Columbia Bartending Agency and School of Mixology - New York, New York

Amelia

I took a class with the Agency and it was an incredible experience! The classes ran about two hours each and were very professional and informative. I had absolutely no experience in barteding prior to this course and I learned so much from the practice drinks (students over 21 get to drink their concoctions) and demonstrations. The teachers were college students but they efficiently and effectly covered a vast array of techniques (muddling/free pouring/shaking/etc.) and subjects (cocktails/wine/beer/safety/etc). I paid $250--an excellent deal considering the textbooklet/course/drinks--for the class and I made that back (and then some) within the first two parties I worked. I would definitely recommend the CBA to prospective bartenders who want to learn or hosts looking for excellent and professional bartenders to hire!!

Andres El Rey

The reason I am writing this review is because you most likely want honesty before spending money than reading "google user" review of people who prob work for the agency and making fake reviews.
The teachers are nice from what I gathered in the past 2 days of the classes. But professionalism is not there. I have not really learned a trick for that class yet as I read some reviews about learning tricks. Its a 2 hour class mon thru friday that will leave you going......wait so I could have slept instead of being here. There is no consistency with these classes or how they are teaching you. They will ask you how to make a drink before even teaching you or even showing you how its done. You will get random info in random steps that will leave you so confused example.....

" class this is how you muddle....oh you do not know what muddling is but we will get into that soon".....20mins later goes by after they showed you h ow t o muddle....you than get a definition on what the hell muddling is ....also its filled with very inappropriate jokes that are not professional and also just not funny and takes away from the learning experience. The people who are teaching you are college students and they all know each other so they pretty much have inside jokes during them teaching you that will further make u lost....my experience was pretty bad...and i did not learn anything and 300 bucks has just swam away from my life.

Mariel Corinne Tai Sander

This course gave me a comprehensive and helpful introduction to bartending (at a great price, too). The instructors are knowledgeable, friendly, and super approachable. They're always willing to go over the details of a new bartending skill or talk about their own experiences bartending (as long as you ask). I've definitely used a lot of the tips I learned in class when actually bartending, both in making actual drinks and interacting with customers. I'd highly recommend CBA to anyone looking to start bartending!!

Brennan McManus

I had a great time with the classes and learned a lot about drink mixing, that I use both for myself and for when I'm serving drinks. Memorization is key for the drink recipes on the final, but the teachers are friendly and informative.

Su K

I am giving 5 because I don't wanna be the only loser who paid 300 bucks for this useless class. It is basically 1 hour lecture class and you don't have enough time/space for hands on experience. Better to practice at home while watching youtube video.

J Wells

Evan Day

Clifton Thompson