Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Steph
Speaker 1: Moan never told your production of I heard Radios how
Speaker 1: stuff works. I have to write out that that intro
Speaker 1: every time, and it just says x x X where
Speaker 1: you put in the show, And every time I think
Speaker 1: of the movie Triple X and I've never seen that,
Speaker 1: which just a side note. I don't know if you've
Speaker 1: seen the new controversy trying to make Elizabeth Cougar Elizabeth
Speaker 1: Cougar Elizabeth Warren Cougar. That's a new title that she's
Speaker 1: gotten because there was this allegation from this young guy
Speaker 1: saying that he had had sex capad with possible President Warren.
Speaker 1: I'm just waiting on um, but on the picture and
Speaker 1: then it was debunked really quickly because he had to
Speaker 1: picture on social media. I wish debunked it. But in
Speaker 1: there he had a triple X tattoo. Really. Oh no,
Speaker 1: it's fantastic. I mean, if you have a trible like
Speaker 1: sad too, there's a lot to be said. No judgment
Speaker 1: for me, but um, we're not talking about Triple X
Speaker 1: to day, We're talking about women in the alcohol industry.
Speaker 1: And this episode has been a long time coming. I actually,
Speaker 1: like maybe two years ago, met someone who I fell
Speaker 1: in love with right and thought, oh, I've got to
Speaker 1: get her on the show. Tiffany Berrier, you won't here
Speaker 1: in this episode, but we do have a part two
Speaker 1: kind of like a cocktail hour coming up, and she'll
Speaker 1: she'll be in that one. But just timing and personal thing.
Speaker 1: All this stuff kept happening quick in that way. But
Speaker 1: then you you were determined to get a cocktail out
Speaker 1: of this. Look, whenever I can get good cocktails made
Speaker 1: for me, I'm gonna like take that opportunity. I really
Speaker 1: appreciated it. You were a very gung home You're very
Speaker 1: determined going to happen, and it did did after some
Speaker 1: emails and some pleading and some gin yes, and we
Speaker 1: finally made it. Uh that Yeah, that's just us making
Speaker 1: it drinks. I mean yeah. So for this one, we
Speaker 1: do have to um experts in the field, shall we say,
Speaker 1: people who have been working in bartending making cocktails in
Speaker 1: Atlanta um for a while, But we did want to
Speaker 1: give kind of a brief overview before we get into that.
Speaker 1: And also if it's not obvious, if you struggle with alcoholism,
Speaker 1: probably this is not the episode for you, right, so
Speaker 1: we do have some numbers. The U s Department of
Speaker 1: Labor reported that as bartenders identify as female, but they
Speaker 1: are often relegated to jobs that pay less. Women asked
Speaker 1: about their experiences have said that they can get a
Speaker 1: job at a sports bar are restaurant like Hooters pretty easily. Um.
Speaker 1: And by the way, a head shot might be a
Speaker 1: bigger deal than any skill when it comes to cocktails.
Speaker 1: It like this, like that, right, And I know that
Speaker 1: was part of the thing. And I think l a
Speaker 1: where they would have to have headshots to become a
Speaker 1: part of that industry, which is okay. In a study
Speaker 1: out of New York found that six bartenders in the
Speaker 1: city's fine dining restaurants where mel where the money is
Speaker 1: higher in family style dining restaurants where the money and
Speaker 1: the prestigious lower men makeup the bartenders, basically, women, even
Speaker 1: though they make up a majority of the bartending workforce,
Speaker 1: are underrepresentative when it comes to these profitable, high respected
Speaker 1: bartending positions. And the same thing bears out when you
Speaker 1: look at people of color. Yeah, and I know I've
Speaker 1: brought it up before. I think when I first came
Speaker 1: on the show, they were like, and he does another
Speaker 1: podcast called Save but you can go listen to her
Speaker 1: and and some things that relate to feminism on there.
Speaker 1: And one of the big ones is we did one
Speaker 1: on Tipping Right and we talked about a lot of
Speaker 1: this stuff. If you want to go check that out.
Speaker 1: It's probably the angers I've ever gotten on a food show.
Speaker 1: One problem in the way of getting more women working
Speaker 1: as bartenders has to you with the pathway to becoming one,
Speaker 1: which is something influential New York bar employees only accidentally
Speaker 1: stepped into on social media. In um a job post
Speaker 1: for their Singapore location read not just a boys club.
Speaker 1: We are looking for badass cocktail waitresses and supervisors to
Speaker 1: join our team, which sounds good. The thing is, it's
Speaker 1: easier to become a bartender if you start out as
Speaker 1: a bar back and assistant behind the bar, cleaning glasses
Speaker 1: and stocking liquor than it is from cocktail waiters to bartender.
Speaker 1: Men are more often hired as bar backs, women are
Speaker 1: more often hired as cocktail waiters. This, in part, seems
Speaker 1: to come from a place of benevolent sexism, the belief
Speaker 1: that women can't or shouldn't handle the physicality and long
Speaker 1: hours associated with being a bar back and a bartender.
Speaker 1: When Taste of the Cocktail held a session on gender
Speaker 1: issues at the conference, they found respondents answered that the
Speaker 1: two biggest obstacles women face when it comes to building
Speaker 1: a career in bartending where employer biases and customer biases.
Speaker 1: So many female bartenders have stories of a customer asking
Speaker 1: her when will the bartender be there, asking a male
Speaker 1: colleague who happens to be behind the bar for a drink.
Speaker 1: We hear you're going to hear some examples of that
Speaker 1: in our interviews. Um of people assuming a female owned
Speaker 1: bar is owned by a man. Of people assuming women
Speaker 1: got the job thanks to their looks while men got it,
Speaker 1: thinks their skill getting questioned more about their skills and
Speaker 1: cockdown knowledge uh as compared to their male colleagues, or
Speaker 1: if there are more women behind the bar than men
Speaker 1: getting questioned about the agenda of the bar, which, yeah,
Speaker 1: which our guest will be talking about more and more.
Speaker 1: Um As with most, if not every industry, there is
Speaker 1: a wage gap as well. The average hourly wage for
Speaker 1: a female bartender is twelve dollars and seventeen cents compared
Speaker 1: to the thirteen dollars and eighty eight cents for male bartenders.
Speaker 1: And this is in the US, so I would I
Speaker 1: would love to hear from listeners from other countries if
Speaker 1: they have any information on that. Another problem women might
Speaker 1: face and men too, is sexual harassment in this industry.
Speaker 1: Some studies have found that women working in hospit atality
Speaker 1: reports sexual harassment at a rate that is five times
Speaker 1: that than of the rest of the American female workforce.
Speaker 1: This happens on both sides at the bar, customers and colleagues.
Speaker 1: It's difficult when you depend on tips as part of
Speaker 1: your income and that customers always right, mentality right? And again,
Speaker 1: I guess do talk about the fine line a customer
Speaker 1: service and just being like, leave me the hell alone? Right? Well?
Speaker 1: The statistics from the U. S Department of Justice show
Speaker 1: that outside of the military, the only profession is more
Speaker 1: likely to be targeted for attack our law enforcement and
Speaker 1: security cards. This is because of the late hours, like
Speaker 1: a dot clothing that is the typical uniform of the bartender,
Speaker 1: and the fact they are likely to be carrying cash
Speaker 1: money from tips. Yeah, so how do we get more
Speaker 1: female bartenders? Some people have been trying to make that happen.
Speaker 1: There are a couple of projects aimed at getting more
Speaker 1: women in bartending and two eleven, Ivy Mix and Lynette
Speaker 1: Mrrero started a woman only bartending competition called speed Wreck.
Speaker 1: It's grown now taking place in several cities across the
Speaker 1: country and across the world. Marrero also founded the New
Speaker 1: York chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails.
Speaker 1: That's a fantastic title. I know another effort in called
Speaker 1: Girls with Bowls Are you know? B o L started
Speaker 1: by Kate Gerwin after she won World Bartending Championship, sponsored
Speaker 1: by the Bowl Spirits Company. Uh. This program matches female
Speaker 1: bartenders that are starting out with a mentor, mostly women,
Speaker 1: but sometimes men. And we've talked about the importance of
Speaker 1: mentors is very very important in the in this industry
Speaker 1: as well. And you do hear we do hear more
Speaker 1: and more about that about how they got pretty much
Speaker 1: lifted up by someone that they met that taught them more,
Speaker 1: which is also fantastic. The founder of another influential New
Speaker 1: York bar Death and Co. Says being intentional about hairing
Speaker 1: is key. Let's be careful not to stack our staff
Speaker 1: with all the same kind of people, because that doesn't
Speaker 1: reflect the people who will come into our bars, which
Speaker 1: is obvious. I feel like that's an obvious statement, but
Speaker 1: yet it seems seems hard apparently, Um, but are are
Speaker 1: in you? We seem to think that the situation is
Speaker 1: improving and it is getting more diverse. But we'll we'll
Speaker 1: let them introduce themselves. Let's get into the interviews. But
Speaker 1: first let's take a quick break for word from our sponsor.
Speaker 1: And we're back. Thank you sponsors. So yeah, let's just
Speaker 1: dive right in. Let's do this. My name is Keisha
Speaker 1: Sarris Um. I've been bartending for a very long time,
Speaker 1: so almost twenty years. Would you supposed to say that? Yeah, Um,
Speaker 1: I guess I don't know who else was supposed to
Speaker 1: be here, but I think out of um would probably
Speaker 1: be the oldest person in this little group. Maybe, But
Speaker 1: I mean I enjoyed do um been making contests with
Speaker 1: a started from cocktail server bar back the beginnings of
Speaker 1: all that, and then I went out to run a
Speaker 1: couple of bars, work with some great people. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's really it's really and and then I had to
Speaker 1: fight my way to that now. But it's just been
Speaker 1: really a great experience. I decided when I went to
Speaker 1: do this as a full time career, is like when
Speaker 1: I allow myself to just keep learning instead of just
Speaker 1: slinging drinks so to speak. Um, And I think it's
Speaker 1: when I switched to that. My brain is said, I
Speaker 1: have to learn about as much as I can work everywhere.
Speaker 1: Not everywhere, but basically I thought that were cool, and
Speaker 1: then build up my resume in that way and my knowledge.
Speaker 1: So I think I said, people would say, dude, I
Speaker 1: go to Barton in school to get started. No, I
Speaker 1: just kind of um fell into it and then loved
Speaker 1: it and it just fits my lifestyle. You know. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like being able to meet people. It did.
Speaker 1: It did help with I used to be well, still
Speaker 1: very shy. You can't tell I'm brappling right now, run
Speaker 1: my mouth, but really shy. So that kind of pushed me,
Speaker 1: like those first couple of years to kind of really
Speaker 1: you know, it's still is a short well technically introverse.
Speaker 1: That's the most people think, partner, and it helps when
Speaker 1: you're standing there, but it's uh, it's really helped me
Speaker 1: come out of mind shall even the older I get,
Speaker 1: you know, more confidence I get in this industry, the
Speaker 1: more people I meet, So yeah, I did it. I
Speaker 1: think it's it's been good to me. Has been bad,
Speaker 1: but their days one is so inconsistent. You know, you're
Speaker 1: trying to make a living and you work a lot
Speaker 1: of hours and you're just like tired and get burned
Speaker 1: out and all that stuff. But yeah, it's been pretty cool. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, and you know, yeah, you have to deal
Speaker 1: with that, and then you have to deal with your
Speaker 1: own and then your work and you have your coworker.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's it's all the things sometimes in one
Speaker 1: one eight hour shift. So it's uh, but I still
Speaker 1: love it. I mean, I'm taking breaks here. They're not
Speaker 1: a lot, but you definitely need definitely self sure. Katie.
Speaker 1: I'm Katie Deakontel and I'm the bar manager at Box
Speaker 1: Car UM. I've only been bartending for about six years,
Speaker 1: but I've always been in restaurants. That's the only job
Speaker 1: I've ever had UM and I ended up behind the
Speaker 1: bar because at this neighborhood place where I was serving,
Speaker 1: one of the main bartenders was leaving UM. And as
Speaker 1: soon as he announced it, I kind of just like
Speaker 1: raised my hand and I was like, you don't have
Speaker 1: to hire a new person. You could just show me
Speaker 1: how to do it. Um and very similar to what
Speaker 1: you just said, Kisha. I decided I was going to
Speaker 1: stay when I started learning fun, cool things and I
Speaker 1: was like, wait, I want to keep learning all this.
Speaker 1: And I've been with Hopsidy for four years almost UM
Speaker 1: and box Cars, Hopsidy's restaurant UM. So they gave me
Speaker 1: the opportunity to move up and like take over a
Speaker 1: bar program on my own. So that's very new for me.
Speaker 1: But it's been really cool and I'm still learning a
Speaker 1: lot and I'm having a lot of fun with that's
Speaker 1: really cool. It was a great opportunity because where do
Speaker 1: you work right now? Done shout out Curly. I work
Speaker 1: part time at Joystick Our Caper UM and then um I,
Speaker 1: but occasionally I sometimes work at Steinbeck's and oak Hurst
Speaker 1: UM I've been since I went there. That didn't help
Speaker 1: them with them with their cocktail, but it's a small
Speaker 1: cocktail list, so it's not a big deal because they're
Speaker 1: mostly like beer um, which is cool to that mean
Speaker 1: I don't do the porter for a long time. That
Speaker 1: was when I learned, loved and learned a lot about
Speaker 1: beer being there, so so a little bit about everything
Speaker 1: because you know, like I said, when you're doing this
Speaker 1: for a while, you have to take kind of a
Speaker 1: little breaks. So my little break is still working two jobs,
Speaker 1: but not being in charge of a lot of things
Speaker 1: besides my own destiny, so to speak. So um, yeah,
Speaker 1: so Joy six grade it is. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it helped in there. But also I saw you were
Speaker 1: at Dragon Cord like the last year. Oh the panel, Okay,
Speaker 1: it was fun. It was great, but everybody said they
Speaker 1: were like, we couldn't really hear at you because one
Speaker 1: we didn't think the room is going to be that huge.
Speaker 1: I mean it was massive. It's like so many people
Speaker 1: like and my voice doesn't carry well, which is a
Speaker 1: done not a good thing for Bartener. But um, it
Speaker 1: was a pretty fun. I mean we talked about things
Speaker 1: that I enjoyed, like remote and I was glad a
Speaker 1: lot of people showed up. I mean, Booze brings everybody
Speaker 1: himself from what was the topic that year? Um, it
Speaker 1: was alcohol and how what is it spirits relating to?
Speaker 1: And then in movies and science and all that things
Speaker 1: like that, and or what's your favorite spirit? Is just
Speaker 1: a general broad term of booze so to speak. Um,
Speaker 1: we're going to the booze panel. So yeah, so this
Speaker 1: one was we had five people, Um, and it was great.
Speaker 1: I mean, you picked you know, whatever you want to
Speaker 1: talk about. The most of what your favorite is the
Speaker 1: plans to try to make cocktails. But once we saw
Speaker 1: thee up for like, that's not gonna so I don't
Speaker 1: thinking to make it happen, like I'm making this happen.
Speaker 1: Like we're making this happen. I mean technically, Yeah, do
Speaker 1: you think great? Kind of get real crazy? Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: so I went for the first time this year. It
Speaker 1: was a lot trying to order, but you know it
Speaker 1: was a pretty cool still. You know, two people made drinks.
Speaker 1: I just talked and that was so it's good time.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, like you said, she was hicked. Yep. Have
Speaker 1: you been based in Atlanta the entire time you've been
Speaker 1: working bartending? Um, when I became a two professional, I
Speaker 1: guess I'm gonna say it that way. Yeah. Um, I
Speaker 1: grew up in New York and um, I worked at
Speaker 1: a red lobster Long Island when I was going to
Speaker 1: college out there. Yes, have you asked me about chilies?
Speaker 1: I wouldn't know or Apple based, Well, it might have
Speaker 1: been pretty cool, and I was gonna is not okay fair,
Speaker 1: but they both had those frozen drink machines, so you
Speaker 1: can't miss um. No, So I was missing just there
Speaker 1: in New York, and then I came here and I
Speaker 1: kind of did that for a little bit by finally
Speaker 1: that I was just been here the most so well
Speaker 1: since then and kept going. So I said, I used
Speaker 1: to run um like they said what Katie like when
Speaker 1: she said was she got hired from within. I got
Speaker 1: that my opportunity when when when my mentors and my
Speaker 1: management most of the time was he was leaving to
Speaker 1: run up to do his own thing, and I was like,
Speaker 1: I think I could do this. I could run this
Speaker 1: restaurant right now, and and I did for four years.
Speaker 1: It was great. So it's not Yeah, that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1: Like I said, it is a learning experience, So yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely sorry. You have you been based in Atlanta the
Speaker 1: majority of the time. I yes, I am in Atlanta Unicorn.
Speaker 1: I was born here. I never left here. I still
Speaker 1: lived here. I went to Georgia State And every time
Speaker 1: someone from outside of the city meets me, they're like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, you're friend here, Yes, I am, yeah,
Speaker 1: and I My first restaurant job was in college and
Speaker 1: the my really good friend's mom, who also happened to
Speaker 1: be our lunch lady when we were little kids, had
Speaker 1: a family seafood restaurant, uh indicator, And that was my
Speaker 1: first job. And that's also on the low because I
Speaker 1: was not yet twenty one. Um where bartender friends, let's
Speaker 1: started like teaching me things about drinks and making drinks
Speaker 1: and stuff like after hours, was like, oh what are
Speaker 1: you doing? Um? And then like kept paying attention at
Speaker 1: each next job. So both of you were talking about
Speaker 1: how you really got into it. What was about the
Speaker 1: alcohol like industry and the art of creating cocktails? What
Speaker 1: was it that was like, Yes, this is fascinating, I'll
Speaker 1: want to keep learning. There's more good question. No, it's
Speaker 1: not a weird question. I just have to like too
Speaker 1: totally different answers because the first thing, like the reason
Speaker 1: that I raised my hand and was like, hey, will
Speaker 1: you teach me how to bartend? Um was mostly just
Speaker 1: because I hate waiting tables. Um. I really, like you
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, like being an introvert but having the bar
Speaker 1: barrier and like that feeling of being safe behind your
Speaker 1: bar barrier. Um. And I saw it and I was
Speaker 1: just like yes. Also, the bartender that was teaching me
Speaker 1: at the time, we were really good friends, and I
Speaker 1: was like, I want to work with you. Um. But
Speaker 1: then after that, uh, I think that I realized at
Speaker 1: some point when you realize that there's more than just
Speaker 1: like Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan, and that you can
Speaker 1: get other things, and that it's so diverse and everything
Speaker 1: tastes different, and then you start putting things together, and
Speaker 1: then that tastes different, like definitely like the alchemist part
Speaker 1: of it. Once I realized how cool that can be,
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I want to keep doing that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: same thing. Just um. When I was learning and then beginning,
Speaker 1: of course, I made all the all the things long
Speaker 1: islands or whatever. But when you do start to get
Speaker 1: into books or reading or you're around people who are
Speaker 1: really passionate and excited about it, you viewed all of that.
Speaker 1: And yes, I got into it because like Barten is
Speaker 1: make more money, you know, now, I'm not gonna I
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, if I'm gonna work at restaurant, I
Speaker 1: kind of want to work in a position where I
Speaker 1: could make more money. And I could, I could just
Speaker 1: kind of just be here and it feels a little
Speaker 1: bit more intimate and a way, that's why I probably
Speaker 1: get along best with people, because I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: just having a one of more conversations they're trying to
Speaker 1: wrangle in like a twelve top or something. But yeah,
Speaker 1: and then I just once I started when I worked
Speaker 1: at Emeralds. When I was here, I just got it
Speaker 1: deep into like all the things that they had going
Speaker 1: on wine. I did wine for a long time. I
Speaker 1: didn't become a swaniyg just because I just I couldn't
Speaker 1: do it. I mean I wanted to. I'm just bad
Speaker 1: at I always make the excuse some hard but taking tests.
Speaker 1: But I was great a drinking wine. But after that,
Speaker 1: you know, the learning and being excited when things come
Speaker 1: out and meet people who are really all about it
Speaker 1: that this gets you really amped to just keep pushing.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and that was it for me. I just
Speaker 1: kind of wanted to keep going. And and then when
Speaker 1: I was, I mean, there's not really more to it,
Speaker 1: and that's that's really that simple. The money and then
Speaker 1: keep learning and like the cool people you meet and
Speaker 1: how it's flexible, like people who go to school part time,
Speaker 1: you can still kind of have that shift in your schedule, right,
Speaker 1: that really helped keeps you free to do whatever. Sometimes
Speaker 1: that availability nice and flexibility that's always good. So with
Speaker 1: the beginnings of things, was there one specific cocktail or
Speaker 1: something that you created or help create or whatever, or
Speaker 1: just maybbe something that's a classic that made you go, oh,
Speaker 1: I didn't know this could be like this. I want
Speaker 1: to keep going and do my own thing. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1: I don't know. So I think something classic. Well, I
Speaker 1: always like to stick to the classics, so I just
Speaker 1: always go back to it. Um. But when I was
Speaker 1: managing a bartman ever passed a long time ago chef.
Speaker 1: She's Japanese and I was always excited about what she
Speaker 1: was creating the kitchen that I got excited about using
Speaker 1: things like she was like, we have to have showed
Speaker 1: too in the men I was like, yes, let's do it.
Speaker 1: So I did a whole shows you menu for like
Speaker 1: like between myself and my other bartender were like, let's
Speaker 1: make a couple. And once I started doing, like the flavors,
Speaker 1: how they're so different. Um that to me, I was
Speaker 1: really proud of that because she was excited about it.
Speaker 1: I thought everybody was like, Wow, this is a great
Speaker 1: thing to challenge youself for. But I mean, I go
Speaker 1: back to, like I said, trying to be a purist,
Speaker 1: where I stick to the classics all the time, so
Speaker 1: you know, when I always make a great Sasa awesome mcgronian,
Speaker 1: people like, man, it's so balanced because you never know
Speaker 1: what you're gonna get when you go to someplace. People
Speaker 1: try to test you, but you're like, okay, well, like
Speaker 1: drinks like that are like the perfect test, right of
Speaker 1: like do you actually know how to bartend? Or are
Speaker 1: you gonna mess up the easiest dring to make, which
Speaker 1: is also at the same time not the exactly so
Speaker 1: you know when you got it. People like, oh man,
Speaker 1: that's so great. I'm like it should be Bartheners go
Speaker 1: to like maybe something I'll make you something that's simple,
Speaker 1: that's a classic, that's always I think she'd be always
Speaker 1: done properly, and that's how you know, kind of get
Speaker 1: into the reader. But I'll Bud, we'll use said classics.
Speaker 1: And when Sam you asked the question, the first two
Speaker 1: things I thought about we're not necessarily things that I've
Speaker 1: loved to make, but they stick out of my memory
Speaker 1: from when I was learning, which is Martini, when I
Speaker 1: realized that it's not as scary as I thought it was,
Speaker 1: um and uh sazarek. I think the like the first
Speaker 1: couple of times that I made each one of those
Speaker 1: and it was like right and east are good. And
Speaker 1: the person that asked me and like totally threw me
Speaker 1: off my game. Uh, We're like, yeah, that's great, thank you,
Speaker 1: And I was like, okay, cool. That means I can
Speaker 1: do this. It's not as bad as I thought. Yeah,
Speaker 1: those to like definitely stuck it. So you both. So
Speaker 1: I don't know what a satack is. What is that.
Speaker 1: It's a classic cocktail. It's started in New Orleans and
Speaker 1: it's another one that's like or ingredients. But if you
Speaker 1: get the measurements wrong, it's will taste terrible. I don't
Speaker 1: mean that terrible, but it won't be right if you
Speaker 1: just get the measurements wrong and it's um rye whiskey,
Speaker 1: lemon expression, sugar absent patios. Yeah and like that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that sounds scary to me. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: liebs make raises at me. And you were talking about
Speaker 1: the menu creation, what know what types of drinks. What
Speaker 1: you say, what goes with the Japanese loll It wasn't
Speaker 1: a little show took another. It's a where Sage's rice
Speaker 1: show to is more like potato um. So there's they
Speaker 1: tend to be sometimes really funky or just kind of
Speaker 1: one that tastes want that tastes like cherries or like
Speaker 1: a light cherry blossom. So it was, yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was great to even do that tasting because you
Speaker 1: just you learn so much from somebody and then you're like, man,
Speaker 1: this is great, and then you just you realize your
Speaker 1: palates now onto something different, and that was really fun
Speaker 1: for me. So yeah, so too fantastic. Yeah, I'm doing
Speaker 1: a drink of so True for our fall and you.
Speaker 1: And but then also like learning, like tasting things right
Speaker 1: next to each other, they're technically the same. Doing that
Speaker 1: with a Govey spirits right now. That's what I'm trying
Speaker 1: to learn about right now, Like Mescow tequila or I
Speaker 1: see you so tall, like holy crap, they're also different,
Speaker 1: and it's they're still all from essentially the same spot,
Speaker 1: the same plant, and yet they all taste completely different. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a that is the thing I was tell people.
Speaker 1: They always go, what is like tequila was like mescal,
Speaker 1: and I go, it's the process. It's the same thing,
Speaker 1: but it's just the different process of Megan, and it's
Speaker 1: it's going to taste difference from a different part. You
Speaker 1: got to give a quick dissertation on that spirit before
Speaker 1: they they're convinced to trust you to try it and like,
Speaker 1: but put a good experience me And even I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm obviously fascinating. I'm like, what is what is that?
Speaker 1: What isn't it cool? Um? So one of the things
Speaker 1: on this show, And I feel like maybe you've alluded
Speaker 1: to some of the things, but what is it like
Speaker 1: being a woman in this industry? And especially like how
Speaker 1: has that changed or has it changed? Um? Okay, well,
Speaker 1: since I've been done quite some time, it's in the beginning,
Speaker 1: it was kind of hard. I didn't see a lot
Speaker 1: of female bartuners when I was really hard. I mean
Speaker 1: there were a few out there that was really very few.
Speaker 1: Like maybe I would go to bart and it was
Speaker 1: like one girl, one lady that was back there. Um,
Speaker 1: but do you will see like girls or would work
Speaker 1: at bars that you know they're boobies are out or whatever.
Speaker 1: They're they're kind of said boobies, like I'm twelve, but
Speaker 1: and there work already work at like oh Debby places
Speaker 1: because I've been doing a long time. Those are kind
Speaker 1: of persons that were just kind of, like I said,
Speaker 1: slaying drinks, which is fine. You know, you're making your
Speaker 1: money and doing your job, and I totally get it.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be probably be a old lady too something,
Speaker 1: but so, um, I never really saw somebody who was
Speaker 1: doing a craft part of it when I was really
Speaker 1: kind of up. So and I had to my mentors guys,
Speaker 1: which was fine. You know, they took me in their wing.
Speaker 1: It was really cool. And then the different layer for
Speaker 1: me was because I was also a black female. Like
Speaker 1: that was another thing I had to kind of push
Speaker 1: through to convince people that I actually knew what I
Speaker 1: was talking about, you know, or you know you do
Speaker 1: get men, I don't believe you know anything about Scotch
Speaker 1: or because one year girl. And then also who you
Speaker 1: you know my name is Keisha. Okay, not your typical
Speaker 1: bartender type, but trust me, I know and I have to.
Speaker 1: It's for while I was um a struggle to convince
Speaker 1: people to trust what you're saying and doing every day
Speaker 1: was a debate. I was like Beau District. So it
Speaker 1: wasn't you know, after what I just got, you get
Speaker 1: over it because you you've already know what the those
Speaker 1: that day and that step is going to be. So
Speaker 1: it's kind of like whatever. But luckily, you know, I
Speaker 1: mean regular, So I know people that know like to say,
Speaker 1: he's just maybe something. It's totally cool. But for while
Speaker 1: there it was, Yeah, it's it takes a bit to
Speaker 1: get people to trust that you know what you're talking
Speaker 1: about as a woman. Well, and I can standing next
Speaker 1: to a dude we're both working, and I'm like, I
Speaker 1: just trained that kid. Why are you asking him questions?
Speaker 1: I mean, no, go ahead and ask some questions. I
Speaker 1: was like, I'll go, please feel free to and then
Speaker 1: they'll defer to me and I'm like, whoever, Like, well,
Speaker 1: she's actually my boss, so you know, it just kind
Speaker 1: of so it just takes a while for people to
Speaker 1: even curd like this. If you're standing to a guy,
Speaker 1: they'll automatically look at that guy and and I'm like,
Speaker 1: all right, I'll be over here. I'm going to talk
Speaker 1: to people who are actually don't care about that stuff.
Speaker 1: That's definitely true that like getting people people to realize
Speaker 1: that you know what you're talking about is definitely a thing.
Speaker 1: And there were times at because I worked at the
Speaker 1: Pop City crog before I started a Boxcar, and there
Speaker 1: were definitely times when the man standing right next to
Speaker 1: me is like they just like I wasn't even there
Speaker 1: and they just looked right to him and to my
Speaker 1: friend that I worked with, to his credit, he would
Speaker 1: usually be like she knows more about that, don't talk
Speaker 1: to me, but definitely get that like look past you,
Speaker 1: or like weird condescending remarks about like oh, oh, so
Speaker 1: you're in school right now, Like, no, this is my job,
Speaker 1: this is what I do. But definitely like people not
Speaker 1: just trusting that you know what you're talking about, and
Speaker 1: sometimes even in like really polite, backhanded ways where like
Speaker 1: they asked me a question and then I answer the question,
Speaker 1: or like I bring you the drink that you're asking
Speaker 1: me about what I talked about, and then they take
Speaker 1: a drink like oh, yeah, you're right, you really do
Speaker 1: know what you're talking about. Like it's literally my job
Speaker 1: to give you what you want in the right way,
Speaker 1: Like yeah, us, I didn't just make it up. I
Speaker 1: mean they actually come back with I mean, do you
Speaker 1: want to dump them back here? Or do you also
Speaker 1: have a conversation with about something that you're into. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's you can't have it one way, you know, where
Speaker 1: do something back there? Who knows what they're doing, they're
Speaker 1: making something, and then you want to be confident that
Speaker 1: person is going to do you right. You're spending what
Speaker 1: twelve bucks would drink b whatever? Eight dollars maybe, but
Speaker 1: what if it cost trust and believe? I mean not
Speaker 1: to say they probably have not had a bad experience,
Speaker 1: but if I'm already starting off with this dialogue, then
Speaker 1: it's totally fine. Just keep going. But even when it's
Speaker 1: not me because the bar where I am now is
Speaker 1: it surprisingly balanced between men and women who are working
Speaker 1: behind my bar, which is really nice, but I either
Speaker 1: over here or have some of the young women that
Speaker 1: I work with like people say I need to I
Speaker 1: need to order from the bartender's Like, yeah, that's me,
Speaker 1: Like do you want to drink? Because I could just
Speaker 1: go to to the other customers and ignore, are you
Speaker 1: like when she's clearly the only person working, like you know,
Speaker 1: like just dumb stuff like that where they're just like, no, no,
Speaker 1: any of the bartender who you're looking for. But you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: sometimes reps too, especially in the beer world, just like
Speaker 1: go find the dude that's around. Yeah, like, oh, I
Speaker 1: cannot Buying beer is kind of tough because those guys,
Speaker 1: they're always like beer guys that like either burly or
Speaker 1: kind of dudes and whatever they're doing, and they just
Speaker 1: never they when we started talking about beer. I'm sure
Speaker 1: Katie is even more on top of this TONI, but
Speaker 1: they still can't believe that. I'm like, yeah, I have
Speaker 1: to buy this stuff to know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: You know, there's no I'm not just here because they
Speaker 1: couldn't figure it out. I don't know, I don't know
Speaker 1: they want to, but it's it's just not a thing.
Speaker 1: I also, I wish there was more points of view,
Speaker 1: like other women that were there's a lazier so they
Speaker 1: can tell you probably their experience as well, because I'm
Speaker 1: sure this something that if it hasn't happened to me,
Speaker 1: somebody either had. I'm sure there's a grab bass situation
Speaker 1: somewhere or do you know, I don't just like somebody
Speaker 1: like goes out this, so I'd never have my thing
Speaker 1: hang out. Some people like you're very concertified, or maybe
Speaker 1: you make more tips. Somebody say I make more tips
Speaker 1: that I happened. I've I've been to make more tips
Speaker 1: if you could, if you showed your cleavage. I've been
Speaker 1: told you'd make more tips if you smile more. And
Speaker 1: I've been told like, like, do you smile constantly at
Speaker 1: your computer, your cubicle while you're working, Like, if I'm
Speaker 1: not directly talking to someone, I'm probably not. Just like
Speaker 1: like if I'm just over in the well making drinks
Speaker 1: straight and the other bartenders are taking care of the guests,
Speaker 1: I'm probably not smiling. And it's it's a fine because
Speaker 1: you're like, you're in hospitality, so you want to convey,
Speaker 1: you want to give off that positive energy of vibe.
Speaker 1: But like you're having a good time. But that doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that you know, you're consistent. You're gonna look like
Speaker 1: a weirdle. Just it's not Yeah. Also on Katy, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna look at you every time come to the bar,
Speaker 1: and I hope that you're doing finger guns and everyone, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's not fun. I got finger gunned by customer one
Speaker 1: time at a different job, and he called me sugar,
Speaker 1: it's weird, it's great. That is that typical phrase that
Speaker 1: you used just to make fun of, like that's the overload.
Speaker 1: It was real life and it happened to me. I've
Speaker 1: I've been uh. I mean, I don't know if you've
Speaker 1: had the same thing, because we're both tattooed in our arms.
Speaker 1: I've had people like grab my arms, let me see that,
Speaker 1: just like I'm like, we're touching, okay, um, I don't
Speaker 1: know why you could let me see what's going on there? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: just like yeah, I had I had somebody stand up again,
Speaker 1: different job, like many years ago, but someone stood up
Speaker 1: in his bar seat, reached over the bar and grabbed
Speaker 1: my coworkers hair while she was like bent down grabbing
Speaker 1: something on the other side, like on her side. Everyone
Speaker 1: that was working like record scratch and we were all
Speaker 1: just like, oh hell no, yeah, you need to sit
Speaker 1: down and leave. Like wow. So with that, obviously you
Speaker 1: guys have touched a lot into this. How how do
Speaker 1: you handle when it comes to harassment and do you
Speaker 1: see that being is it getting worse to getting better?
Speaker 1: Like how do you see that industry today? I mean
Speaker 1: I wouln't say it's getting worse. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: it's getting sort of better because I mean, just because
Speaker 1: obviously been doing this for a while. I don't get
Speaker 1: into confrontations with a lot of people. If something like
Speaker 1: that happens, I try to be competation less. Somebody's don't
Speaker 1: involve up my face is something which doesn't really happen.
Speaker 1: Just saying well alma was but that was neither. But um.
Speaker 1: I just what I do is just kind of tell
Speaker 1: them to leave um or I'm I don't really are
Speaker 1: I just ign them for rest of the time that
Speaker 1: they did there. I mean, he doesn't get two out
Speaker 1: of hand, I'll just like S and now I'm done
Speaker 1: with you and I'll passed off to somebody else. So
Speaker 1: that's how I kind of im. I just don't want to.
Speaker 1: I'm not confrontational. And when I get when I get
Speaker 1: genuinely upset, I often like freeze a little bit. My
Speaker 1: brain stops and like what do I do? Um, But
Speaker 1: it is usually it's like, all right, you just have
Speaker 1: to leave, Like if you're bothering bartenders or customers or whatever, like,
Speaker 1: you just have to leave. So I actually had an
Speaker 1: instant and when I worked at a brewery in which
Speaker 1: one of the contexts was older white gentleman was there
Speaker 1: on an event that whole big story. But he started
Speaker 1: um calling me oriental girl and thought it was funny
Speaker 1: and as the way, I'm flirting with me and this
Speaker 1: was the thing, and he would like yeah, yeah, So
Speaker 1: he kept screaming at me. He kept screaming at me
Speaker 1: about it, and finally I just got to the point
Speaker 1: because I was told he couldn't leave, like we couldn't
Speaker 1: ask him to leave necessarily. That in all, I had
Speaker 1: a whole different thing um by one person. And then
Speaker 1: of course my female manager was like, no worries and
Speaker 1: I'm kicking his ass out, So I will say that.
Speaker 1: But at the beginning, when all that was going down,
Speaker 1: all I could do was like try to ignore him,
Speaker 1: but he kept screaming at me, and I didn't know
Speaker 1: what to do. Have you guys had any incidents in
Speaker 1: which a you didn't have the support or you did
Speaker 1: have the support, What is the usual reaction from your boss's,
Speaker 1: let's say, in those situations, And if you didn't, what
Speaker 1: was your reaction to do? And how did you handle
Speaker 1: that situation? And and even for you as a person
Speaker 1: of color, how do you handle when it was obviously
Speaker 1: something that that's not experienced by everyone. What do you do?
Speaker 1: How do you react? And how? I mean, have you
Speaker 1: gone through that? Maybe you haven't. Maybe it's just me, Um,
Speaker 1: well I haven't had to me like like just start
Speaker 1: yelling about dating in particular, just being a complete dick.
Speaker 1: Excuse my language, but but yes and no, because they're
Speaker 1: drunk and they're drinking whatever. So again I would ignore
Speaker 1: them until it was something to go. Um. And Luckily,
Speaker 1: even though the whole thing, customers or guests are kind
Speaker 1: of weird, sometimes when you work with good people, they
Speaker 1: will and it's such a liberal job, people just will
Speaker 1: be supportive of you regardless, like they'll just either have
Speaker 1: your back until I've never not had a manager not
Speaker 1: stand up for me if I said that guy is
Speaker 1: being weird, or like say, I work at Joystick now
Speaker 1: and I was just standing there at the jukebox just
Speaker 1: because my co work was like, play a song, somebody
Speaker 1: alway cool. I go over there and some dude just
Speaker 1: comes up and it feels free to grab my butt,
Speaker 1: So I was like, so I turned about and grab him.
Speaker 1: I'm like, you're out of here, and he goes, oh,
Speaker 1: what do you mean why you grabbing me? I was like,
Speaker 1: because you just grabbed me, you know, like kind of
Speaker 1: like really, I'm like, I'm not gonna find it a
Speaker 1: guy or whatever because I shouldn't have to. So I
Speaker 1: was like, all right, So luckily there's support what we
Speaker 1: had security, but I could's like him, you know, getting out.
Speaker 1: So it helps when you do have people that you
Speaker 1: work with that are willing to this, don't even ask questions,
Speaker 1: they know you felt, yeah, certain way, I don't want
Speaker 1: to have a discussion. You need to leave. So luckily, yeah,
Speaker 1: I've been in a situation with people that have been
Speaker 1: supports because I am also a woman color. Sometime it
Speaker 1: is I've been the only one in the room, and yeah,
Speaker 1: I tried to you know, I maintain very even kill
Speaker 1: kind of the mean York. Then there's there's a whole
Speaker 1: other side thing with that too, you know, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're preconceived you've seen is this person
Speaker 1: at that bar, and you know you kind of have
Speaker 1: to carry that balance, you know, right, because if you're
Speaker 1: not you're you're then you're you're not friendly enough that
Speaker 1: one angry black person at in the restaurant. You're well,
Speaker 1: I don't not gotta be put me in this box.
Speaker 1: It's just yeah, so there's a whole other Oh, it's
Speaker 1: so it's just in general working at the russauran work
Speaker 1: behind the bar, guess sometimes co workers, right, so you're
Speaker 1: just gonna you have to realize or try to figure
Speaker 1: it out somehow. Yeah, I've been lucky to you having
Speaker 1: back up, not recently in my life, definitely, like managers
Speaker 1: always had our back when I was younger. Sometimes I
Speaker 1: worked at places that had really crappy managers, but the
Speaker 1: other people that I worked with were definitely like that
Speaker 1: dude sucks. He's got like you know, especially at like
Speaker 1: more if you are like a more divvy place where
Speaker 1: your managers probably not around anyway, and it probably is
Speaker 1: just the far staff who are technically running the restaurant
Speaker 1: for the night and like, no, that dude's gone, Like
Speaker 1: this guy sucks. Like definitely been lucky with good male
Speaker 1: counterparts and friends that I worked with or like no,
Speaker 1: you you're with us? Yeah, sure that is great. It's
Speaker 1: it's uh anyway because I work in Joseph, because it's
Speaker 1: manages aren't always there and I so you have to
Speaker 1: kind of we have this is always a united friend.
Speaker 1: So what it's gonna be us against you always because
Speaker 1: you're not going to be here at the end of
Speaker 1: the night, you know. So yeah, I have. I personally
Speaker 1: have physically removed dudes from bars, which was weird because
Speaker 1: I was like a baby grabbing people like you have
Speaker 1: to go, which now I'm at a point where that's
Speaker 1: someone else's job, but that's nice. But I feel like
Speaker 1: it's mildly important that I had to do it at
Speaker 1: some point to like to be the one that's like, no,
Speaker 1: you're gone, right, Yeah. I usually just hold the door open,
Speaker 1: like uh oh. I like I like grabbed a dude
Speaker 1: by the shirt like with two hands and was like
Speaker 1: pulling him because because he wouldn't leave a table like
Speaker 1: it was it was the whole thing, like he had
Speaker 1: he had to be physically removed because he was not
Speaker 1: going to leave on his own. Well, oh my god,
Speaker 1: that's kind of scary. Also, I was gonna say, and
Speaker 1: do they take you seriously, like if you're the one
Speaker 1: be like I need you to leave. Oh no, he
Speaker 1: super didn't take it. I had to remove him twice
Speaker 1: and then um my other bartender, the guy that taught
Speaker 1: me had to partend. Then he removed him and he's
Speaker 1: a much latter r so that that went do. But
Speaker 1: so it took to that point to finally figure out, dude,
Speaker 1: really really have to get out just to say I
Speaker 1: did it support at the end. But it was a
Speaker 1: really weird. My little experience was so weird that throw
Speaker 1: me off so badly that I was like, this is
Speaker 1: so because I'm also, as you all talked about being
Speaker 1: in the bar to interestring, I feel like I have
Speaker 1: to I don't I'm not that part of that much anymore,
Speaker 1: but I have to be overly entertaining. So therefore that
Speaker 1: I can get those tips, Yeah, get that money. You know.
Speaker 1: That's like and that seems to be like an open
Speaker 1: invitation for the level of boundary crossing that and that
Speaker 1: happens in that industry, which is like, how do you
Speaker 1: balance that for yourself? Yeah, I will. I don't know
Speaker 1: I'm how to do it. It's I guess when you're
Speaker 1: over I don't know if we friendly can say that
Speaker 1: or you're doing you're you're just being a regular person,
Speaker 1: nice person, doing your job. You know, sometimes there are
Speaker 1: guys who do take it where the like think you're
Speaker 1: flirting to whatever, or you know, they'll oh, of sudden,
Speaker 1: you want to get your phone and I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: it's not. We're not on a speed date. I'm having
Speaker 1: a conversation because you're maybe one of two people at
Speaker 1: the bar, you know, chat. You know, it would be
Speaker 1: weird if I'm just not talking to you at all.
Speaker 1: But yeah, and then but nothing too too much. I
Speaker 1: don't think I've had too much of experience when it
Speaker 1: gets extra weird. I mean I tried to go there
Speaker 1: with people that come to my bar, so I don't know,
Speaker 1: kind of just kind of shove it off it only
Speaker 1: it happens for a few two I mean, I let
Speaker 1: that happen for a few town I won't let it
Speaker 1: happen to be it. So yeah, I'm definitely still learning
Speaker 1: how to balance that, like because I am not an
Speaker 1: overly friendly person, like I am also an introvert, so
Speaker 1: I am not the person to immediately just like go
Speaker 1: make a new friend or like go walk to a
Speaker 1: stranger and start talking um, which is bad because it's
Speaker 1: kind of my job. So I'm definitely still learning that
Speaker 1: balance of like just nice enough all the time, but
Speaker 1: not so nice that it's like You're not the only
Speaker 1: person that I'm serving tonight. Like, right, that's the thing too,
Speaker 1: Like the art of nicely walking away, just like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: walk behind this thing. If I trained any Bartens, like
Speaker 1: you must learn the art of how to disengage, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: walk away because what's gonna happen. It's gonna lose people.
Speaker 1: You know, it's a it is a balance between being
Speaker 1: friendly and nice to people, Bob, but knowing that you
Speaker 1: have to cut them off at one point because they
Speaker 1: so you are really into it. They want to talk
Speaker 1: to you about everything, all the spirits, all this stuff,
Speaker 1: and I love it and I think it's great, but
Speaker 1: you know, it's a it's a lot when you have
Speaker 1: to do it with like then the next five people
Speaker 1: want to say tonight, right, everybody bringing in close. I
Speaker 1: got just to say, I don't know, Martin's share what
Speaker 1: you learned? Yeah, I want to Bartins who know how
Speaker 1: to bring a room together. And it's very impressive. I
Speaker 1: love it, Like this is such and such and it's great.
Speaker 1: It's a it's a great skill. I'm just like that's
Speaker 1: something that I'm not truly envious of, but that that
Speaker 1: skill of like being that person behind the bar, like
Speaker 1: bring people together, but I'm also learning. Um, I really
Speaker 1: love it working with those people because I can be
Speaker 1: like cool, go make our tips. I will make every
Speaker 1: service cocktail that comes to the bar tonight. You will
Speaker 1: be the bright Chinese sunflower that everybody loves and it's perfect.
Speaker 1: And let's just be that team. I've been on that team.
Speaker 1: That team. We have a little bit more of our interview,
Speaker 1: but first we have one more quick break for word
Speaker 1: from our sponsor and we're back Nickie Sponsored. Let's jump
Speaker 1: back in. Well. I love that piece of advice, like
Speaker 1: the art of disengaging. Do you have any ice for
Speaker 1: listeners who are thinking about getting into cocktails more? Just
Speaker 1: things that you would wish you wish you right now
Speaker 1: and we'll get into making cocktails. Um, just the same
Speaker 1: thing we've been saying. It was like, if you if
Speaker 1: you like to drink, because you're like I want to
Speaker 1: be about to like drinking, that's probably not the best
Speaker 1: way to get into it because it got it well
Speaker 1: only because then you're just there to drink booze. And
Speaker 1: I trust me, I can drink. But it I didn't
Speaker 1: start off, Yeah, I didn't stop going like I just
Speaker 1: want me back there, So I the child booze. You know,
Speaker 1: that's don't do that. Um. Then the second thing is
Speaker 1: also if you love you're doing, you care about, not
Speaker 1: care about, but if you are interested in what spirits
Speaker 1: are and where they're from and just the whole process
Speaker 1: of because it's a deep dive when you get into it,
Speaker 1: you could go. So that's always a great thing. So
Speaker 1: I think if you're willing to put the work in
Speaker 1: I that's my only one. I didn't go for it,
Speaker 1: and to like I said, and also, it's a great
Speaker 1: way to keep your thin flexible your hours in your
Speaker 1: social life. Well well social life is kind of a
Speaker 1: hard balance too, but you just have to know how
Speaker 1: to work it in there. That's to say. I know
Speaker 1: a lot of people in the industry who are constantly
Speaker 1: like gone in opposite schedules of everybody else. So that
Speaker 1: seems like not necessarily all the talk most advantageous. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just just say if you just just got tog out
Speaker 1: the balance, that's really my my cissis if you want
Speaker 1: to learn put in at the hours in the time
Speaker 1: and learn how to balance your work in social life,
Speaker 1: then you could probably do it. I mean, it's not
Speaker 1: so we're not out here building a you know, testlas
Speaker 1: or well, but I build rocket shifts like I don't
Speaker 1: because I just kind of I want to see what
Speaker 1: I think that I think that's really good, and then
Speaker 1: go go out a lot, but not necessarily in like
Speaker 1: a party way, but in a way to observe so
Speaker 1: like ghosts, and don't sit at a table set at
Speaker 1: the bar and order something that you've never had before
Speaker 1: and then watched them make it. And then if they're
Speaker 1: not busy, ask some questions like if it's chill and
Speaker 1: they seem like they have time to talk to you
Speaker 1: a little bit and you're genuinely interested to be like okay,
Speaker 1: so like do you mind if I have a tiny
Speaker 1: taste of that spirit? Like I've never had that before.
Speaker 1: And also Google, Man, the internet is so helpful because
Speaker 1: I didn't I didn't learn how to bartend in bars
Speaker 1: that we're doing any sort of craft cocktail. So when
Speaker 1: I wanted to learn about it, I did it on
Speaker 1: my own until like I met people and got involved
Speaker 1: voice stuff where that was happening. And I learned a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff from watching other bartenders who were really
Speaker 1: good at what they were doing, tasting their drinks and
Speaker 1: like buying books or going online or trying to find
Speaker 1: out stuff. And then once I started doing it that way,
Speaker 1: it started happening more work, And like that's a great
Speaker 1: way to if you do go sit in front of
Speaker 1: somebody who you've seen and like killing it, whether making
Speaker 1: how to make drinks at how to kind of work
Speaker 1: the room, so to speak, then you should definitely go
Speaker 1: see that that persons and definitely ask some questions. It's
Speaker 1: it does help because they inspire you. Let see they
Speaker 1: really do and especially little things like just like techniques,
Speaker 1: not even necessarily recipes or answer spirits or anything, but
Speaker 1: like watching people like I'm, like I said, I've only
Speaker 1: been bartending for six years, so I'm a still learning
Speaker 1: all the time and just watching people who are clearly
Speaker 1: professionals and be like, oh, I never thought to do
Speaker 1: it that way, and then ask why they did it
Speaker 1: that way, And there's definitely a reason, Like it's not
Speaker 1: we don't just make stuff make stuff up for no reason.
Speaker 1: For the most part, um, there's usually a good reason
Speaker 1: for like a particular way of doing something, um and
Speaker 1: then putting that in your catalog and using it next
Speaker 1: time you go back to work or to make a
Speaker 1: cocktail or also home bar. It's really good to have
Speaker 1: like a laborate torry at your house. Yeah, I super
Speaker 1: I have a lab at my house finger air quotes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but like I have a home bar with a bunch
Speaker 1: of stuff, and I do a lot of research and
Speaker 1: prep and testing at home. Because when you're at work,
Speaker 1: you're busy. Yeah, that's why I supposed to say when
Speaker 1: you're not doing when I'm not working. Sometimes i'm working,
Speaker 1: I'll like say, if I'm off today and i'm not here,
Speaker 1: if I'm thinking about a drink, I will go to
Speaker 1: work to try to make it because I'm not working,
Speaker 1: so I don't have to worry about doing stuff. So
Speaker 1: I could just be like, well, I know these are
Speaker 1: things I need and they're all at that bar. So
Speaker 1: I've done that. Just drive to work and like okay,
Speaker 1: I'm in trying to make this, this and this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then but because and then you're like, well it
Speaker 1: goes my day because that's stuff. Or and then you
Speaker 1: inevitably end up either sitting at your bar or like
Speaker 1: a friend's bar, and then if that's the other half
Speaker 1: of your day, well I'm not gonna this is it
Speaker 1: you're do you have a nice buzz on from all
Speaker 1: the junks and it's like rush hour now, so clearly
Speaker 1: have to sit here. Obvious, that's how usually sometimes these
Speaker 1: in the but that's the best way in my world.
Speaker 1: So out of curiosity, because we were talking about all
Speaker 1: of the people in the mentors, how do you do
Speaker 1: you think that the industry as been more and more
Speaker 1: inclusive of women of color, of women in general of
Speaker 1: the l g B, d U I And if not,
Speaker 1: what way could we be more or could they as
Speaker 1: an industry be more inclusive or are they doing a
Speaker 1: good job as a little as the bar baby at
Speaker 1: the table. I feel like lately, like in the last
Speaker 1: few years, I feel like I see a lot of
Speaker 1: women UM in bars in Atlanta. Obviously, like I said earlier,
Speaker 1: I this is the only place I know about UM,
Speaker 1: but I feel like I see a lot more than
Speaker 1: when I was younger. Lately UM and our programs and
Speaker 1: heading bar programs and UM like a lot of the
Speaker 1: people that I look up to and like go sit
Speaker 1: at their bar or like learn our women in the city.
Speaker 1: Like there's obviously there's men as well, But I've thought
Speaker 1: about I sat down and thought about it the other
Speaker 1: day and like a lot of the people who I
Speaker 1: really admire what they're doing are women. Yeah, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so, because even women who way back when,
Speaker 1: like the few that we're doing it, like say back
Speaker 1: in the eighties or even before that. There's you can
Speaker 1: probably find one book and there's all five of them
Speaker 1: in that book that runs from like the twenties to
Speaker 1: like eight eight So like like there's one was the
Speaker 1: Ida Coleman who did the hanky panky thing. She's in
Speaker 1: a book and she's that was it. That's the other
Speaker 1: on any other one I knew after that was or
Speaker 1: Artie Saunders from the eighties. And now, I mean there's
Speaker 1: this huge gap. I'm sure these ladies in between all
Speaker 1: of that. But you know, she became she does like
Speaker 1: the the Pegoo Cub in New York, and she's worked
Speaker 1: with Dildograph and all these guys that and but she
Speaker 1: had to work her way into just being that probably
Speaker 1: one female at the time that was even doing anything
Speaker 1: because we don't hear any other names for at certain points,
Speaker 1: and I mean, I know, I'm not the biggest cocktail historian,
Speaker 1: so I was throwing a cup of names out there,
Speaker 1: But I guess now it is more inclusive. There are
Speaker 1: definitely bars where you know they're uh, the l G B,
Speaker 1: t Q communities, you know, very present, and the bars
Speaker 1: where there are only women. Like where was I One
Speaker 1: night I was working at Rational Gime and I was
Speaker 1: working with another girl, was like, is this an all
Speaker 1: girls staff tonight? Oh my god, It's so great because
Speaker 1: I We've got a lady in and we had like
Speaker 1: two girls service. It was like ladies night and it
Speaker 1: was just really it was it was amazing. We we
Speaker 1: just had so much fun. It was it's kind of
Speaker 1: like this sting. So yeah, I guess you're right. Then
Speaker 1: it's getting to a point where are a lot of
Speaker 1: female artists nowadays. I mean, there was a competition I
Speaker 1: went to a couple of weeks ago where the females
Speaker 1: dominated pretty much the whole competition. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you went to that deck off. I was about to
Speaker 1: say it was I didn't go, but I heard about it.
Speaker 1: But it was like there was probably I don't know
Speaker 1: this equal amount of guys two girls, but they just
Speaker 1: took out the boys one by one until the last
Speaker 1: person was left. I was like, this is pretty awesome.
Speaker 1: It took a while for for that to be a thing,
Speaker 1: but one for ladies to be in competitions quite a
Speaker 1: bit because even when I don't do a lot of
Speaker 1: that's not really my bag. Some of my competitions just
Speaker 1: I don't know, I just so I can't. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't enjoy them. I just get too nervous. But um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's very much more inclusively them. There's a thing.
Speaker 1: I went to another one. I wish Tiffany was here
Speaker 1: because she was a judge, this one where it was
Speaker 1: like all gay bar tinners like, so it was really cool,
Speaker 1: um to see something like that, um because you know,
Speaker 1: even that I've never seen that before anywhere, Like it
Speaker 1: was just granted it was mostly men, which I was like,
Speaker 1: well come on, but it was still you know, it
Speaker 1: was just that that was the thing, which was pretty cool.
Speaker 1: And they got who the guy who won got a
Speaker 1: cool price, So it was really amazing to kind of
Speaker 1: see that. So yeah, I guess maybe a nice upwards
Speaker 1: kind of a deal, but still helpeful. Yeah, and the
Speaker 1: bars I go to, if i i've it's always straight
Speaker 1: white males back there. Yep. I'm just like, no, no,
Speaker 1: nobody go and it's cool. I mean it is what
Speaker 1: it is. I mean they're not gonna go back this
Speaker 1: throwing a political statements at borrow what I'm drinking the
Speaker 1: best idea it doesn't combine well huh um, and then
Speaker 1: just give you a one letter what's your the worst
Speaker 1: drink to make? To make? Yeah? When you when a
Speaker 1: when a person comes in and says I want this
Speaker 1: do what makes your eyes roll over? I feel like
Speaker 1: I feel like two different. Yeah. I don't know, because
Speaker 1: there's so many drinks. Like if you'd asked me like
Speaker 1: four years ago, I would have said one thing and
Speaker 1: then I'm like, no, who gives it? Fine? I don't
Speaker 1: know if there's anything that I like. It's hard to make,
Speaker 1: but things that I'm tired of making long islands and
Speaker 1: leaveon drops just because they're really boring and not because
Speaker 1: I'm like not to like yug your yum or whatever.
Speaker 1: That's such a dumb phrase. I'm sorry, what make that up?
Speaker 1: That's a thing? What? Okay? Keep? Every time I do interviews,
Speaker 1: I feel like there's one friight that I'm like, what
Speaker 1: is this phrase? Like the suburban mom version of saying
Speaker 1: like not to King shame um. Like if you like
Speaker 1: Long Islands, cool whatever, but it's just really boring. It
Speaker 1: doesn't really taste like anything. Lum jobs don't really taste
Speaker 1: like anything. And I think the main reason is because
Speaker 1: like I took so much time to build this spending
Speaker 1: just order something that I made because they're really good.
Speaker 1: They wouldn't be on this paper if if they weren't good.
Speaker 1: But it's mostly stuff like that that I just want
Speaker 1: people like Tiffany was saying the other day about like
Speaker 1: like go of the past to try something new, like yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I want to the knew drug because they people ordered
Speaker 1: things like that because they don't know not that they
Speaker 1: don't know, you better, just doesn't know anything. So they're
Speaker 1: like they get to is alright fine, And also it
Speaker 1: has all the ingredients in it, so it is it's
Speaker 1: also a bus right and the same thingre I don't
Speaker 1: think at this point I've made all jinks maybe a
Speaker 1: thousand times over, so I'm not it's I can make whatever.
Speaker 1: Just if you want to find you got it. You
Speaker 1: got it. So you asked me like three years ago,
Speaker 1: I probably would have said, like mohito or something, but
Speaker 1: I don't care. I like, because people, do you hate
Speaker 1: making Mohito's always get that question. I'm like, no, make
Speaker 1: it all the time, so I have it down to
Speaker 1: a science. It ju be in your face in two
Speaker 1: seconds ago. The only the only thing I hate about Mohito's.
Speaker 1: But really it's not just Mohito's. It's kind of summer
Speaker 1: in general. Is meant itself in the butt. Yeah, just
Speaker 1: like as a gurrant, because it's like you have to
Speaker 1: be really good to it, like you have to talk
Speaker 1: to it real sweet wilt in the middle of your shift,
Speaker 1: and like it goes back really fast, and then inevitably
Speaker 1: you just get like sad crushed up mint stuck in everything. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's not the Mohito's fault. It's the mint's fault.
Speaker 1: Men just wants you. Yeah, it's good to know the worst.
Speaker 1: I'm a tolerant to mint, so this makes me happy.
Speaker 1: So you are not a problem. Yeah, oh yeah it is.
Speaker 1: I've already made I don't know how many old fashions
Speaker 1: within this last week. I mean that's the thing. It's
Speaker 1: it's not hard to make. But if somebody's on a kick,
Speaker 1: I've done it. Like you, somebody come out on it.
Speaker 1: Two here, and you get five more on aside, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I love it. You like this really boozy conta. I
Speaker 1: love making them. It's in my wheelhouse. I think it's fantastic.
Speaker 1: But I know, if even know something else, there's another
Speaker 1: whiskey cocktail there. We promise the fashion are totally like
Speaker 1: the yawn of the cocktail, but like the contain, Like
Speaker 1: as soon as somebody at a table and they're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: well fashion, let's do that, and then one runs into
Speaker 1: six and you're like, oh crap, you couldn't just order
Speaker 1: mo all once. Yeah, it's just it's a It's one
Speaker 1: of those things that I do enjoy making. Number. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it does get a little bunch because you try to
Speaker 1: tell you, well, here's another one you want want to
Speaker 1: get into a trial, or here do you like gin
Speaker 1: and they don't want to do that, or something on
Speaker 1: those lines. But yeah, I don't I really hate making
Speaker 1: anything anymore. It's just kind of they're there. That brings
Speaker 1: us to the end of our long awaited at least
Speaker 1: for us, we've been trying for a few months. I
Speaker 1: know women in the Alcohol Industry episode, Like we said,
Speaker 1: after we recorded this in the studio, we went and
Speaker 1: had a cocktail hour and we recorded some more with
Speaker 1: some even more fantastic women in this industry. So that
Speaker 1: episode will be coming up soon um. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: we would love to hear from you. You can email
Speaker 1: us that Stuff Media mom Stuff at I heart media
Speaker 1: dot com. You can find us on Twitter at mom
Speaker 1: Stuff Podcast and on Instagram at Stuff One never told you.
Speaker 1: Thanks as always to our super producer Andrew Hammer, Thanks
Speaker 1: to our interviewees, Yeah, thanks Katie and Kisha, and thanks
Speaker 1: to you for listening. Steph Owner told you the protection
Speaker 1: of I Heart radias how Stuff works. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio is the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.