In collaboration with Pôle Emploi, the French Unemployment Office, 10 enthusiastic candidates living in challenging circumstances were selected. They have the chance to take part in the life-changing program. It would allow them to kick-start their career in bartending and overcome unemployment and, in certain cases, homelessness.

With little to no experience in bartending or mixology, Shake Your Future candidates were taken from novice to sought-after expert throughout the intensive 10-week training program.

To lay the foundations, the initial phase took place in European Bartender School Paris. Here the aspiring bartenders completed the 4-week International Bartender Course, receiving 100 hours of training. They learnt over 80 cocktail recipes. They were also taught the adequate handling of bar material, rules of service and the bartender’s role. Candidates became fully equipped in terms of bartending knowledge as well as an understanding of working in hospitality.

To solidify this knowledge and training, the candidates then undertook work experience in Parisian bars. Here they were able to put all they had learnt into action, while fine-tuning their skills under the tutelage of professional bartenders and forging relationships with the biggest names in the Parisian bar scene.

With this knowledge and experience under their belts, the Shake Your Future candidates flew to Barcelona to complete a further 2 weeks of training with EBS that really took their skills to the next level. During this Advanced Bartending Course, not only are the budding bartenders given the chance to learn specialised techniques from more experts, but they are also able to extend their network even further and discover another important European cocktail scene.