What’s shakin, cocktail fans?
Welcome to Episode 150 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!
Thanks for joining me for this interview episode, where we trek across the world to locate the cocktail gurus and spirited senseis who will help you take your drinks game to the next level.
A very special and heart felt THANK YOU to long-time listener Adam in Texas, who sent in a beautiful, compact clear ice system designed for folks like me with limited ice storage options to make professional quality ice in the home. To be precise, the brand is called dIce (as in d-ice) and the product is called Glasklar, as in “clear ice.”
Now I’m not saying you need to track down the Modern Bar Cart address and ship me lavish gifts like Adam, but damn – it absolutely made my day. Keep an eye out on the Modern Bar Cart Instagram feed and my own account (@quixologist) for some clear ice masterpieces coming down the road.
This episode’s guest is an incredibly interesting dude – his name is Shawn Soole (of Soole Hospitality Concepts), and he’s the author of two great cocktail books – the first called Cocktail Culture, and the second entitled Great Northern Cocktails, which is the primary focus of our interview.
Shawn is a bartender’s bartender, and his story is a really compelling example of how hard work and dedication can generate a lot of respect and well deserved recognition in the cocktail world. shawSome of the things we discuss in this wide-ranging conversation include:
How Shawn made his way to Victoria, British Columbia by way of Australia, and how he explains his city’s disproportionate influence on the cocktail world, relative to its size.
Why he and his team at Clive’s Classic Lounge in Victoria decided to embark on the ambitious project (called Homage Cocktail Fridays) of re-creating almost 100 famous cocktail menus from cocktail bars around the world.
The way Shawn was able to hustle – literally hustle – for the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most influential cocktail ambassadors, like Jeffrey Morganthaler and Philip Duff.
What Canada has to offer on the cocktail front – highlighting some of the people, places, and flavors featured in Great Northern Cocktails to show all of us quarantined Americans what we’re missing out on north of the border.
How to plan your next vacation to the great white north so that you’re certain to strategically hit the best food and drink venues that each city has to offer.
What Shawn talks about on his own awesome podcast, the Post Shift Podcast.
And much, much more.
This episode’s featured cocktail is the Toronto Cocktail. It’s something we go deep on later in this conversation, so I won’t go much further than offering you the recipe.
2 oz Canadian Whisky (but if you’re in the US market, rye whiskey would be an appropriate substitute)
¼ oz Fernet Branca
¼ oz Simple Syrup
1-2 dashes of Aromatic Bitters (Angostura is traditional, but feel free to use our Embitterment Aromatic Bitters for a slightly different take on the drink)
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, stir for about 20 seconds until everything is well chilled and diluted, strain into a stemmed cocktail glass, and garnish with an expressed orange twist.
As you can see, the Toronto Cocktail sort of wedges itself in between an Old Fashioned and a Manhattan. The Fernet could be seen as either a very bitter, lightly sweet vermouth (this would be the Manhattan interpretation), or as an additional bitter with enough sugar to warrant cutting your simple syrup (this would be the Old Fashioned riff).
Shawn had a hand in bringing this drink to the forefront as a result of his thorough historical research, so we’ll dig into it in greater depth during this interview.
During this conversation, we go wide and deep, covering everything from foraged cocktail ingredients to Philip Duff’s affection for the proud nation of Canada. Here are some links to some of the times we cover.
Shawn’s podcast is called the Post Shift Podcast – be sure to download and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!
A couple of Shawn’s favorite episodes are: “5 Things Every Operator Should be Doing” and “Stop Using ‘Busy’ As an Excuse for Disorganization”
Forewards to Shawn’s book were penned by Philip Duff & Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Lance Staples – the forager for the bars in Victoria, BC. His Instagram is everything I hoped it would be.
David Embury – author of The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks
Robert Vermeire – author of Cocktails: How to Mix Them
It’s a tossup between a Negroni and a Gimlet because when I’m at home, I’m a lazy bartender. Throw the ingredients in a pint glass, stir em with a finger, then sit on the couch.
Amaro, without a doubt. I’ve always been a massive fan of Fernet Branca and Amer Picon.
Taking my wife to the Savoy in London for the first time and having a Martini by the guys there would be my ultimate date.
I haven’t tasted any solid Batavia Ararcks.
There’s no right way to make a cocktail, but there’s plenty of wrong ways. People get really hung up on the “Wondrich Way” or the “Regan Way” or the “Degroff Way,” whereas if you really research these people, they even change their styles over time.
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