Mixing drinks won't just get you a gig as a bartender these days. It has taken John Lermayer, 32, on a bungee jumping drink-mixing New Zealand adventure, to New Orleans as part of an Iron Chef-style mixing competition and quite possibly to St. Martin to be named the Best Bartender of 2008.

That Best Bartender title, by the way, is worth $100,000, and Lermayer is a semifinalist. But he says those perks came with his personal pursuit of becoming a mixologist, his official title with Morgans Hotel Group.

The New York native started out as a behind-the-counter worker at local delis in Queens making egg salad, tuna salad and meatballs for extra money.

He went into hospitality after pursuing pre-law in college at Fort Louis in Colorado and eventually landed his current full-time gig at Morgans, a hotel management group that has made the Skybar and the Florida Room into South Beach hotspots.

His first bartending gig was at Jet East in the Hamptons.

Lermayer is a self-professed geek about the history of cocktails. He sought out mentors like Willie Shine from New York, Jacob Briars from New Zealand, Naren Young from Australia, and Dale DeGroff from New York to learn more about the industry when he started taking an interest in mixing.

He read old cocktail books and online magazines and picked people's brains so that he could ``kick his expertise into high gear.''

``Mixology started going back to the age of prohibition in 1905 -- back then, there were no canned sodas or juice guns. When you wanted fresh orange juice in 1910, you had to juice it yourself.''

Lermayer doesn't use soda guns at the Florida Room. He squeezes fresh juice for drinks and uses soda from a can.

He calls mixology a personal pursuit and likes to work with bourbon because he loves the flavor and layers of the cocktail and the fact that people don't think it's very mixable. He's a tequila drinker -- his favorite brand is the Don Julio Reposado -- and he has a complete bar at his home in downtown Miami.

Lermayer has traveled extensively and has won several cocktail mixing competitions, including the bungee adventure in New Zealand, which is called the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup.

He was recently named a finalist in the Hennessey Art of Mixing Contest where he could win a trip to Cognac, France, and a consultant job with Hennessey. He also won the Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans in mid-July.

''That trip to New Zealand was funny.'' Lermayer said. Winning $100,000 won't be.

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