An Interview with Cheryl Charming:
- How did you begin bartending?
Through high school, I worked as a pizza parlor waitress. I used that experience to land a job as a waitress at a nice restaurant in the city (Little Rock, AR) while attending college. One night, the manager said that he needed a cocktail waitress for the upstairs bar and that I was to report to the bartender. My feelings were ambivalent. I was scared of the dimly lit room with tinkling glassware and echoes of laughter, but extremely curious at the same time. After a couple of weeks working the bar, I applied as a cocktail waitress at a new nightclub that was opening called Cabaret. The bar was beautiful with carved dark wood and a copper bar top, decorative tin ceiling, and parlor chairs. Even though I started as a cocktail waitress, my goal was to make it behind the bar. I morphed into a bar sponge and sopped up everything bar related: recipes, trivia, bar tricks, techniques, and so on, and I was quickly promoted to bartender and then to head bartender. After a few years, I took a job on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, then traveled around America, then tended bar for Walt Disney World. In March of 2008 I retired tending bar for a living after 28 years.
- What qualities do you think a successful bartender should have?
A successful bartender needs to understand the industry. They also need to understand humans and what makes them tick. Beginner bartenders tend to think that bartending is “all about the cocktails” but the reality is that it’s only a small part of the bartender pie. Learning basic skills such as extraordinary service and providing an excellent experience for guests will take you far. Successful bartenders have passion and take pride in what they do. Once you have that, everything else just falls into place.
- Bartending school or real-world experience? Do you recommend one or the other?
Real world experience is always better with all occupations, not just bartending. But I have to say, that a combination of the two cannot be bad.
- How has your experience been being a female bartender? Did you find it harder to get a start or get respect?
I think it was easier being female. My favorite way to work is by myself or with a male bartender. The balance of the sexes can really work a bar of guests to the highest potential by appealing to everyone at the bar. Plus at the end of the night the female can do easier closing duties like the bank out and some cleaning while the male can haul trash and stock beer.
- What tips can you give women bartenders for dealing with a “boys club” attitude at work?
I don’t know. I’ve never worked in that situation. Sounds more like a local bar thing. But, I would have to guess and say to carry your own weight behind the bar with all duties.
- Where do you start when creating a new drink?
It depends. It can depend on if someone has hired me and I have to use a certain ingredient or if it’s for a special occasion, or if it needs to be a certain color, or if it needs to have a certain flavor, etc.
The most important thing for me is that the name has something to do with the ingredients or the way it looks. What I’ve learned in creating cocktails is that you basically hook people by ear, then eye, then tongue. Or hear, sight, taste.
- Ear. They hear the name of a drink (or are reading it on a menu) and it is in their head. “Hmmmm! That sounds good!”
- Eye. They’ve ordered the drink and it is presented to them. “Wow! That looks great!”
- Tongue. “MMMMM, this tastes great!”
All 3 of these must come into to play to work together.
- You write resumes for bartenders, why do you think this is important?
I don’t really write them, I graphically create them. I basically take the information they give me and put it into an attention getting format. However, I do give them several examples of how to get started putting their information together.
You don’t really need a resume as a bartender, but I’ve found throughout the years that they served me well, so I thought I’d share my success. One thing it shows is that you take pride in this profession by making the extra effort. Another is that it makes you stand out from the crowd because good bartender jobs can be very competitive.
- What is your favorite cocktail movie line?
Just one?
I love Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch when she is asks Tom Ewell for a Martni then says she wants a big tall one. Quite obvious she doesn’t know what a Martini is.
I also like Guys & Dolls when Jean Simmons tells Marlon Brando that the Bacardi flavoring really makes a difference in her milkshake and it would be a good way to get kids to drink milk.
- Which of your original drinks are you most proud of?
Wow! That’s so hard. Well, as you know, I’ve always been about fun drinks and I have to say that my Rainbow Lemondrops (shooters) make me proud because I was the first to do them and write about them in one of my books and it’s fun to see other bartenders doing the same thing.
Basically, you secretly place a drop of food coloring into the bottom of the glasses then when you pour out the Lemondrops each one turns a different color. Guests go crazy! It’s like a little magic trick.
I also like my Itsy Bitsy Yellow Polka Dot Martini where you melt some chocolate in the microwave then with your finger makes dots inside the glass. Then the liquid is yellow.
I also like my Blue Sangria (just because it surprises people), my Organic Rose Petal Pink Sangria, Yin Yang Martini (looks so cool!), Ice Cube Tray Hot Buttered Rum, Barrel of Cracker Jacks made with real buttered popcorn & roasted peanut infused Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel, and Guacamole Margarita.
Something else that my friends know about me is that I’m really good at creating skinny cocktails. I put a Skinny Mojito, Skinny Margarita, and Skinny Chocolate-tini on a restaurant menu and they sell like hotcakes.
Editor's Note: Many of the cocktails mentioned above can be found in Knack Bartending Basics.
Visit MissCharming.com for a wealth of bartending advice and a ton of fun cocktail extras.
