The demand for qualified mixologists — specialist bartenders who create magical cocktails and provide entertainment — is far outstripping supply

With hotels, bars, restaurants, discotheques and night clubs springing up all over the country even as the wine and dine soirees of India’s multiplying rich and famous are becoming more flamboyant and imaginative, new careers are emerging in the hospitality industry. For instance the mixologist, a specialist bartender who creates magical cocktails and beverages providing new highs to guests who leave with fond memories of hosts.

Experts in the art of concocting memorable alcoholic beverages for refined palates, mixologists specialise in fixing unique cocktails which can make the reputations of bars and restaurants. While they are knowledgeable about wines, beer and branded alcohol, they also create their own signature cocktails and present them with ‘flair’, using dramatic pouring techniques and providing entertainment by way of amusing chatter and dance movements.

Study programmes

While important, work experience under a trained mixologist isn’t enough. A diploma/degree in hotel management is advisable.

Widely respected diplomas/degrees are awarded by 21 Central government-sponsored Institutes of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition (IHMs) sited in all major cities of India including the five metros. Admission into their bachelor of science programmes is through a joint entrance examination. India’s top private hotel chains such as The Oberoi, Taj and Welcomgroup have also promoted institutes of hospitality management.

Another basic requirement is to pass the exams of the London-based Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET), internationally regarded as the leading provider of wine and spirits education. WSET also offers professional certification in the US.

Employment options

With demand for qualified mixologists far outstripping supply, this vocation has emerged as a new favourite career option of hotel management graduates. One of the attractions of this profession is that mixologists can work in upmarket bars and restaurants, on cruise liners, and are given star billing in private bachelor dos, corporate functions, weddings and parties.

Pay & perks

As new kids on the block, professionally qualified mixologists are well paid with freshers starting at Rs.35,000 plus perks. Within four-five years they can expect to be appointed brand ambassadors of best-selling liquor brands which rocket them into the Rs.1-1.5 crore annual income bracket. Moreover, those who monitor and keep up with trends abroad could well be signed up by international hotels with fancier pay packets.

“With the moral opprobrium associated with social drinking having dissipated in urban India, hotels and restaurants are constantly on the lookout for mixologists who combine bar-tending proficiency with service flair and social skills. New employment opportunities keep opening up as we win the appreciation of managements and clients,” says 20-something Shaun Colaco, assistant manager (food and beverages) of the Trident Hotel, Mumbai.

Lady Luck smiled on this cheerful mixologist while still a student at IHM, Mumbai, when he bagged a six-month internship with the Medinat Jumeirah, Dubai, a luxurious 5-star resort which boasts 44 bars and restaurants. “I trained in the kitchen, moved to a restaurant and then to a bar, which was great industry exposure. That’s when I realised I wanted to train as a mixologist as I’m a people person,” recalls Colaco.

Career progression

After graduating from IHM with flying colours, Colaco was selected for the hotel management training programme of the Oberoi Centre of Learning & Development, Delhi, ranked among the top hospitality management institutes in Asia, and was absorbed into the Trident Hotel, Mumbai, a constituent unit of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts Ltd which owns and manages 30 upscale hotels in India and abroad.

As a professionally qualified mixologist, Colaco’s work involves consulting, devising cocktail menus, innovating new mixes, maintaining inventories and testing new brands. To test his skills in mixology, last June Colaco signed up for a global competition organised by the transnational wine and spirits company Diageo Plc in Mumbai, in which mixologists from over 50 countries participated, and was ranked among the top five in India.

For youngsters with joie de vivre, this is an ideal vocation, says Colaco. “It’s a fun career. You have to host parties and be the life and soul. Social skills, passion for work and commonsense will take you far,” he advises.

INDRA GIDWANI