Columbia Bartending Agency Exam
Questions and Answers | Rated A+
Definition of the Dram Shop Act - ✔✔"Any person who shall be injured in
person, property, means of support, or otherwise by any intoxicated person, or
by reason of the intoxication of said person, whether resulting in his death or
not, shall have a right of action against any person who shall, by unlawfully
assisting in procuring liquor for such intoxication person, have caused or
contributed to such intoxication: and in any such action such person shall have a
right to recover actual and exemplary damages.
Definition of Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) - ✔✔The amount of alcohol in the
bloodstream, measured as a percentage
BAC and Effects of 2 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.05, release of inhibitions
BAC and Effects of 3 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.08, DWI legal limit in NY State
BAC and Effects of 4 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.10, loss of coordination, staggering,
slurring
BAC and Effects of 8 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.20, loss of emotional control
BAC and Effects of 12 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.30, "Walking Blackout", loss of
conciousness
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,BAC and Effects of 14 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.35, coma, minimum lethal level
BAC and Effects of 16+ drinks per hour - ✔✔0.40+, death
Six main factors affecting BAC - ✔✔- size (musculature, not physical size)
- rate of consumption
- strength of drink (carbonated drinks can increase BAC by forcing alcohol into
the bloodstream)
- food (eating BEFORE intoxication is helpful, eating AFTER intoxication does
nothing)
- gender (women tend to have less muscle mass and less of a digestive enzyme
that metabolizes alcohol)
- drug use
Two minor factors affecting BAC - ✔✔- race (an enzyme in the liver of people of
Asian descent is less active, making metabolizing alcohol more difficult)
- age (very young and very old people tend to be more susceptible to alcohol)
J.I.R.C. - ✔✔- Judgment (driving under the influence, trying to buy everyone a
drink)
- Inhibitions (increased talkativeness, uncharacteristic behaviour)
- Reactions (slurred speech, forgetting someone's name)
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,- Coordination (dropping things, spilling drinks)
Steps to cut someone off - ✔✔1 - say no
2 - suggest a non-alcoholic beverage or food
3 - suggest drinking water before drinking more alcohol
4 - say you will be fired if you serve them
5 - have a bouncer to escort them out of the bar
Definition of a standard drink - ✔✔14 grams (or 0.5 fluid ounces) of pure
alcohol; equivalent to 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine, and 1.5 oz of hard liquor
Definition of ABV - ✔✔alcohol by volume; the amount of the liquor that is
comprised of alcohol, expressed as a percentage
Definition of proof - ✔✔twice the ABV, expressed as a number
Definition of spirit (or hard liquor) - ✔✔any distilled liquor that does not contain
added sugar and has more than 20% ABV
Characteristics of vodka - ✔✔- colourless
- odourless and tasteless (in theory, low-quality ones smell of rubbing alcohol
due to impurities)
Characteristics of gin - ✔✔- colourless
- bitter and floral smell from juniper berries
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, - dry taste
Characteristics of rum - ✔✔- sweet taste and smell
- distilled from fermented byproducts of sugarcane processing, usually molasses
- can be aged
- white or light rum is colourless and un-aged or only slightly aged
- dark rum brown and more aromatic due to a longer aging process
Characteristics of cachaça - ✔✔- distilled from fermented sugarcane juice
- similar to rum but has a smoother finish
- common in Brazil
Characteristics of tequila - ✔✔- sweet and spicy taste
- made from blue agave
- blanco or plata tequila is un-aged or aged less than 2 months in steel barrels
- joven or oro tequila is aged for a couple months in neutral oak barrels
- reposado tequila is aged just less than one year in oak barrels, giving it a
smoother finish
- añejo tequila is aged for more than one year in small oak barrels, giving a
smooth and complex finish
Characteristics of whisk(e)y - ✔✔- brown in colour
- aged
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©PROFFKERRYMARTIN 2025/2026. YEAR PUBLISHED 2025.
Questions and Answers | Rated A+
Definition of the Dram Shop Act - ✔✔"Any person who shall be injured in
person, property, means of support, or otherwise by any intoxicated person, or
by reason of the intoxication of said person, whether resulting in his death or
not, shall have a right of action against any person who shall, by unlawfully
assisting in procuring liquor for such intoxication person, have caused or
contributed to such intoxication: and in any such action such person shall have a
right to recover actual and exemplary damages.
Definition of Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) - ✔✔The amount of alcohol in the
bloodstream, measured as a percentage
BAC and Effects of 2 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.05, release of inhibitions
BAC and Effects of 3 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.08, DWI legal limit in NY State
BAC and Effects of 4 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.10, loss of coordination, staggering,
slurring
BAC and Effects of 8 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.20, loss of emotional control
BAC and Effects of 12 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.30, "Walking Blackout", loss of
conciousness
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©PROFFKERRYMARTIN 2025/2026. YEAR PUBLISHED 2025.
,BAC and Effects of 14 drinks per hour - ✔✔0.35, coma, minimum lethal level
BAC and Effects of 16+ drinks per hour - ✔✔0.40+, death
Six main factors affecting BAC - ✔✔- size (musculature, not physical size)
- rate of consumption
- strength of drink (carbonated drinks can increase BAC by forcing alcohol into
the bloodstream)
- food (eating BEFORE intoxication is helpful, eating AFTER intoxication does
nothing)
- gender (women tend to have less muscle mass and less of a digestive enzyme
that metabolizes alcohol)
- drug use
Two minor factors affecting BAC - ✔✔- race (an enzyme in the liver of people of
Asian descent is less active, making metabolizing alcohol more difficult)
- age (very young and very old people tend to be more susceptible to alcohol)
J.I.R.C. - ✔✔- Judgment (driving under the influence, trying to buy everyone a
drink)
- Inhibitions (increased talkativeness, uncharacteristic behaviour)
- Reactions (slurred speech, forgetting someone's name)
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©PROFFKERRYMARTIN 2025/2026. YEAR PUBLISHED 2025.
,- Coordination (dropping things, spilling drinks)
Steps to cut someone off - ✔✔1 - say no
2 - suggest a non-alcoholic beverage or food
3 - suggest drinking water before drinking more alcohol
4 - say you will be fired if you serve them
5 - have a bouncer to escort them out of the bar
Definition of a standard drink - ✔✔14 grams (or 0.5 fluid ounces) of pure
alcohol; equivalent to 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine, and 1.5 oz of hard liquor
Definition of ABV - ✔✔alcohol by volume; the amount of the liquor that is
comprised of alcohol, expressed as a percentage
Definition of proof - ✔✔twice the ABV, expressed as a number
Definition of spirit (or hard liquor) - ✔✔any distilled liquor that does not contain
added sugar and has more than 20% ABV
Characteristics of vodka - ✔✔- colourless
- odourless and tasteless (in theory, low-quality ones smell of rubbing alcohol
due to impurities)
Characteristics of gin - ✔✔- colourless
- bitter and floral smell from juniper berries
3|Page
©PROFFKERRYMARTIN 2025/2026. YEAR PUBLISHED 2025.
, - dry taste
Characteristics of rum - ✔✔- sweet taste and smell
- distilled from fermented byproducts of sugarcane processing, usually molasses
- can be aged
- white or light rum is colourless and un-aged or only slightly aged
- dark rum brown and more aromatic due to a longer aging process
Characteristics of cachaça - ✔✔- distilled from fermented sugarcane juice
- similar to rum but has a smoother finish
- common in Brazil
Characteristics of tequila - ✔✔- sweet and spicy taste
- made from blue agave
- blanco or plata tequila is un-aged or aged less than 2 months in steel barrels
- joven or oro tequila is aged for a couple months in neutral oak barrels
- reposado tequila is aged just less than one year in oak barrels, giving it a
smoother finish
- añejo tequila is aged for more than one year in small oak barrels, giving a
smooth and complex finish
Characteristics of whisk(e)y - ✔✔- brown in colour
- aged
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©PROFFKERRYMARTIN 2025/2026. YEAR PUBLISHED 2025.
