United States Bartender’s Guild

Competition among bartenders is fierce. Self-proclaimed and unregulated bar-related titles no longer set individuals apart for their talent and product knowledge. To set the standard for the profession of bartending, the USBG has gathered a team of experts from all over the world and from all realms of the industry to create the Master Accreditation Program. The USBG Master Accreditation program is a comprehensive series of written and practical tests designed to educate, evaluate, and further accredit beverage, spirit, and service industry professionals with a valid title granted by the USBG and recognized by the International Bartenders Association.

There are three levels of testing and accreditation: USBG Spirits Professional, Advanced Bartender, and Master Mixologist. The USBG will challenge its members and beverage professionals across the country to prove their merit by studying for and passing the three levels of the MA Program. For more information on membership, the certification levels, on-line testing, a listing of fees, and for an outline of topics the tests cover, please refer to the USBG website at www.USBG.org

USBG SPIRITS PROFESSIONAL

As the first step in the USBG MA Program, the Spirits Professional exam is an extensive, one-hundred question written exam. Successful completion requires a score of no lower than 75%. Passing this exam will qualify the candidate as a USBG Spirits Professional, assuring employers and colleagues that they are knowledgeable and well-versed in all spirit categories from every corner of the world as well as sake, beer, wine, service, history of cocktails, mixology, and much more. Upon passing this exam, the candidate may add the abbreviation S.P. after their name, signifying that they are a USBG Spirits Professional and they will be pinned as such.

Live testing for both Spirits Professional and Advanced Bartender will be held at Tales of the Cocktail.