Sander Raav

Mixologist

Sander Raav is a Mixologist based in Seattle, Washington. He is the founder of Seattle Bartending Company, which offers Cocktail Workshops and Classes. He has over 15 years of experience bartending in multiple high-end restaurants, including 8 years as Bar Manager at The Tin Table. He has held positions as a bartender, bar manager, and as treasurer for the Seattle chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild. Sander has created and organized many bartending events, fundraisers, cocktail classes, and presentations. He has participated in many cocktail competitions and has garnered over a dozen wins and placements in the top 3 of national and local competitions. Thanks to his extensive competition and cocktail knowledge, he has also judged many competitions as well. In 2020, he founded Shake, Stir & Savor, a mixology education program, and has been offering live and virtual cocktail classes since. In his classes, Sander teaches his students to think like bartenders, while making concepts simple, easy to grasp, and replicable.

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How do I become a bartender?

Bartending is people. Depending on the bar you work at, 60% to 80% of your job is people. You can learn how to make cocktails, but dealing with people or understanding people is a skill that you can't teach anyone. And that's the hard thing to do because you need a lot of patience. You need to be able to not think about yourself and instead think about the person sitting in front of you. I think that's the hard part that makes this job so much more difficult, because every person is different.

You want the person to be attentive and understand and hear you. And, of course, you'll have a bad day, but if you're not even looking the person that you're taking orders from in the eye or not making them feel welcome, you're not excelling at what you're doing. There's a difference between delivering someone a drink or making them a drink or creating an experience that's going to make them go, "This was awesome.” And that is the tricky part. Some people are born with it and they're just naturally so good with people that it doesn't even matter what you do. They will love you and come back. Some people are in between. So if you want to become a bartender, make an effort to work on your people skills.

Co-authored Articles (75)

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The best tricks to easily open beer, soda, and wine bottlesIf you ever find yourself without a bottle opener, there are many alternative ways to get the bottle cap off. If you’re around the house, you can use different...

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Open and Drink a Bottle of Ramune Pop

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Make a Slushie

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Work a Slush Puppie Machine

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Make a Pornstar Cocktail

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Drink Bombay Sapphire

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Make a Jager Bomb

The Jager Bomb is a popular party-starting shot. The classic Jager Bomb involves one shot (1.5 ounces) of Jägermeister and half of an 8.4 ounce can of Red Bull. Drop the shot of Jager into a highball glass of Red Bull, ...

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Make Ice Without a Freezer

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How to Drink Bacardi: Straight, Mixed, & More

Get sippin’ with our best tips & tricks for drinking BacardiBacardi Rum was established in Cuba in 1862 and has been a favorite spirit amongst partygoers, night-clubbers, and dinner guests ever since. Bacardi rums are ...

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Make Watermelon Juice

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Make Ice Cubes Without a Tray

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Make Wine out of Grape Juice

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Sander Raav

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Co-authored Articles (75)

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