Students from the Bilingual Tourism Bachelor's Degree program, Saturday group of UMECIT La Chorrera Campus, participated in a series of practical mixology workshops, a training experience aimed at strengthening their knowledge and skills in the preparation, presentation and service of beverages, complementing theoretical training with practical experiences linked to the tourism, hotel and gastronomic sector.

During the workshops, students learned and applied various techniques for making cocktails with rum, tequila, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as preparing sangria and artisanal coffee wine. As part of the experience, they used coffee wine as an ingredient to create new cocktail recipes, putting their creativity, innovation skills, and knowledge of flavor combinations into practice.

The day also addressed fundamental aspects for professional performance in the beverage area, including the process of making alcoholic beverages, the main types and strains of grapes used in wine production, characteristics and harmonization of flavors, presentation of beverages, proper customer service and good hygiene and cleaning practices in the bartender and lounge areas.

The importance of responsible alcohol consumption was also promoted, addressing its possible effects on health and the consequences associated with excessive consumption, as well as information related to moderate wine consumption.

Learning by doing: creativity, evaluation and service

As part of the training process, the students participated in a practical tasting and evaluation experience, in which they had the opportunity to make their own cocktails, both with and without alcohol.

The participants sampled the different dishes and evaluated aspects such as taste, presentation, and overall appeal using a QR code. This methodology allowed for direct feedback, the identification of areas for improvement, and encouraged students to self-evaluate their products.

Beyond developing technical skills, the workshops also highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation as tools for generating new opportunities within the tourism, hospitality, gastronomy, and events sectors. Students were able to recognize how the knowledge they acquired can be transformed into business proposals through the creation of differentiated products, quality service, and the use of creativity as a value-added element.

The workshops were led by Mr. Alexis Del Cid, who, from his educational and professional experience, developed a methodology based on practical learning, ensuring that students went beyond theory and acquired experiences applicable to their future professional performance.

This experience allowed the integration of knowledge, practice, creativity, customer service, innovation and entrepreneurship, contributing to the strengthening of the comprehensive training of future professionals of the Bachelor's Degree in Bilingual Tourism at UMECIT.