Frequently asked questions

The Cocktail Course is an online bartending course of 57 narrated lessons in 8 chapters, from the history of the bar to creating your own cocktails. Each lesson is an illustrated slide with its own narration and full transcript, and you learn at your own pace, on any device.

Yes. Create a free account and follow the first 2 chapters (7 lessons): Introduction and History. No payment details are needed, and you unlock the rest only if you want to.

Yes. No experience is needed: the course starts with the basics and builds up step by step. It works for curious hosts as well as future professionals, and the service and mastery chapters take you further if you already work behind a bar.

Every lesson is an illustrated slide with its own narration: press play and the course moves forward with you. The full transcript is under each lesson for revision, and your progress is saved automatically, so you pick up exactly where you left off.

The 8 chapters cover Introduction, History, Professional Service, The Setup, Alcohol Theory, The Cocktails, Creation and The Road to Mastery. Along the way you learn the bar techniques, 60 recipes with exact measures and how to create your own drinks.

About 60 minutes of narration in total, but there is no deadline. Your access never expires, so you can take one lesson a day or several in a weekend, and come back to any lesson later.

In English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Switch language at any time with the menu at the top of the page; your choice is saved on your account.

Not to start: you can listen and learn first. When you begin practising, a shaker, a jigger and a bar spoon will take you a long way, and the course explains the rest.

Read more: The Home Bar Starter Kit: 14 Bottles, 3 Tools, Endless Cocktails

Yes. The course is about alcoholic drinks, so you must be at least 18 and of legal drinking age in your country.

There are 3 plans, each a one-time payment with lifetime access: Apprentice at CHF 29, Bartender at CHF 64 and Master Bartender at CHF 79. Every plan includes all 57 narrated lessons, and you can try the free chapters before you pay.

Apprentice (CHF 29): Full bartender course, audio lessons, lifetime access.
Bartender (CHF 64): Full bartender course, audio lessons, lifetime access, certification exam.
Master Bartender (CHF 79): Full bartender course, audio lessons, lifetime access, certification exam + 1 retry, ebook + audiobook downloads.

Choose by what you want at the end: the skills only, a certificate, or the best chance of a gold medal plus the ebook and audiobook to keep. Master Bartender is the best value: CHF 79 instead of CHF 107 if you bought the same things separately.

No. You pay once and keep access for life.

Yes. Each extra can be bought on its own, on top of any plan: Certification exam (1 attempt) for CHF 59, Extra exam attempt for CHF 19, Downloadable ebook (PDF) for CHF 12 and Downloadable audiobook (MP3) for CHF 12.

Prices in CHF, including Swiss VAT (8.1 %). Outside Switzerland, your country's VAT is applied at checkout instead, so your total may differ slightly.

Yes, when you pass the certification exam. It is included in Bartender and Master Bartender and can be added to any plan for CHF 59. Your certificate shows your name, your medal and a unique number.

You take it online, whenever you are ready: 25 multiple-choice questions, with no time limit. 23 correct answers or more earn gold, 19 silver and 15 bronze. Below 15, the exam is not passed and no certificate is issued.

Yes. Master Bartender includes a retry to go for gold, and you can buy extra attempts for CHF 19 each, as many as you like.

Yes. Every certificate has a unique number, and anyone can check it on our certificate check page, which shows the holder’s name, the medal and the date.

No. It is a SHAKR Academy certificate, not a state-recognised diploma. It shows what you learned and the medal you earned, and its number can be checked online.

For life. Every plan is a one-time payment with lifetime access, so you can come back to any lesson whenever you want.

Yes. The course works on phone, tablet and computer. Your progress is saved automatically, so you can start on one device and continue on another.

Yes, with the downloads: the ebook (PDF, every recipe and technique) and the audiobook (the whole course as one MP3). Both are included in Master Bartender and can be bought separately for CHF 12 each.

Payment is handled by Stripe, a secure payment provider, so your card details never reach our servers. The payment methods you can use are shown at checkout.

Yes. Within 14 days of a purchase you can ask for a full refund, without giving reasons. Exam attempts that have been started are used and cannot be refunded. Everything is explained in our terms of sale.

A shaker, a bar spoon, a jigger, good ice, fresh lemons and limes, and a handful of bottles. About seven bottles are enough for a Martini, a Manhattan, a Daiquiri and an Old Fashioned.

Read more: The Home Bar Starter Kit: 14 Bottles, 3 Tools, Endless Cocktails

About 12 seconds of hard shaking, in a shaker at least two-thirds full of ice straight from the freezer. After that, the drink barely gets colder.

Read more: How Long to Shake a Cocktail? The 12-Second Rule (Backed by Science)

Stir drinks made only of clear ingredients, like the Martini or the Negroni. Shake drinks with citrus, juice, cream or egg, like the Margarita or the Whisky Sour.

Read more: Shaken or Stirred? The Rule Every Bartender Follows, and When to Break It

Four cover almost everything: a collins, a martini glass or coupe, a rocks glass and a flute.

Read more: You Only Need 4 Cocktail Glasses (Here's Which Ones)

Use the reverse dry shake: shake with ice, strain, then shake again without ice. A few drops of bitters on the foam hide the smell of the egg.

Read more: Egg White Cocktails: Perfect Foam Without the Wet-Dog Smell

Start with drinks that teach the core techniques: the Daiquiri and the Whisky Sour (shaking), the Martini and the Manhattan (stirring), the Old Fashioned and the Negroni (building in the glass). Most other classics follow the same patterns.

It depends on the country and the employer. Many bars hire on skills, attitude and experience. A course with a certificate helps you learn the trade properly and gives you something concrete to show.