Bartender vs Mixologist

I think, from a practical standpoint, the term 'bartender' automatically implies a professional element. Whereas 'mixologist' denotes an approach to drink mixing with an attention to detail or particular appreciation of quality regardless of whether you're a bartender or not.

I will say that both the terms 'mixologist' and 'bar chef' make me squirmy and seem awkward; today I was at a used bookstore and asked about some old editions and the proprietor asked, 'Are you a bartender?' You would never hear 'bartender' (not a professional), 'mixologist', or 'bar chef' cross my lips out loud. Hence I smiled and said, 'Just an enthusiastic hobbyist.' Though in hindsight I should have said, 'No, I'm just a cocktail nerd.'

Good post for discussion, seems like just about everyone has to address this issue at one time or another.

Though the term, mixologist, has been around since the days of Jerry Thomas, it remains unfamiliar to most customers--at least the ones who come into my bar. And it must strike a few of them as a bit contrived and pompous because when they read aloud from the chalkboard above my bar, "Handcrafted cocktails by our mixologist", there usually follows a quiet snicker.

I work in a small fine dining restaurant and in the minds of our customers a good bartender is one who makes great drinks--which is what they're paying for! Though I am still a relative novice, put briefly, my job is making cocktails. It's about the drink. But I also understand what Jackson Cannon of Boston's Eastern Standard said recently. "Drink making is about being empathetic. You're taking care of someone with that drink. I can't overstate that."

The designations of a bartender is indeed not easy. Bartender are professionals, but that doesn't mean, that they are quality driven; mixologist is a very fashionable term, and a lot of people which aren't that special call themselves already mixologists; and bar chefs - this is a very new term in the english language area - in Europe it is just meant that they are, well bartenders on a medium level (first comes commis de bar, then demi chef de bar and then chef de bar).

I still call myself bartender (I am managing the bar - but also tending) - I do not feel insulted if somebody call me mixologist but really rarely call me myself like that. I am not sure, but I have a really odd feeling if I am doing it!

Interesting discussion....and timely for me.
I think that the definitions are a little loose still. For the past maybe 10 years i've been referred to as THe Mixologist of wherever I was working. Recently I've taken a job where my title will be "Bar Chef." I felt kinda weird about it. I use to get the snickers with the other title and i know this is going to be worse.
However, I've been pushing for years for the bar to be approached as, and appreciated as much as, a well run kitchen. I do a ton of "from scratch" product prep and I develop an entire menu based on classics and innovations. I work very hard on developing concepts. I'm not a "bar manager" because I don't do any of the number stuff. I do all the training and the quality control and the research. I cringe at the title, but why should I?
What I'm really pushing for now is a "Sous Bar Chef" Now that would be a step in the right direction. (Kidding....sorta) 8>)
I think that a lot of titles are being thrown around suddenly. I'd like to think that we won't get all full of ourselves too quickly. But the reality is that a lot of us are, and need to be, way more than "bartenders". There is no reason why our profession shouldn't be just as professionally rewarding as any other. There should be more choices than bar back, bartender, bar manager. Let's give ourselves some credit for what we really are doing.
That said, I'd like to start getting the financial reward too!

I think the question of motive and appraoch makes the real distinction between bartender and mixologist. Anybody paid to mix drinks (or sometimes just pull beer taps) is, by title, a bartender. A bartender needs to be charismatic, have good salemanship, and be able to follow a recipe. Speed and memorization help make a good bartender. Flair, creativity, and attention to detail help make a great bartender. My point being, "Best bartender" is the superlative of "bartender". "Mixologist" is not. The biggest difference about the word "mixologist", to me, is that it seems to remove the social aspect of bartending. I think of a guy in a lab coat, working in some Pernod Ricard complex, trying to derive recipes for the many strange (and often blasphemous) flavored spirits that everyone's been releasing lately. It requires the same creativity, and things like knowledge of a spirit's history can also help here, but they don't have to entertain anyone, they just have to systematically answer questions like "What's the best use for blueberry-infused Stoli?" or "Would pear-flavored Jameson's be marketable?" Also, anyone who can call themselves a "Chemical mixologist", as you discussed long ago, would also be fair in using the title "mixologist". And then, "bar chef", suggest somebody that is skilled in both cocktails and cooking. If you run both the bar and the kitchen at your establishment, then you can call yourself "Bar Chef". Or, even if you make things like Brandy Pizza, i could see the title being appropriate, but places shouldn't dub people "bar chef" if they intend for them to mix whiskey sours.

I am not with you Michael! We should know, that chef is not the appropriate term for a cook - it is just an an acronym for chef de cuisine. In the classic (European) gastronomy there are not only chefs de cuisine but also chefs de rang (this are waiters with full responsibility to take orders and serve in fine restaurants) and analogue chefs de bar.
So to think that bar chef is something exiting or has something to do with food preparation is just a misinterpretation of the original term!

And what is the difference between bartender and barkeeper?

The problem is that all terms are inferiored by an inflation and even if we are creating a new title for bartenders, people will use it (and some supposed to be not using these titles); unless we are creating a title which is protected (supposed to be international) - but this needs time, as we are far away to agree on certain standards of bartending!

I think the folks above have largely covered most of what I want to say, but I'll weigh in anyway.
Like Gabriel, I think the term Bartender is indicative of the person's JOB. If you are being paid to mix and/or pour booze and hand it over a bar, then you are bartender. It is your job. I won't use the term "profession" here because many bartenders are not professionals, either because this is a part-time or short-time source of cash en route to another calling in life, or because the person in question acts unprofessionally. Many bartenders do treat the job as a profession–Keep them close to you.
Mixologist is a term that seems to indicate a state of mind. We use the -ologist suffix in people who study a subject in detail and who may develop new theories in the arena. So you do not need to have ever worked in a bar to be a mixologist, and in fact, many bars would make for a hostile work environment for a mixologist. Calling a bartender at Coyote Ugly a Mixologist is a bit like calling a Lion Tamer a Zoologist.
Me, I've never worked a bar (for pay) in my life. I dabble in Mixology, but don't consider myself a Mixologist.
As to the word Mixologist, I hate it. It is indicative of so much of modern Western thought, in that is pretentiously uses an ancient construction, but hashes it with the modern english word "Mix". I suppose, you could make it a little better by using the latin: Confundo. Thus you would say someone is a "Confundologist". The problem with this is that this sounds even more unwieldily, and almost no one would know what you are talking about. Also, now that I think of it, -ologist is an ancient greek root, not latin, IIRC. Thus my crappy new word is even more tacky than "Mixologist". I am now very confused.....

My two cents worth:
Chef means boss, or head person. If you go to Paris and have dinner, and you are obviously the head of the table, or the "Big Cheese", the server will address you as "chef". Unfortunately, in North America, people think of the term in a culinary aspect, when in reality it just means that you are in charge of a particular position, in this instance, the bar.
As for titles, I demand to be called the Supreme Cocktalian Mixologist of Liquid Arts, and I think that anyone who truly appreciates the cocktail world should push for the same, and get rid of trite titles like "mixologist" or "bartender".
;-)

It's funny that everyone seems to have a phobia of the -ologist title. All of my professional jobs have had some form of -ologist:

Chemical Engineering Technologist
Molecular Pathologist
Histologist

And I live with a Molecular Biologist.

Is it really that bad?

So... for all the people who have a problem with the term Mixologist (which I, personally find descriptive with a humorous hilt) what should we call a person who creates drink recipes as a JOB, yet does not work behind a bar?

Because, I do create Signature Cocktails, am qualified to do so, yet would be lying if I said I were a bartender... because I don't work at a bar...

If you have a complaint, let's hear a solution! :-)

I started bartending in 1979 at a bar. We served beer and wine. So, bartender fit as I was the tender of the bar. 3 years later I started working in a cocktail lounge and started learning mixed drinks. I continued to be a bartender and went on to be the manager. At that point I was known as the Bar Manager, which I continued to be for 5 more years. When interviewing prospective employees, they would always say they were a bartender. I would ask if they had any mixed drink experience and some would yes and some no. I think everyone should be a bartender with mixed drink experience. The bartender is in control and responsible for anything and everthing that happens in that bar legally. I think people should earn the bartender name after working in the bars as a bartender for at least 5 years, that shows it is a career and you take it seriously. I was a bartender for a total of 13 years.

I don't think I have a phobia of the word Mixologist. First of all, I think we need such a word, it is descriptive, and most people generally agree on its definition. As a practical matter, that's a good word!
No, it is the curmudgeonly side of me that objects to it. (All cocktail-drinking professional writers ((Wordologists?)) are required to be curmudgeons.) I'd like to have a better word, one that won't get you laughed at if you use in front of someone who's never heard it before! 8-)

This debate brings up an interesting point.There is no real structure or accreditations in our industry such as there is in the cuisine world. No written tests and no real gauge to say that you are now a "mixologist" or even that you are now "bartender".To be honest until we get our act together we're going to keep finding both good and bad mixologists and both good and bad bartenders.

I've got 35 years of bartending behind me and as I head for work tonight and I'm hoping many more.If you've never worked with anyone who cares about how they make a drink that's a major pity,because I make every drink as I would want it for myself,unless the customer has aspecial preference,which most do therefore that's were your bartending skills are really tested-getting it rght consistently. A CLEAN GLASS-A GOOD POUR,AND A FAIR PRICE is the foundation of bartending. As for namecalling and environments-I've been called everthing,worked some crazy scenes,but at the end of the night I'm a bartender.

As a lawyer, in order to practice in a court of law you have to be admitted to the bar. No layperson can go in front of the bar (the railing in between the judge and the lawyers is referred to as the bar). The same should hold true for bartenders. No novice should be allowed behind the bar.
Additionally, there are many synonyms for lawyers (advocate, counselor, attorney). Just another trait we share with bartenders (counselor, advocate, mixologist . . . ). Both noble professions.

Doug, since you started talking wordology there, I have to take you up on the idea that "mix" is a "new English" word. Is it?
"From Middle English mixt, mixed, mixed, from Anglo-Norman mixte, from Latin mixtus, past participle of miscēre, to mix". It too has a Latin root.

As a complete outsider to this issue, I found this thread and the one on Liquid Muse really interesting because it was informative about the real "politics" behind the whole thing. I was a bit sceptical of the word mixologist in my comment on Liquid Muse but if it is being used to demarcate quality and a belief in doing a job right then it doesn't matter what word you use, it is a good thing.

But going back to the wordology: it is not that "mix" and "ology" cannot be combined, although there is a slightly bad word cocktail taste to it. It is just that "ology" seems to me to imply a scientific undertaking, subject to scientific proof and testing, which cocktail making is not usually about. It has a slightly aspirational, jargonising for effect feel to me. Indeed, it seems to cheapen the "art" that good cocktail making (I am beginning to appreciate from reading all these excellent cocktail blogs) is about. A really self confident art would not try to dress itself up as a science. I liked "intoxicologist" because it has a humour that defuses and plays off the "ology" but there are loads of other suffixes used for professions and arts: "ist" (pianist, violinist, artist, novelist), "er" ("or") (writer, painter, sculptor and, dare I say it, bartender), "cian" (musician) etc etc.

On my side of the world we have a "drinks designer" and "drink consultant", now how posh it that?!
I Personally dont care if the person Im hiring likes to call him/her self wathever...their job is to serve and entertain the customers and have a good knowledge of drinks in general.
I like to think of myself as a Bartender with an excelent knowledge of spirits, liqueurs and cocktails.

Serve the customers? Absolutely. Entertain?!?! Please.

Being that I work in the state of Washington all bartenders are considered 'Mixologists' as they are required to have a Mixologist Permit (i.e. license) to pour drinks.

Encarta states the following definitions:

mix·ol·o·gy [ mik sólləjee ]

noun

Definition:

preparation of cocktails: the skill of preparing cocktails, especially cocktails containing alcohol ( informal )

mix·ol·o·gist noun

At the end of the day regardless of what title one may use...if they do a poor job they are "useless."

Tha said, I think we should focus more on how our jobs can be improved upon rather than what to title the job.

...I think we should focus more on how our jobs can be improved upon rather than what to title the job.

For starters, it would help if management would perceive us as more akin to the chef instead of mentally lumping us in with the wait staff. I would be all for the position being a salaried one. Thinking about tips is a distraction. And heaven knows I do plenty of work off the clock.

I tend to chafe at the term "mixologist". Here is why:

I have a friend who is a mixologist. He creates drinks at home.

I am a bartender. I create an entire cocktail menu, daily drink specials, attend to the needs of a 12 seat bar for 10 hours at a time, handle the service bar, serve food orders for my bar patrons, listen to my patron's bellyaches, anticipate their needs, explain the more esoteric aspects of my cocktail and wine lists, stock, clean, order, deal with liquor/wine/beer purveyors, squeeze fresh juices, make many of my own liqueurs and infusions, handle the cash drawer, know when to wean patrons off the sauce for the night, call cabs for good patrons, discretely boot the unruly ones, and generally make everyone feel welcome and attended to, even when I'm in the middle of shaking five Ramos Fizzes for the folks at the end of the bar.

The term "bartender" was good enough for Jerry Thomas, Harry Johnson, Harry Craddock, Dale DeGroff, and Gary Regan. It is good enough for me. I have done nothing in my bar career that is better than what these esteemed gentlemen have. Therefore, I need no better title than them.

And as someone astutely noted above, the superlative of bartender is not mixologist, it is great bartender. I may not be a great one, but I am proud to call myself a bartender.

Besides, start throwing around pretentious terms like bar chef or mixologist in my bar, and I'll punch you in the nose.

I just started as a bartender back in Oct. of 2006. My friend got me the job. I had no experience. I still don't to be honest. Where I work, I sell mostly beer. And when I have to fix a mix drink, we take shortcuts. I do not like the shortcuts. In my opinion, a bartender is a mixologist. But, I am still learning the trade. Any suggestions.

I don't mind calling people who tend the bar and mix drinks whatever they prefer. Just don't get mad if I use bartender or mixologist when I first meet you and you get mad at me for not knowing. I am not a mindreader.

I used to work at a bar. As a janitor, a doorperson, and a liquor inventory guy--I didn't like being called a janitor. I wanted to be facilities hygienist. I didn't like being called a doorperson. I preferred greeter. (I was a greeter. I took the money for special events. I checked IDs, too. I made a lot of teens go home with there fake IDs. That was fun. I was nice and not a whack job. "Inventory guy" was alright...but I preferred "liquor inventory auditor". :)

Even though my jobs were mundane...I did want them to sound special. :)