English 
Deutsch TL;DR: This post is not about any cocks I may or may not have seen in the US. But about the four weeks of European Bartender School where I learn to mix cocktails.
After a few days of sightseeing, EBS starts on Monday, July 10th. I check in the Saturday before. Accommodation and school are about 25 minutes apart by foot, both in Brooklyn. There are two apartments with 16 beds each - four beds per room. On the first night everyone is still a bit reserved. We hang out in the (cramped) living room and there are many awkward silences. That will change soon. By the way, almost everybody lives in Europe, only one in Canada and two in South America.
On Monday 10 a.m. we are ceremoniously welcomed to school, shots are handed out straight away and “Empire State of Mind” is playing. The New York anthem par excellence. I've heard this song many a time now - especially around Times Square... But the atmosphere is right!
I wonder if I'll spend the next four weeks in a permanent state of alcoholic semi-consciousness. Because, on the second morning, we start producing cocktails already at 10:30. Someone mixes a drink, the others can try it with tubes, and then the first person can/must enjoy the drink. Will this continue like this all day?
Not quite. After the first three days the course becomes more structured. Every day we have to learn 6 recipes. These are mixed and tasted the next morning in the so-called “live bar” according to the pattern described above. Afterwards there is a masterclass, and in the afternoon we are divided into three groups. Group 1 mixes drinks in the “practice bar,” where all bottles are filled with colored water. Group 2 practices “free pour,” that is, pouring the right amount directly from the bottle, without a jigger. Group 3 is occupied with “flair”, juggling bottles and stuff like that. After 45 minutes we rotate. After just a short time I notice: This is going to be intense! Specifically, I don't take learning recipes very seriously at the beginning. But memorizing a total of 66 cocktails with all the ingredients, quantities, methods, glass types, etc. turns out to be more difficult than expected, and from the third week onwards I have to study for 1.5-2 hours every evening. Not impossible, but you actually gotta do it.
Obviously, distractions are plenty. No bartending school without drinking! We plan to go out all together on the first Friday. As soon drinks are mixed in the morning, it becomes clear: everyone wants to get hammered today. Shots are handed out if you make a mistake or don't know the ingredient. I’m canned by mid-day. In the afternoon I stay dry, then we head into the night.
In the morning I'm already pretty sober and bring home a group of six people who are moderately to extremely drunk. More than a snail's pace is not feasible. We also pass a heap of car tires. And yes, someone can’t help taking one and from now on we have a tire in the living room.
Some go out every single evening during the course, especially to duckduck, our go-to bar between school and accommodation. I admire this energy. Others work in nightlife or want to get into it and use the course as serious training, which is a positive surprise. I was expecting mostly hard-drinking 21-year-olds, but we have a really good mix here. In addition, a third of the participants are French-speaking. I speak more French here in the US than I have in the last five years combined.
All in all, it's very intense, there's always something going on. So much so that most people don't see that much of New York, apart from the iconic sights and a few bars and clubs (those, in return, all the more often). Although I really like this group vibe, it's also important to me to explore New York. That's why I regularly break away from group activities. That clashes a bit. It's totally accepted, but I'm often just not there when the events happen that are next breakfast’s gossip. I realize: This school is a 100% thing. I can either fully immerse myself in the group or explore the city as extensively as I want. But I can’t have both. If you're as interested in cities as I am, then I would advise choosing a cool place that you already know; you'll be less distracted. This certainly applies to EBS, but probably also to other courses.
The last week consists of exams. (Even then the hard core gets drunk EVERY day, really impressive). Theory, recipes, practical exam behind the bar. Even though I have gone through tougher exams, the certificate still has to be earned. About a quarter fail.
After one last night of partying, it's time to say goodbye on August 4th. It was amazeballs! A terrific time, I had lots of fun and met a wide variety of people. Many are so excited about bartending that they will see each other again in October at a bartending trade fair in Berlin. (Bartending is an invisible subculture, and I had no idea how interconnected it was before the course. People know each other, meet at trade fairs and organize competitions. There are also “star bartenders” who are particularly good at flair, for example). Some start a new job in a bar shortly after the course. Good luck to you all!
That same evening I get into the Greyhound.
