Though it's a good way to connect with others and a fundamental part of living near train tracks, pouring one’s heart out to strangers is an unsustainable career. Learn a more employable pour with today’s Groupon: for $99, you get enrollment in a 16-hour bartending course with National Bartenders School, in Woodbridge (a $258 value).
The state-approved National Bartenders School is a helpful haven for fledgling drink slingers, providing a bevy of beverage know-how and customer-service knowledge to forge confident cocktail mixologists. The 16-hour course is divided into four separate four-hour classes held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, offering a selection of class times each day: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., or 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Glean valuable libation principles from the hands-on training approach, which puts students behind a fully equipped bar to practice blending cocktails and patiently listening to grizzled tales from the garrulous sloe-gin fizz. In addition to elixir mixing, the class imbues professional techniques and responsible alcohol approaches when dealing with a wide array of customers. Snag a drink-recipe book and mixing set for work or home use, ideal for shaking satisfying serums at your future gastropub job or regaling guests at your next sudoku-and-spandex soiree.
Groupon holders can opt to pay an additional $271 to complete a 40-hour program, in which they will receive certification from the New Jersey Department of Education as well as job-placement assistance.
National Bartenders School
Lambert Epperly, founder and owner of National Bartenders School, oversees the progress of each of his school's students, and provides individual advice and adjustments from their first class through graduation. His bartending gurus pass on their knowledge and techniques in a custom-designed cocktail-lounge classroom, engaging students in hands-on training behind a 40-foot-long, fully stocked bar. These experienced instructors lead a 40-hour certificate program and other seminars in both English and Spanish, tailoring class times around students' work and crime-fighting schedules. For extended courses, they provide a bartending textbook spanning more than 200 drink formulas and detailing elements of the craft, such as types of glassware and customer-service practices. Licensed by the New Jersey Department of Education, the school keeps tuition low and connects its students with free job-placement assistance in local watering holes.