A Bartender’s Heaven

Two state-of-the-art bartender training centres have recently opened in the Netherlands. We caught up with Diageo Bar Academy Trainers Fjalar Goud and Misja Vorstermans who were behind the project, to get the inside track…

We’ve always wanted to open a bartending school and last year we finally took the plunge.

We decided to realise our dreams and offer a full programme of training to give bartenders the platform to launch themselves into a career in mixology and top class ‘tending.

So we opened two brand new training centres in the Netherlands in conjunction with Diageo Bar Academy, where up-and-coming bartenders would get access to the latest training offered by Diageo in a trendy and inspiring setting.

A Look Inside

Inside our training centre is a bartender’s heaven.

In each, there are ten professional bar stations, a huge collection of spirits and cocktail ingredients, every kind of bartending tool known to man and, of course, a tea and coffee station. We’ve even managed to create a small museum which is home to the first edition of the ‘UK Bartender Guild Approved Cocktails’ book signed by former president Harry Craddock himself.

The centres are in an old sugar factory on the outskirts of Amsterdam - it has an industrial look and feel that gives the place character.

We worked tirelessly to create a space which would engage, inspire and create a hotspot for bartenders in Amsterdam.

Location, Location, Location

But the centres aren’t just about looking pretty.

Every week they are bustling with bartenders that are learning the tricks of the trade and being educated on all things drink related.This year alone we’ll train over 750 bartenders and 120 bar managers.

Our ‘alumni’ are some of the best in the world; you can be assured that trainees coming out of our centres are educated to the best standard.

We recently launched the new management training course from Diageo Bar Academy called ‘Business of Bars’. It includes eight modules that touch on every aspect of running a bar to owning one yourself. We help educate future bar owners and managers on how to define their brand and how to implement a successful cocktail programme.

With this wide range of courses available the centre really is for eveyone.

So now you have to ask yourselves the question - ‘where do I fit?’ Once you’ve established your place on the ‘bartending food chain’ then we can help you hone your skills to be the best you can be. Want to get in touch? Just look us up at: www.isaac-academy.com

Misja Vorstermans is one of founders of the modern cocktail culture in The Netherlands and Fjalar Goud is a World Class finalist and was the European winner of 2012. If you want to know more about Fjalar and Misja’s follow them @FjalarGoud and @misjavorsterman.