Bartending questions

Question

This site being dedicated to alcohol, it seems natural that we would attract bartenders to engage in the community. I believe that bartenders would produce questions frequently and along lines of thought that enthusiasts have not considered, due to constant exposure to product. It seems to me that the current community is made mostly of enthusiasts. I'd like to discuss this and define the scope of questions allowed that are specifically geared toward bartenders or bar managers.

Ex: Spotting fake ID's, are bartending licenses (different from liquor license) required, treating phytophotodermatitis (citrus burn common amongst bartenders), organizing the backbar, tips for bartenders moving overseas to acclimate to different bar cultures.

While these questions may not be specifically related to alcohol itself, they are certainly part of the culture. People getting into the industry have these questions at some point in their careers and they will end up in our arms when they search for the answers, giving us a huge benefit of an advanced user base if they stick around.

Answer 1

Bartending questions that are specific to the drinks aspect -- organizing the backbar, techniques for making attractive cocktails quickly, choosing the right glassware for a particular drink, improvising a cocktail based on a vague request, and so on -- seem to be on-topic to me.

Bartending questions that are more about the business side -- like spotting fake IDs or complying with local licensing laws -- seem more nebulous to me. We would need to expand the scope description. That's certainly possible, but there should be visible community support for it.

There's no reason we have to do it all at once, though. If you've got bartending questions that are more toward the drinks end of that space, please ask them! One of the purposes of the beta stage for a site is to, together, see what works and what doesn't.

Answer 2

Our scope page says:

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Specific beers, wines, liquors, ciders, or other alcoholic drinks
• Breweries, wineries, and distilleries
• Alcohol & production history
• Styles & ingredients
• Cultural and geographic questions specifically related to alcohol

If your question is not specifically on-topic for Beer, Wine & Spirits Stack Exchange, it may be on topic for another Stack Exchange site. If no site currently exists that will accept your question, you may commit to or propose a new site at Area 51, the place where new Stack Exchange communities are democratically created.

So it would be quite a scope change.

Personally, I think checking ID etc has nothing to do with the core of the site, so this feels like it would be off topic, but I would imagine there are many bartending questions which would fit in the "Culture" portion of our scope.

Answer 3

Currently, with less than one question asked daily on this site, it's necessary to consider ways to generate traffic and strengthen the community. Six months ago people were questioning not if, but when the site would be shut down due to a lack of participation. We had a paltry 0.4 questions asked daily. Our core scope was massively expanded because of this, adding liquor and wine. Since the expansion questions have creaked up, one more question every five days. Not quite the effect that we need.

If we don't attract more bartenders.... we're dead in the water. If you agree, what can we do about it? I think we can refine the scope page to include the service industry, in their relationship with alcohol. Like I said, fake id's come up a lot. Unruly and drunk patrons. Promotional events. These things almost all drinkers come into contact with at some point, it's definitely related to the culture. I think that specifying that this kind of conversation is okay, it might get the ball rolling. Just spitballing here. Please share if you have a different idea.