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<\/p>\n In April, Pre Shift toured the country to hold recruitment events for Punch\u2019s\u00a0Best New Bartenders<\/a>\u00a0(BNB) program, in partnership with\u00a0Astral Tequila<\/a>. At the heart of BNB is the imperative to promote the next generation of bartenders to ensure a bright future for this industry.\u00a0With sustainability and social responsibility at the core of its tequila-making process, Astral Tequila brings shared values to the forefront of this initiative, reinforcing a collective commitment to progress and impact.<\/p>\n
At four events in Los Angeles, Denver, New York and Tampa, we were joined by BNB alumni and local industry leaders for discussions about their paths to bartending, mentorship, and sustainability\u2014what the future of the bar industry looks like. From mentoring young talent to reducing waste behind the bar, here are some takeaways from those conversations. <\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou should never compare yourself to anybody else, because sometimes your biggest weakness is actually your biggest superpower. I am a people pleaser and an empath, and that\u2019s probably what makes me the best\u00a0bartender<\/span>\u00a0version of myself, because I do want to take care of people, and I want to take care of the team, and now that I\u2019ve been doing that for a long time, I know to take care of myself. Being an empath, for me, is the ability to take care of others and to find joy in that.\u201d
<\/p>\n \u201cEverywhere I\u2019ve worked, there\u2019s a guy who knows a little trick\u2014whether it\u2019s a dishwasher or barback or just someone who has a thing that they know how to do and it makes the job easier. I try to collect those [tricks]. You just pick them up and then you give them to other people. So there\u2019s a train of little tricks and techniques. But even more than that, I\u2019d say for a younger\u00a0bartender<\/span>, you want to teach them how to be interested and go find their own tricks and collect them the way you are. Try to foster that in people, and let them teach themselves.\u201d
<\/p>\n \u201cAlign yourself with people that have the same vision, same philosophy. Always train everybody to do your job so they can take over your job. You can\u2019t move forward if there\u2019s no one to take your place. Also, find the person whose job you want and reach out to them. Ask,\u00a0How did you get there?<\/em>\u00a0What was your path?<\/em>\u00a0And\u00a0I want your job. Tell me, how do I take it?<\/em>\u00a0It\u2019s important to make it known what you want and put that out into the world.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cRecognize and understand that the people that work for you are not necessarily going to work for you forever. And, while you have them in your care, as a manager or owner, take into consideration what they need\u2014whether that is providing insurance or providing profit-sharing or providing education, managing in a way to prevent burnout, managing in a way that promotes responsible consumption. Ask what they want to get out of the job and what they want their future to look like. And, even if you can\u2019t necessarily catapult them to that place, help them along the way and guide them, give advice when it\u2019s asked for and sometimes when it\u2019s not. We can create a symbiotic relationship where this person is then going to do that for the next generation.\u201d
<\/p>\n \u201cEducation is a huge draw. Also, you have to curate talent and look for the spark in people and you have to nourish it. You know, sometimes it\u2019s,\u00a0How can I encourage you to go get a chemistry degree? How can I encourage you to go, you know, research architecture? How can I support you in your goals of being a therapist?<\/em>\u00a0Those people will still continue to work for you while they\u2019re chasing their goals and they will become your biggest advocates.\u201d
<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest step up in bartending was staging. They taught me everything. For a little while, I just peeled fruit, and I cut fruit, and I cut it again, and I cut it better, and I then cut it exactly right. I learned everything from the ground up. And no, staging is not something that will fit what everyone wants. But it was so important to me, just learning from the tiniest little detail of, like,\u00a0Why do we do this? How do we do it perfectly? Do it again, do it again, do it better, do it faster.<\/em>\u00a0And, in bartending, that translates into every level.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI [created] a cocktail once with a banana peel oleo, because I was like, \u2018Oh, this is so rad, it\u2019s using the peel, and I\u2019m turning trash into an ingredient.\u2019 But we weren\u2019t using bananas [to begin with]. So then I\u2019m buying bundles of bananas and peeling them\u2014I still have vacuum-sealed bags of bananas in the freezer. And I was like, \u2018Oh, fuck, dude! Like, what are you doing?\u2019 What we do now is break our menu into thirds: These are the bangers, these are what people want, they\u2019re easy, they\u2019re crushable. These are the passion projects, the crazy ideas. And then the last third is kind of like, \u2018Okay, what is left over from the passion project and crazy ideas? Now let\u2019s write stuff with that waste.\u2019 We leave a gap on our menu and wait to see what our waste is, and then we write around that, and that\u2019s been really cool because now we\u2019re not buying bananas for the peels. We\u2019re using the pulp of something that\u2019s in something else.\u201d
<\/p>\n \u201cAt Thunderbolt, we specifically only use pebble ice to shake. All that Kold-Draft that you dump out afterward, that\u2019s just wasting water. And the thing about being in California, specifically, is we\u2019re always gonna be in a drought. All of our cocktails that we batch have special refrigerators that are [set to] a lower temperature; the dilution is already accounted for. Therefore, there is no water waste. The cocktail is built to perfection; we pour it out and that\u2019s it. Also, because our wells are all pebble ice, [it] melts super easily, we just scoop [it] out in the sink [at the end of service] and leave it there. I\u2019ve been to bars where you take a hose and you just drown the whole ice well in hot water, which takes forever to melt the Kold-Draft and then it [wastes] a ton of water. Those are small things you could do.\u201d
<\/p>\n \u201cSustainability, for me, begins and ends on a community level. There are so many bars, especially in [New York City], that don\u2019t really need to exist or don\u2019t exist in a way that they\u2019re active in the community. If you\u2019re thinking of opening a bar, and it\u2019s your idea, your dream that you want to put on this planet because you\u2019re driven to do so, stop and think about where you\u2019re doing it and why you\u2019re doing it in that place. Being at Clover Club for so many years, I really enjoyed how involved in the community all those ladies are [co-owners Julie Reiner and Sue Fedroff, and partner Christine Williams]\u2014being part of the block association and making sure the street is clear and safe and really sustaining the neighborhood where we take up space is so important.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, I see even more diversity in our industry. For a long time, we were seeing the same six or seven people speaking and they all look [similar] and don\u2019t have different voices. So it\u2019s nice that a program has developed that diversity, but also it starts with us talking to people on our team and empowering them to empower other people, and then we can see that naturally change in rooms. Like, look around in this room right now. There\u2019s such a diverse group of people, and it\u2019s incredible to see. Pre-pandemic, you wouldn\u2019t have seen this. In the future 20 years from now, I hope we are looking at places and spaces that celebrate [our] uniqueness rather than push it aside or say that it\u2019s something bad or scary.\u201d
<\/p>\n \u201cTo legitimize [bartending] as an actual career in the minds of the general population would be epic. Once that happens, maybe we\u2019ll reach that magic pinnacle of healthcare or maternity leave or paid time off, all those things that legitimize our career. And for some reason, we\u2019ve struggled so much to keep up and it just comes down to money. But at the end of the day, we know that constantly voicing and being squeaky wheels are the things that can counter the sway of money. Never stopping that fight, and I hope in 10 years we\u2019re sitting here, laughing about how there was once a day when none of us could take time off while getting paid, right?\u201d![\"\"](\"https:\/\/punchdrink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Pre-Shift-300.jpg?w=300\")
<\/a>This is an excerpt from our newsletter for industry pros, <\/span><\/i>Pre Shift<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Subscribe for more stories like this.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"Tammy](\"https:\/\/punchdrink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Denver-BNB-Panel-2025.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n Punch GM Talia Baiocchi, Punch executive editor Chloe Frechette, Ren\u00e9e Fitzgerald, and Christine Wiseman. (Credit: Oscar Perez, Motion Minds)
\n <\/h6>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n\u2014Sarah Morrissey,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Le Veau d\u2019Or<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, New York<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Luke Rose,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Normandie Club<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Los Angeles<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Christine Wiseman,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>bar consultant<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Miami<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n![\"Luke](\"https:\/\/punchdrink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Los-Angeles-BNB-Panel-2025.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n Luke Rose, Tom Liu, Erin Hayes, and Eater special projects director Lesley Suter. (Credit: Miranda McDonald)
\n <\/h6>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n\u2014Erin Hayes,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Bad Witch Enterprises<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Los Angeles<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Tammy Bouma,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Run for the Roses<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Denver<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Ren\u00e9e Fitzgerald,\u00a0Punch Room<\/a>, Tampa<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/punchdrink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/NYC-BNB-Panel-2025.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n Michael Aredes, Sarah Morrissey, and Jelani Johnson. (Credit: Gonzalo Loayza)
\n <\/h6>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n\u2014Jake Powell,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Run for the Roses<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Denver<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Tom Liu,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Thunderbolt<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Los Angeles<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Jelani Johnson,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Le Coucou<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, New York City<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n\n Tammy Bouma, Jake Powell, Mary Allison Wright, and Chloe Frechette. (Credit: Brooke Cerny)
\n <\/h6>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n\u2014Michael Aredes,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Superbueno<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, New York City<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Mary Allison Wright,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Yacht Club<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Denver<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n