Barback “the backbone of a great bartender”

A running back in football breaks a tackle and runs the whole field for a glorious touchdown run, but no one reflects on the vital block thrown by the fullback that made it all possible.

A lawyer makes a break in a big case and becomes an instant legal star, but who thinks about the members of their team who did all of the vital legwork behind the scenes to make the big break happen?

The same can be said for the bartender/barback relationship.
One of my favourite quotes pertaining to bartending, that I heard while attending the Bartenderone Masterclass was “A great bartender is one who makes every move with a purpose.”
What allows a bartender to operate that way is that their barbacks have everything they need in the quantities they need it in, in the place the bartender needs them in! This allows the bartender to focus on thing and one thing only, their undivided attention to their guests and the service they provide.

My first foray into barbacking was born out of an unlikely situation. In 2nd year University, broke and eating Mr. Noodles 5 times a week, I decided to make a leap into bartending by signing up for bartending school. I signed up for Bartenderone’s Masterclass Program and immediately fell in love with owner Gavin MacMillan’s vision of what a bartender really is.

Shortly after finishing in the “Top Ten” of students for the month I was offered a postion in the “Bartenderone Internship Program”. I started working with the “Movers n Shaker Special Event Team” as a barback and quickly gained a wide variety of knowledge from the very talented and very knowledgeable bar team. It is then when I realized the true value of barbacking….for two reasons: I was a valuable asset to the bartender, and the things I was learning from both my job and the bartenders were a valuable asset to me! High volume bartending is not an easy job, but where there is a great bartender, there usually is a great barback behind them!

Jeremy Browes