Bartenders Can Change The World

Mindful bartenders can do more than pour drinks, they can make a profound difference in someone's life through fostering connection. Maybe it's time to give them their own day?

Bartender Björn Taylor shakes up some non-alcoholic cocktails.

Last Friday was National Bartender Day. If you didn’t catch that, fair enough. According to the National Day Calendar, it was also Microwave Oven Day and Gazpacho Day.

It’s a day worthy of celebration: bartending is no easy job. I know as I was once counted among their ranks, even if those days are long behind me. Since then, I’ve owned bars, sold bars, and become an advocate for mindful drinking.

However, when I was a bartender, I had a prestigious career and made cocktails for presidents, royalty, and celebrities, holding court behind my nationally acclaimed bar, the Columbia Room. Though bartenders never get quite as much recognition as celebrity chefs, I rode high for many years, and I’m grateful for that time.

Thank you to Oar Health for sponsoring Positive Damage.

The Columbia Room was tucked in the back of my brother’s bar, The Passenger, and together we welcomed bartenders of all stripes from the famous to the familiar. But one notable bartender entered The Passenger in a way no bartender had before. Instead of sampling our cocktails or talking shop, he walked right in and began dancing with the bartender.

His name was Gary Regan.

Regan, author of The Joy of Mixology: The Consumate Guide to the Bartender’s Craft, was a beloved if not eccentric figure. He was not only known for his bar prowess but for stirring Negronis with his finger, wearing his signature black eyeliner, and practicing mindfulness.

Gary Regan reading his “Letter to a Young Bartender” at Tales of the Cocktail

Five Highlights from "No & Low" Tales of the Cocktail 2024

In 2017, Regan contributed to Letters to a Young Bartender, a seminar at Tales of the Cocktail created by Colin Asare-Appiah. The seminar offered wisdom from seasoned bartenders, and I had the honor of contributing as well. But Regan’s words are the ones that stuck with me:

“Bartenders can change the world.”

Changing the world? Yes. Make one guest happier when they leave your bar than when they walked in, and you’ve changed the world. It’s that simple. And if a million bartenders across the globe do the same thing on the same night, the happy vibes will be palpable.

This optimistic—if slightly naïve—perspective resonated with me deeply. And thus I have sought to change the world in my own way by advocating for mindful drinking. Fortunately, I’m not alone. Many bartenders have taken up the same cause, tackling substance use issues within the profession and reimagining the culture of drinking. Mindful bartenders such as Camille Vidal, L.P. O’Brien, Alex Jump, Joshua Gandee, Björn Taylor, Tawny Lara, and Joshua James.

Camille Vidal pours non-alcoholic cocktails at The Mindful Drinking Fest in D.C.

It’s no small act of heroism to confront the challenges within your profession and admit that things need to change.

By removing alcohol from the mix, or lessening its centrality, we’re putting something else at the center: human connection, promoting social wellness above alcohol. While there’s no doubt a few drinks can loosen the mood and encourage sociability, humor, laughter, storytelling, dancing, and simply being together can deliver the same rush of endorphins. Nothing against alcohol, but most of the joy we feel comes from each other.

By fostering spaces where people feel seen, valued, and safe, bartenders hold the power to elevate what it means to gather. They turn a simple drink into a shared moment, a fleeting conversation into something meaningful, and a bar into a place where real change can happen. Because connection, after all, is what really changes the world.

Tales of the Cocktail Seminar on substance use among bartender. Left to Right: Noah Villeneuve, Björn Taylor, Kat Kinsman, and Alex Jump

This is something Regan knew well. When he said, “Bartenders can change the world,” he was obviously not talking about drinks alone. He meant through the way we make people feel. That can come from any bartender but, for me, it’s especially relevant to those who advocate for and practice mindful drinking.

Therefore, I’d like to propose a new national holiday: Mindful Bartending Day. Seems to me that January 10th might be the best day for it as it’s during Dry January and falls in the middle of Mindful Drinking Fest. Also, there aren’t too many other holidays that fall on the same day, and I’m sure that National Houseplant Appreciation Day won’t mind.

Such a holiday could highlight the power of human connection and honor mindful bartenders—both behind the bar and beyond it—who are redefining how we drink.

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What’s happening and what’s next….

mindfuldrinkingfest

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1. Get your tickets now for Mindful Drinking Fest, January 10-12th, 2025. We have hundreds of drinks to try, a non-alcoholic cocktail competition Saturday night, seminars, and wellness classes. 🎟️

2. I wrote an article for Pathways Magazine on becoming a mindful drinker. Check it out online! ✍🏻

3. For brands, operators, managers, and bartenders - we’re holding a free seminar with Distill Ventures called “Building Your On-Premise Menu with NA” December 10th, 2025 at noon EST. Register here! 🍹

4. When and why do we drink? Well, there’s four specific reasons why I discuss on my latest episode of The Mindful Drinking Podcast, The Four C’s of Drinking Occasions. 🎧

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Thank you to Oar Health for your important work and sponsorship of Positive Damage! Learn more about how Oar Health can help you drink less or quit here.