Interview with ABA Member: The Bartending Blueprint Difference

American Bartending Association member launches Professional Bartender training website, BartendingBlueprint.com

June 31, 2012

The American Bartending Association, a leading source for bartending school and bartending industry information, is pleased to announce the launch of completely new online professional bartender training created by ABA member, Jason Shurtz. It can be viewed on the website he directs, BartendingBlueprint.com.

“We are extremely pleased to see the overwhelming response to the new training site…,” says Jason. “With the new program, we are changing the way prospective bartenders receive their education and training.”

Before the Bartending Blueprint site was launched, people who wanted to learn bartending would have to pay $300 – $1,000 for a 40-ish-hour bartending school course that was marginal at best at helping students learn the craft of bartending, much less find jobs.

The extremely affordable program (starting under $30) is without a doubt one of the best modern guides about how to enter the nightlife professions.

With detailed video’s, the program is extremely effective at teaching students exactly what they need to know.

Here is what the site’s founder, Jason Shurtz, has to say about what the site has to offer:

“The Bartending Blueprint program is unique because of its extremely low cost of entry for people looking for a fun and positive lifestyle change. Most folks just cannot afford to quit their current jobs to take a class that can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars that no REAL guarantee of success…”

“The BB site allows you to keep your current job while training for a new career on your own schedule in the comfort of their own home.”

But what makes this website unique isn’t that they teach MORE then the next guy, in fact the difference is in how much LESS the Bartending Blueprint students have to learn.

Another surprising difference is that many schools are owned and operated by people who have never actually worked behind a real bar;

“As odd as it sounds, one of the things that makes what I teach different is that it comes from real world experience, I’m actually a working bartender. I’m on the front lines of a busy bar everyday and this is where I get the materials for the Bartending Blueprint site. As opposed to most bartending programs out there that primarily teach all the same outdated drinks from a culinary school based point of view. Most bartending schools have been teaching the same old outdated information for as long as 30 years…The world of bartending is constantly changing; trends, drinks, shooters, new alcohols all change over the years. Learning popular drinks from 20-30 years ago is very productive. Everything I create is designed to keep my students on the cutting edge of what will give them the edge to work at the best establishments possible.”

At this point Jason runs the website almost completely as a one man show, saying he likes to keep it lean and mean so he can updated the site daily in real time depending on what’s happening in the real world.

“If there is a hot new shooter, or a new type of vodka, I want to make sure our students are some of the first ones to be mixing em up in their bar,” he says with a slight grin. “As one of our students, this means having an edge and the confidence of a veteran even if you have no experience at all”.

Jason prides himself on honesty and transparency when it comes to real life facts about getting trained and finding bartending jobs in the real world:

“Most schools make hollow promises and claims like they can get their students a job, or that they ‘work’ with bar managers in the area. In reality most bars, the busy ones for sure, have people who come into their establishment and apply for work almost every single day…So why then, would bars waste their time keeping in touch with a ‘bartending school‘ when they have people who come in and apply for jobs everyday? All they have to do if they need to hire someone is to just sit back and wait to see who comes through the door that day. Trust me, bar owners and managers have WAY more important things to worry about than trying to find MORE applicants.”

In addition to launching the comprehensive training course online, the BartendingBlueprint.com website is quickly becoming the go-to resource for real-life advice and facts, something that is desperately needed in an industry that is unfortunately dominated by frauds and scammers who prey on the uninformed.

“I actually worked at a bartending school for a period of time while I was in between bar jobs,” Jason admits with almost a hint of shame in his voice.

“I was shocked how often students were told lies all in the name of making a buck. I was told to lie about the owners own experience because he had never actually worked as a bartender a day in his life, and would tell the students elaborate stories about all the places he had worked. If I hadn’t perpetuated these little inaccuracies of truth I would of been fired. In the long run it’s ultimately what drove me to leave and to create this site… I wanted to help people AND save them from spending their last few hundred dollars on an empty promise.”

Jason Shurtz has has worked at some of the busiest bars in San Diego as a professional bartender for over 13 years.