Vittori, Caprioli, Cortese, & Sagratini, 2015).

Question 7: List the consequences of a dirty espresso machine.

1. Contamination: this occurs where the remains of poorly cleaned expresso machine contaminate the newly expressed coffee and may lead to stomach problems.
2. Wastage: since most of the dirty component is coffee remains, meaning the expresso is operating at poor efficiency.

• Bad taste: the remained coffee produces a bad odor when expressed into the drinking coffee.

Question 8: What is crema and what two things does its presence indicate?

A reddish-brown aromatic froth that settles on the top side of an expresso. Crema indicates that the coffee beans were well grounded by the barista.

Question 9: Why is it important to clean the steam wands correctly?  

The steam ward needs to be cleaned correctly so as to prevent the milk from drying on it after the frothing process,

Question 10: Explain the cleaning process for the steam wand if it has a build-up of milk crust?

To clean the steam wand, take the frothing pitcher and fill it with water. Then just like the process of frothing milk run the sea wand.

Question 11:  Identify at least four types of milk a customer may request in their coffee.

1. Full cream milk
2. Almond milk

• Rice milk

1. Skim milk

Question 12: List the differences between an espresso, long black and cappuccino coffee. Espresso is brewed when boiling water under pressure is forced through grounded coffee beans. Long black is brewed from an expresso. The espresso is poured over hot water to get long black. Cappuccino is derived from a double shot of espresso and milk foam added to it.

Question 13.  Why do you have to clean the grinder at the end of the trade?

To remove the stuck coffee beans and coffee powder so as to prevent cases of contaminating the next expressed coffee bean on a later date.

Question 14. List four steps you have to follow when extracting coffee

1. Determine the grinding dose of the coffee to express
2. Distribute the grounds evenly on the portafilter

• Tamp to remove any air pockets

1. Polish the ground coffee

Question 15.  List three (3) things to look for when texturing milk?

1. The pouring technique
2. The milk texturing process

• air to create a form

Question 16. List four steps when cleaning the coffee machine at the end of trade.

1. Detach the handles from brewing heads.
2. Using a brush scrub the coffee grounds that may still be stuck in brewing heads

• Remove the existing filter and replace it with a blank one.

1. Clean the drain

Question 17. Who do you report to if there are issues with the coffee machine or grinder?

The supplier of the coffee machine.

Question 18. How much cleaning detergent do you need to clean the group heads?

Just a teaspoon of mulclean to the filter.

Question 19. Why do you consult the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) when using detergents or chemicals in a coffee shop?

To ensure that you are following the manufacturers of the coffee machine instruction. The manufacturers have done extensive research and have come up with the best standards that the user should follow to ensure the optimal usage and safety of the coffee machine.

References

Kelly, K., Harrington, L., Matos, P., Turner, B., & Johnson, C. (2016). Creating a culture of safety around bar-code medication administration: an evidence-based evaluation framework. Journal of Nursing Administration, 46(1), 30-37.

Vittori, S., Caprioli, G., Cortese, M., & Sagratini, G. (2015). Espresso Machine and Coffee Composition. In Coffee in Health and Disease Prevention (pp. 255-263).