One of the top-selling American whiskey brands, Jack Daniel’s is launching its inaugural Bartending Career and Mentorship Programme to provide South African bartenders the opportunity to grow their careers.
The South African Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Campus events attendees will receive career and business training, a platform to connect with industry experts and peers, mentorship from the Jack Daniel’s distiller from Tennessee, an opportunity to master their craft and unique style through mixology, and an opportunity to win an experience of a lifetime with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Calling.
We had a chat with Jack Daniel’s Head of Advocacy for Europe, and Africa, Nidal Ramini about the main aim of the campus and how one can become a master mixologist.
Ramini said the Tennessee Campus is an educational and inspirational program which uses the ethos, stories, and personalities from Jack Daniel’s and applies them in the on-trade world. He said their aim is to help to grow bartenders’ knowledge of not just the Jack Daniel’s brand, but their industry as a whole.

Below, Ramini shares tips and tricks on how one can become a master mixologist
- We very much believe in the motto that Mr. Jack himself used to live by “Every day We Make It, We’ll Make It The Best We Can”. That’s something that any budding career bartender should be aiming for, every time you step behind the bar, make sure you give your best – whether you’re serving a cup of coffee to your guest or a fine cocktail crafted with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey – you should always have that attitude. Alongside that, these are the man attributes that we talk about during Tennessee Campus.
- Be entrepreneurial – think about the drink you’re making and who your potential customer is. If it’s a creation of your own, make sure there’s a story behind the drink.
- Be Creative – and creativity isn’t necessarily complicated. In the same way that an artist doesn’t throw paint on canvas if it’s not required, or a chef doesn’t add unnecessary ingredients, a cocktail doesn’t need to have more than five ingredients to be creative. A Manhattan is a classic, three ingredients; Jack Daniel’s Rye, Sweet Vermouth and Bitters; simple, classic and over 150 years old
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