Good Morning! WE’RE BACK BABY!!!! So excited to be back after our break. If you read our last newsletter that we published over a month ago, you would remember that I was feeling incredibly burnt out, it was a very short newsletter and I felt awful not being able to write anything for a few weeks. The truth is, I would not have been able to produce anything of great quality to share with you all and I did not want to waste your time. So I took some time off, traveled a bit with my family and have been working on some things at my bar. That being said, with so much going on the Newsletter started to be left behind and that’s not fair and no fun because I love this newsletter. So on that, we have some news…

I have always said that the best bartenders I have ever worked with were women, and recently I posted on Instagram that I was looking for someone to help write this newsletter, and I was looking for someone who was or currently is a Bartender and who would help build this community. As luck would have it, one of those best bartenders that I have ever worked with, applied! So I’d like to introduce Shayne! She will be helping me write this newsletter but don’t worry I’m not going anywhere. You cant get rid of me that easily…

So I hope you enjoy this lengthy return to In Good Spirits, we have some incredible stuff planned for you over the next few weeks. And I hope you give Shayne, a warm welcome.

But before we get to this weeks newsletter, A few weeks ago I talked about how I was giving a seminar at BCB with my friends, Jordan Hughes & Miguel Buencamino, better know as High Proof Preacher and Holy City Handcraft, about taking your career online. I have always set out to help bartenders and people in the industry and this talk we gave I feel was really impactful and had some of the best advice I could give. I filmed this talk, and you can watch it here! Its a bit of a lengthy watch, but i think its worth it.

Anyway, onto this weeks newsletter!

Your Favorite Drink Might Not Have Existed Without Black Americans

How some of the most well known and loved cocktails came into American popular culture

The Kentucky Derby is not only a major event for gamblers and horse enthusiasts, it is also a big day for Bourbon. The mint julep is inextricably linked to this event and is consumed at record highs at and around derby day. On average over 125,000 mint juleps are consumed at Churchill Downs every year during the weekend of the Kentucky Derby. This requires over 10,000 bottles of bourbon, 2,250 lbs of mint, and 475,000 lbs of ice. So where did this iconic concoction come from? Some of the earliest records indicate John Dabney, who was born into slavery in the 1820’s, as a major influence on the cocktail. With ice newly available year-round he was said to make “snow” for many of his cocktails which was a key element in his version of the mint julep: the “Hail-Storm Mint Julep”. The cocktail owes its popularity to the many southern Black bartenders and mixologists who served it up in the early 1900’s as a distinctly American take on “The Smash”.

It goes without saying that we would not have any of our favorite rum drinks without the literal blood, sweat, and tears of enslaved people. The rum industry will forever have a dark shadow over it due to the atrocities that enabled its early production and distribution. Experts and historians agree that it is difficult to accurately represent the history of the spirit itself “because too much of the preserved record reflects the erasure and suppression of rum production’s human toll.” (Toni Tipton-Martin, Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs & Juice: A Cocktail Recipe Book) Tipton-Martin, who is heavily cited in the main source used for this segment has received many prestigious awards and acknowledgements for her cocktail book honoring the contributions of Black Americans to this industry - many of whom never got the credit deserved to them in life. This book is definitely in my TBR pile now and I think it should be in yours too!

Click here to read a description of the book and where to get your hands on it.

And before we close out this section (although we could go on for pages) we can’t forget to talk about the popularity of Hibiscus in beverages, both spirited and neutral. Last month we celebrated Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the day that the final segment of people held in bondage finally learned of their freedom following the conclusion of the Civil War. During this holiday it is a tradition to eat and drink red foods and beverages. The red drinks served today on Juneteenth could be said to have one common origin: sorrel. Sorrel is a type of hibiscus native to West Africa that arrived in the Americas during the slave trade. A drink by the same name was made popular in the Caribbean and is served both with and without alcohol added. To make this, the flower is typically dried and boiled like a tea along with citrus and spices and then sweetened and served cold. I don’t know about you but I remember a time not too long ago when hibiscus was the “it” ingredient to add to cocktails and infusions. The color alone is enough to make it appealing to bartenders and mixologists looking to draw in appeal from guests - but the flavor makes it versatile and well utilized. Unlike a lot of florals, hibiscus tends to taste a lot less perfume-y and so can reach across the aisle to drinkers that typically wouldn’t be drawn to anything in the floral category.

Hidden In Plain Sight: People With Disabilities In The Service Industry 

Shaking up misconceptions and cocktails

The tough thing about discussing disability - or different abilities - is that the spectrum of disability is so broad. There are physical, sensory, intellectual/cognitive, and mental/behavioral disabilities all under this one umbrella. Many bartenders, servers, and kitchen staff fall into one of these categories. Even though some types of disabilities are more common amongst service workers there are bars and restaurants that celebrate employees with all kinds of different abilities. An article from 2020 praises a craft brewpub in Colorado for staffing almost exclusively people who are considered disabled. 

You or someone you work with in the industry might also be part of the vast number of neurodivergent people who tend to thrive in the fast paced, high pressure environments of restaurants. Many people diagnosed with ADHD (myself among them) do well in the chaos that many others flounder in. The panic of being flat-sat right after the doors open can actually sharpen the mind of these people instead of make them freeze up and get overwhelmed.

Of course there are so many other people living with visible and invisible disabilities that help make this crazy industry run. It’s important not to forget that you truly never know how the deck is stacked for anyone else in this world. At the end of the day what could be considered a disability to some could be shaped into an advantage for the person who lives it.

What Happens To The Food And Beverage Industry When Its Workforce Is Gone?

“Who Will Plant The Seed?”

 But the Pig said, “Not I,”

and the Cat said, “Not I,”

and the Rat said, “Not I.”

“Well, then,” said the Little Red Hen, “I will.”

We’ve said it before in a hundred different ways: immigrants and migrants are the backbone of the workforce in this country. Without the contributions of immigrants there would be no food period. This month being minority mental health awareness month we really have to try and focus on the wellbeing of those we work with and live with in our communities. These are unprecedented times and the mental toll is absolutely tremendous. As helpless as it can feel at times, those of us with privilege need to make sure we are staying educated and alert in order to protect our community and its people. Regardless of your immigration or citizenship status it is crucial to know how to handle interactions with ICE and other law enforcement entities and what your rights are. This is unfortunately only getting worse right now so read up and pass it along.

Check on your friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Community is the only way to make real difference, and that community can be anywhere. Local community, online community, even your work community are all the networks that we need to bolster and rely on more than ever.

Best Video We Saw This Week

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The idea of immediately delivering a drink to each guest as they are seated is so magical, even if it isn’t always practical. There are so many hiccups that could come up (allergies, dietary restrictions, etc) but there is a certain romance to presenting something interesting and unique to every guest as soon as they arrive at their table or spot at the bar. This concept is especially enticing as a way of broadening the horizons of guests at your establishment who may be a bit stuck in their ways and hesitant to try something out of their comfort zone.

Quick Hits:

• Diageo is facing a class action lawsuit alleging their products are not 100% agave. They vehemently dispute this claim. Lui made an entire video covering the first lawsuit. Stay tuned as he filmed an update video.

• This Rhode Island Bar is the first one in the state to be named on Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards’ Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar in the East list.

• Our friend, Rich Manning, Wrote this incredible piece celebrating and remembering Sasha Petraske, who was one of the most important people for the craft cocktail revival, and quite possibly the main person responsible for all of the modern speakeasies. I could write an entire newsletter on how important Sasha was to the industry but also to me personally and my career. But Rich manning is a much better author than me. So go read his article.

If you’ve made it this far I guess it’s time to introduce myself! You may have noticed that the flow and voice of this newsletter seems a little bit different, and you would be right to think so. In an effort to hold on to some sliver of sanity, Lui put a call out for writers to help take over writing his newsletter. Since I have had the privilege of working with Lui before I knew I had to apply. I have been out of the game for a few years (I “retired” as my husband likes to say) but I dust off my cocktail shakers for events every now and then. When I can peel myself away from the glamorous life of a stay-at-home-mom I like to venture out to new and exciting food and drink spots to stay up to date on what’s happening in the bar and spirits universe. Like Lui, I like to bury myself in thousands of things to do so I figured I should stack some writing in between the diaper changes and garden maintenance. Don’t worry though, I’m not going to take anything out of In Good Spirits, my goal is only to add in some new things and keep all the good stuff that makes this such an awesome read every week. Thanks and see you again next time! - Shayne