– Jermaine Prescod

TO see the faces of his customers light up after taking one sip of his well-concocted, colourful and creative cocktails or alcohol mixed drinks, is what makes Jermaine Prescod, one of Guyana’s leading mixologist more passionate about his job.

To him, he plays a pivotal role in the lives of his customers, as they must get their monies worth, at the end of the night, whether they are just hanging at the bar enjoying soulful music or partying hard.

Reminiscing on how far he came, Prescod said he became a mixologist in 2008, after working as a bar- back, which is the person responsible for tidying a bar in Barbados.
Fortunately, luck struck for him one night when the bartenders downed tools. He was then was able to utilise the hidden skills he had been was garnering all along, unknowingly to anyone.
“When I was finish washing my glasses and so, I would stand at the side of the bar and watch them mix their drinks, and I would ask questions, sometimes they would give me samples. I use to watch everything they did, and I had a cheap Blackberry phone that I use to take notes with, and I would go home and go on YouTube and check out different ways to mix drinks,” Prescod said.

On the night of the strike, the manager asked him to assist in serving regular drinks, but when the demand for mixed drinks was upped, especially for cocktails from females, Prescod said he put his skills to work, much to his manager’s surprise. That was the night he became a bartender, he related.

That, however, was just the beginning of the start of his career as a mixologist. “Since then, I haven’t looked back, I just started enhancing myself and following a few good bartenders from Barbados,” he related.

Prescod has since travelled to several Caribbean countries, where he practised his skill as a bartender. He also attended a bartending convention in Panama. He has participated in regional bartending competitions and these exposures made him confident that he is one of the best mixologist in Guyana.

“For me, it think I’m different because I am a very good mixer, I don’t go by what is trending, I can go into any bar, select any alcohol and know what I can mix it with, to bring out the taste. I love what I do. When I am finished mixing a drink and garnishing it, to look at the satisfaction in customers’ faces, when you see them smiling and taking pictures, that makes it special for me, it is just the look from the first sip that makes you know whether you did a good job or not,” Prescod related.