What Do Bartenders Really Think About the Term Mixologist?

According to The Encyclopedia of Cocktails by David Wondrich and Noah Rothbaum, mixology is “the act of mixing cocktails and other drinks and encompasses a set of techniques including shaking, stirring, and muddling.” Though the term feels contemporary, its origin dates to 1856, when Charles G. Leland, a humorist for Knickerbocker Magazine, referred to a hotel barman as “a mixologist of tipulars.” The quip was meant to lampoon the stereotypical self-important bartender, but the term caught on as a sign of respect and could be found in common use by 1870.

Dale DeGroff, himself sometimes referred to as the “King of Cocktails,” is credited with bringing the word back into vogue at the Rainbow Room in the 1980s, but it didn’t become ubiquitous again until the cocktail renaissance of the early 2000s. By then, bartenders were beginning to achieve a newfound celebrity as craft cocktail culture gained popularity and bartending demanded a new level of technical skill.

Not everyone can agree on whether mixologist and bartender should be used interchangeably. Some bartenders take issue with how the term mixologist projects a narrow view of a bartender’s work, which often goes far beyond simply making drinks.

“For me, a mixologist is someone who comes up with cocktails in isolation,” says Andre Sykes, the beverage manager of Detroit City Distillery. “I’m not a mixologist. Mixology is only part of what I do.” To Sykes, referring to bartenders as mixologists ignores the critical hospitality element of working behind the bar that, in his eyes, is fundamental to the craft.

“We all know that one bartender that ruined the term for all of us,” says Jay Sanders, the owner of Drastic Measures and Wild Child in Shawnee, Kansas. “The trimmed mustache, leather apron, bearded guys with their Daiquiri specs tattooed on their knuckles.”

Since the craft cocktail resurgence, skepticism has grown toward the term mixologist in the bar world, especially among those who see it as self-aggrandizing. “At one point I think it was an important word,” says Izzy Tulloch, the bar manager at Milady’s in New York City. “It almost helped break the stigma of choosing bartending as a career.”

But as the industry has changed, many insiders question if the word is still relevant. “I think mixology was better suited to when our obsession with the bar world was just getting started a decade or two ago,” says Kristine Gutierrez, the general manager of Mister Paradise on New York City’s Lower East Side. “The bar industry wasn’t as important back then, and the term helped validate people who were trying to build importance around the bartender role and impress guests who were less familiar with cocktails.”

“Now, I don’t think we don’t need to say mixologist anymore,” says Tulloch. “Bartending is an incredible career.”

Using the word mixologist to imply that certain bartenders are more sophisticated than others creates an air of superiority that rubs some bar pros the wrong way. “I think there’s a pretentious connotation because we all made up this character of ‘the mixologist’ in our collective imagination,” says Gabe Bellegard Bastos, who’s tended and managed bars in the Boston area for more than ten years. “Nobody likes this holier-than-thou, judgy character anymore.”

Some find that differentiating a category of bartenders with their own special title to be classist, which marginalizes rank-and-file bartenders. “Calling it mixology tries to create a class system by separating dive bars from cocktail bars,” says Tony Jimenez, the bar director at Bolo in Philadelphia. “But in the end what we serve is people, and it doesn’t matter if they want a beer and a shot or a clarified milk punch.”

Not everyone is bothered by overuse of the term, especially when they see it being deployed as a sign of respect. “When someone asks me if I’m a mixologist, I take it as a compliment,” says Sanders. But he says he doesn’t need a fancier job title to make himself feel like he’s doing something more impactful. 

Most of the bartenders I spoke to are just fine being called bartenders. But a few admitted to having coined their own titles that they think better convey the complexity of bartending work.

“I call myself an agent of hospitality,” says Sykes, “which encompasses all aspects of the guest experience and my making sure that they enjoy their time in my care.” Gutierrez even fashioned her own take on the term, which she and her coworkers affectionately call each other on nights when the bar is three deep. “I like to use the word minx-ologist,” she says. “To me, a minx-ologist is a total minx who makes great drinks and doesn’t take themselves too seriously.”