For learning and teaching purposes, bartending fits into three levels: simple, complex, and difficult.
What is meant by levels?
The simplest “simple text” level would be just remembering ingredients. (There are low level functional bartenders all over the place in dive bars serving drinks in plastic cups. They don’t know glassware, and only know some garnishes). Completely inexperienced bartenders just starting training often struggle getting past level one the first few to several times they make a drink.
The mid “complex text” level would include memorizing exact pour amounts of each ingredient (⅛, ¼, ⅓, ½, ⅔, ¾, 1 etc. of an ounce = 4ml, 7ml, 10ml, 15ml, 20ml, 22ml, 30ml etc if you’re using metric – NOTE metric is actually easier to memorize if you grew up learning it that way).
The hard “difficult text” level requires understanding of concepts, use of tools, and some scientific theory such as my making of a Mojito and how to deal with the mint leaves and why, or how to make caviar beads, iSi flavor infusing or whipping, or making smoked drinks etc., and similar such finesse category concepts that aren’t Alchemy or Chemistry, but you still need to know advanced processing techniques.
Under the category of “Elaborative Interrogation” for study purposes, YouTube shows (among others, mostly law and medicine) the following video. For Mnemonics purposes we use something else labeled as elaborative; “Elaborative Encoding“.
What IS Elaboration, or “Elaborative” as it refers to Strategy for Better Learning?
An elaboration strategy is where the student uses elements of what is to be learned and expands them. The student expands the target information by relating other information to it (ex. creating a phrase, making an analogy). Analogies, for example, are rather complex ways of connecting information. The very act of creating and rehearsing (recalling) connecting information between two or more items to be memorized makes them each more strongly connected because they each rely upon all of the other pieces of information being there for the elaboration itself to make complete sense.
The difference between Elaborative Encoding (see also Elaborative Rehearsal) and Elaborative Interrogation in study.
a 2015 study found that rehearsing details of video clips immediately after watching them significantly improved recall of the videos weeks later.
However, evidence suggests that maintenance rehearsal is mostly effective at placing information in your short-term memory (such as a phone number) while elaborative rehearsal may be more effective at encoding it into your long-term memory.
Other Books Authored by Fiona McPherson (above)
Site Author, David J. Curtis: David Curtis, a seasoned professional with decades of bartending and bar management experience began his career in Midtown Manhattan, NY, tending and managing bars before diving into Manhattan’s bustling nightlife club scene. Over the years, he has mastered high-volume, high-pressure bartending as the lead bartender in iconic Midtown clubs and tended bar briefly in the Wall Street area, generating over $1,350,000.00 annually in personal drink sales. He has since extended his expertise to establishments in Georgia and now Tampa in Exclusive Platinum Service Awards Clubs, Florida. David’s roles as a Bartending Instructor at the American Bartending School in Tampa, while maintaining a second job bartending, and his years experience of managing bars, and working as a Brand Ambassador along with his extensive professional library of over 1,000 bartending books, highlight his dedication to continually refining his craft. He holds a diploma in Bar Management and is BarSmarts certified by Pernod Ricard.
Footnotes 👇
- About Dr. Fiona McPherson
Fiona McPherson has a PhD in cognitive psychology, from the internationally-regarded Psychology Department at the University of Otago, New Zealand. She has spent the decades since that achievement following the research into how the human brain thinks and learns and remembers, and communicating that knowledge and its practical implications to a lay audience. She has done this through her long-running and extensive websites (www.memory-key.com and www.mempowered.com), and her books. Her guiding principle is that people are more likely to use effective strategies if they understand how and why they work, and know precisely when and when not to use them.[↩]