You’ve been at the bar for at least 10 minutes, trying in vain to win the attention of the bartenders. So what do you do?

“Do not scream out and don’t wave your hands,” pleads Je’ Wesley Day, founder of Cocktail Chronicles. “They will ignore you.”

According to Day, few things are more annoying to busy bartenders than this boorish behavior. If you really want to get on your mixologist’s good side, know what you want before stepping to the bar and place your drink orders together if you’re in a small group, he adds. These are only a few lessons the alcohol enthusiast shares on his Cocktail Chronicles blog, which is dedicated to educating readers on bar etiquette and drink culture.

“In many cases, especially for minorities, we don’t come from privileged homes where our parents drank finer wines and held elegant, prestigious cocktail parties,” the licensed mixologist and former organic wine/bar restaurant owner says. “People do not know the etiquette, the decorum, the written rules, the unwritten rules, the behavior that is expected in different settings and environments.”

So in 2015, Day launched Cocktail Chronicles, where he shares this knowledge through blog posts and workshops across the nation. Among his many missions, the blogger wants to encourage his followers to step out of their safe zones (yes, that means put down the moscato), expand their palates (there are more cognacs than Hennessy, he says) and know how to drink like a boss (order neat versus straight, when to order bourbon versus wine and know the proper name of your drink).

“Society judges you on what you are drinking and how you are drinking,” he says. “When it comes to getting the promotion that would require you to manage clients of a higher status, all of that is sitting in their unconscious [thoughts] of ‘Would you fit in?’”

By creating a culture of informed Black consumers, Day thinks we can win in both the boardroom and on the block. Through his new campaign called Minority Money Matters, he believes that spreading these teachings and heightening alcohol awareness in the Black community will not only advance us in our professional circles, but it will also empower our dollars among these brands.

“Beverage manufacturers will have to become more socially responsible to give back to those communities in which they are prevalent,” says Day.

And when it comes to personal or community growth, that’s certainly something many of us can toast.

Cocktails
Photo Credit: Foon Fu

TRIUMPH

serves 1
Ingredients

3 organic lime slices

2 ounces Tito’s Handmade Vodka

1 ounce fresh pomegranate juice

½ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice

1 splash orange bitters

1 lemongrass stalk for garnish
Directions

Muddle lime slices in the bottom of a shaker. Pour in next four ingredients; shake. Strain into a glass over ice. Garnish with lemongrass stalk.

Nina Reeder is a professional journalist, who has worked as senior editor at Upscale magazine and contributed to publications and outlets, such as EBONY magazine, AOL.com, Marriott Hotels, BMWK and more.