November 11, 2024 • 53 mins
Uncover the vibrant world of bartending and hospitality with our esteemed guest, Alba, a celebrated bartender and educator recognized with a James Beard Award. Alba takes us on her exhilarating journey through the industry, sharing how her Mexican-American roots and bilingual upbringing shape her creative flair and passion for connection in crafting cocktails.
Her Houston-based bar, Julep, stands as a testament to cultural innovation, featuring an inclusive "cocktails by committee" approach that marries diverse traditions and flavors. This episode promises a deep dive into the intersection of culture and creativity, offering listeners a fresh perspective on the art of mixology.
Explore the essence of hospitality as Alba reveals the nuances of curating memorable experiences. We delve into the strategic development of a cocktail menu, highlighting how creativity and talent management play essential roles in fostering a supportive space for both staff and patrons. Alba shares insights on building a sense of belonging within the hospitality industry, emphasizing the importance of nurturing relationships and how these connections enhance success and happiness. Discover how the right environment can make a dining experience truly unforgettable, touching upon the unspoken elements that transform an ordinary visit into an extraordinary one.
Embark on a flavorful exploration as we discuss the intricacies of flavor profiles and how they shape the cocktail experience. From transforming simple ingredients into complex drink concepts to crafting non-alcoholic options, Alba guides us through the exciting world of cocktail experimentation.
For newcomers and seasoned aficionados alike, she offers valuable tips on menu navigation and the thoughtful progression of flavors, ensuring everyone feels at ease and adventurous in their exploration. We also touch on culinary innovations and the inspiration Alba draws from events and community gatherings, highlighting the continuous reinvention that keeps her work vibrant and engaging.
Buy a copy of Albas cocktail book here!
Learn more about Julep Here!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everyone, welcome back to Making Room.
I'm so glad to be here with youagain this week.
We are gearing up for theholiday season and that feels so
wild to say.
My heart and my mind are alwaysstill in summertime, but I want
to dive in with with our newfriend, alba today.
As much as I love hospitality,as much as I host, goodness
(00:28):
gracious I have next to noknowledge about bartending or
anything in that world.
So I'm excited to learn rightalongside you, to start off as
you go into this holiday season.
Goodness, if you have kids, ifyou have a family, the holiday
can feel so busy, so quick, andas much as you want to embrace
it and be present, we alwaysstill have to eat right and we
(00:50):
always want to feel good aboutwhat we eat.
We want the flavors to still bethere and feast and fettle
Wants to come alongside you andmake that possible.
They want to give you mealsdelivered straight to your door,
ready to eat, no prep required,just like you had a private
chef straight to your door,ready to eat, no prep required,
just like you had a private chef.
So if you live in the Northeastand you are looking to get
(01:11):
dinners, lunches, snacks, evenlunches, to pack for your kids.
You can have all of thisdelivered straight to your door
with code gather atfeastandfedalcom.
Again, I don't recommendanything that we don't fully
stand behind.
All the flavors are there, theconvenience is there.
You don't need to look anyfurther.
Be sure to give them a try.
The link is in the show notes.
Well, let's talk about ourfriend Alba, if you don't follow
(01:32):
her already, alba is adistinguished bartender,
acclaimed author, charismatichost and bilingual cocktail
educator.
Hailing from Mexico and raisedin Texas, alba embraces her
proud Mexican-American heritageas a seasoned entrepreneur with
a remarkable global focus At hercelebrated Houston
establishment, julep, alba hasset a standard for excellence,
(01:55):
earning the prestigious JamesBeard Award, which you guys know
we love, for Outstanding BarProgram in 2022.
Julep has also secured a spoton the 50 Best Bars North
America list, ranking 46th thatsame year, which is an
incredible accomplishment.
Throughout its decade-longtenure, julep has consistently
(02:16):
been named one of the top 5 barsin the US by Bon Appetit and
earned recognition as one of thebest bars in America by Esquire
.
All Goodness celebrating all ofthose things with you guys.
Well, alba's talent anddedication has garnered
widespread acclaim.
Thrillist recognized her as oneof the best bartenders in
America.
(02:36):
We're going to talk about thatpoint specifically in this
episode.
Also named Bartender of theYear, the Houston Chronicle
included her among their 50 mostfascinating people.
And Cherry Bomb.
We all know that one honoredher in their prestigious Cherry
Bomb 100 list.
In addition to her influentialbar career, alba is an
(02:57):
award-winning author of thecocktail book Julep, which I
need to get my hands on I can'tbelieve I don't have one for
this episode today, but I'mgoing to get one which received
an International Association ofCulinary Professionals Award in
2019 for its exceptionalcontribution to the wine, beer
and spirits category.
Beyond her professionalachievements, abba treasures her
(03:18):
family, her parents, siblings,nieces and nephews, her beloved
pets, max the dog and Missy thekitten, so sweet.
In every endeavor, shecontinues to leave a mark,
blending creativity, expertiseand a deep-rooted passion for
mixology and hospitality Allthings that I am so excited to
dive into today.
Well, let's not wait any longerand get into the conversation.
(03:40):
Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitalityeducator and the host of Making
Room by Gather podcast.
I am set to see our communitiesget back to the table through
hospitality, but it wasn'talways this way.
My husband and I moved toThailand, and through it I
experienced some loneliness, andwith it I was given a choice to
(04:04):
sit back and accept it or to dosomething about it, and for me,
that meant two things that Ineeded the healing to learn how
to accept an invitation and theconfidence to know how to extend
one.
Through this process, Ideveloped some of the richest
and deepest relationships of mylife.
Through Making Room by Gather,you will hear conversations from
(04:24):
myself and experts in the areasof food, design and
relationships.
You see there are countlessthings trying to keep us from
the table, but can I tell yousomething?
Take a seat, because you areready, you are capable, you are
a good host.
I feel like once the fall hits,the holidays are basically here
(04:50):
, and I feel like there's somany ways to prepare and to get
our minds wrapped around theholiday season, and talk about
mixed drinks and bartending is agreat way to do that.
I think it's an area that a lotof us can grow in, and so I'm
looking forward to thisconversation.
I shared earlier in the introthat I have an embarrassing
amount of knowledge aboutbartending, and so I'm going to
(05:13):
look to you a lot in thisepisode to fill us in, but I
want to learn more about yourjourney to here.
I feel like you have a veryniche career and niche
background.
You've gone a long way in theindustry, so tell us what you
want us to know about.
What led you here.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Hi.
Well, thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
I feel like.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I feel so welcomed and like that beautiful
introduction.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I was like, oh wait, that's me, I like you know it's
a career that's been since 1998.
I can't do the math, becauseit's my life and it's been
amazing.
I feel like I really I love tohear like someone like you talk
(05:58):
about it because it is niche,but to me it's my entire life
and my entire being, and so Iguess I don't think of it as a
very unique and interestingplace because I'm just like, as
much as I am, a cocktail creator.
(06:18):
I'm also a bar owner, and so I'ma small business owner, and
that's a life of you know that'sa life of excitement just as
well.
And figuring out how to, how tobootstrap and how to how to get
up and going on some days, andbut there's this beautiful
creativity that feeds my workand you know there's this.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I heard on a podcast that sometimes you have to do
the things that you don't liketo do to accomplish the dream
that you have.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And that's very real for people who are in the
creative space, you know,because like, okay, I'm going to
do all of these things becauseI have to get done, but the
creativity really like, fuelsthe energy and it feels like
your, your lens on on the world,you know.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
So, between those two spaces of interesting time, I'm
curious, when did you start?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
when did your interest spark?
I guess for bartending and kindof like creating in the alcohol
space, I guess right.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, I feel very fortunate.
I feel like when I tell mystory I knew I always knew my
belief, my belief in my, in myfaith in my career.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
But I was bartending before cocktails had come back
from the dead.
I worked in bars where it wasreally about hospitality focus,
and I loved the human connectionbefore I loved anything else.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
So I tend to say like before, I was making cocktails,
I was making friends.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
And it was my very first job that I ever had while
I was at the University ofHouston and I was like this is
me kidding, I think I'm gettingaway with something I don't know
.
Like I think that you know, Ifelt and I still feel that way,
which is amazing where I'm likeis this really my job?
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Like okay, I'm not going to jinx it, like it's cool
, I'm going to go with it, butthere's that feeling of like wow
, I can't believe all theseamazing places, amazing people
are part of my world.
And then you get the call thatthe AC is broken.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
And then you're like, okay, got to go fix the AC.
I'm going to think about thisin a minute and this is great.
Thank you, world.
I'm very appreciative.
Let me go see what I'm going todo about this.
Let's go find out what theissue is.
It could be something as smallas a tiny battery that needs to
get replaced, or the whole thingcould have gone down.
You never know.
So there's a lot of gratitudeand there's also a lot of
(08:50):
self-acknowledgement in theprocess, but the very beginnings
of it for me was so fun butalso so fulfilling and so
nourishing that I came from youknow my background before I had
my first bartending job.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I talk to listeners a lot about how my Italian
background influences my tableculture, and your background is
Mexican, american, right?
Yes, yeah, and we haven't hadmany conversations surrounding
that cultural background, thattable culture on the show, and
so I'm excited to hear more fromyou.
How would you describe how yourMexican heritage shapes your
(09:25):
career and, I guess, yourexperience with the table?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
I mean there's so many intricacies to that.
I think one of the.
The thing that comes to mindfirst is that I'm bilingual and
when you're bilingual, your lens, you have a double lens on
things.
Like you see things in two ways, right.
So it's added a lot ofinteresting names to my
(09:56):
cocktails.
It's also kind of made me do adeep dive into certain things
that I normally wouldn't look atif I hadn't known this one
thing about drinking culture, orthis one thing about how we
refer to, because everybody hasa drinking culture, you know,
(10:16):
and if you look at, and it'swhether it's when you drink, how
you drink, who you drink with,um, and the festivities
revolving around that, andcommunity, and so drinking
culture, I, I'm, I kind of havetwo, and so because of that,
(10:38):
it's really expanded my, uh, myperspective on cocktails and
even the dining, or how to dine,when to dine, and that's, I
think, the, the, the biggest, um, like the biggest quality of, I
guess I would say of culturebeing culture forward, because I
(10:59):
, you know, I am bilingual, likeI live in a, in a city where
we're multicultural, like we'realways looking at other cultures
and appreciating them to see,really, like, what kind of food
do you have, like, what are youguys eating and what are you
guys drinking?
And what I love about that andmaybe this is something that I
(11:21):
appreciate from my staff as wellis that I am very privileged to
have a multicultural staffbecause I live in a
multicultural city and becauseof that the drinks get really
interesting.
The drinks and the foodcultures get really interesting.
We love to when we do cocktail.
(11:42):
We do cocktails by committee,which means that we bring the
cocktails to the table and wesay, hey, what do you think
about this?
And then you know they'restemmed in classics.
So I'll say where did this ideaof the composition of your drink
come from?
The elements are cultural, fromthat person, like, whatever
your experience was growing up.
People put drinks on the menuthat are so beautiful because
they come from the place thatthey really love, and if you put
(12:06):
love on the table, other peopleknow that.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So let me clarify.
So I come to Julep, which iswhere I would go right, that's
the name of your restaurant orbar and you would come over to
me and ask me about mybackground and then craft a
drink.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Oh no, the staff themselves.
So we do a cocktail bycommittees.
The staff makes a cocktail thatis representative of themselves
.
Wow, and they're you know,they're, they're upbringing.
So I've seen cocktails from alltypes of different people and
personalities and cultures andthat makes our cocktail program
(12:43):
really well rounded.
And that makes our cocktailprogram really well-rounded and
it makes us think about like Ididn't know that was the case
for you know, like I didn't knowthat was a popular drink in
Guatemala.
Like I didn't know that was apopular drink and you know,
wherever you're coming from.
Like we welcome all of thoseperspectives and so I do that in
(13:04):
the program because I've donethat my whole life as a cocktail
personality and I think aboutdrinks in that way.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
There's a few thoughts that were coming to
mind as you're saying that as aboss.
I'm sure that makes your stafffeel such a greater sense of
belonging, having thatpermission to kind of like, be
creative and have a piece ofthemselves, like their
background, as a part of thebigger picture, right?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Those are also like the perks of the job, right,
like the fun parts, like thoseare like you should be proud of
the things that we serve, likeyou should be excited about them
.
And I even know that if it wasjust my perspective on the menu,
if it was just my dreams, likeI find that kind of boring.
(13:50):
I'm like, well, what are youguys doing, how are you guys
developing and how can I be apart of that journey?
But also, how can we learn fromyou and how can we bring this
to the table for others?
Wow, and so there's a greatsystem of of respect and love
(14:12):
and appreciation.
But also like, how do we sharethis, whether the people through
a delicious cocktail, and andalso like this should be the fun
part of the job, right.
So, in the creative, likecreativity isn't something that
you can turn on and off.
Creativity is a muscle that youexercise.
(14:32):
Yeah, if we exercise thatmuscle, then we and you know our
staff can vary from, frompeople who have been in the
industry for a long time andthose who haven't, and so, all
of the all the perspectives arewelcome, right, cause, we can.
We can work you through a drink, like we can make a balanced
drink, but the elements of, of,of that personality of that
(14:56):
drink really can come from you.
And how do we get, how do weget you to a place where you
feel comfortable about thosethings and like wow, and so it
doesn't feel contrived, it'svery much like so, because
that's how really cocktails atthe base of them.
It's like I saw this drink andthen I thought it could have
this or I could have that, and Ithought about this flavor,
(15:17):
because I ate at a restaurantand I combined these three
ingredients because I love theway that they tasted in this
(15:40):
place, and so and so, and sowe're this constant sponge of
absorbing information all day,because things and like how do
we get all those things andprocess them and say, okay, well
, this is what I think the nameof this drink should be, because
this song is really funny andthis is how it ties into the
drink.
And this is what happened to mewhen I was a kid and when I was
, you know, going through thisthing and like I really thought
this was cool when I went tothis place and I was with my
(16:01):
family and like place and I waswith my family and like the
journey is so important.
The journey is just asimportant as the final product
in the cocktail Wow.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Oh, my goodness, you are onto something there.
I mean all of a sudden, yourbackground and accolades and
everything it all makes sense,you know, because you're doing
something so unique.
I think that there is anelement of I don't know if fear
is the word or intimidation whenit comes to exploring different
table cultures.
Right, because there's so muchunknown, there's so much
different, and you're making itsafe, you know, you're making it
(16:33):
comfortable.
Yeah, that's beautiful, that'svery rare.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
And I think too, because I've worked every
position in the bar, you know,like I understand, um, I
understand my employees from aperspective that I've been in
those positions before um, that,like I know the job is on it's
a very micro level.
(16:59):
It's very, um, you know it'svery repetitive, very, you know
it's very repetitive, right, itcan be.
And what are the parts that aremaking it interesting and
creative for you?
And so providing a space where,if you want to be creative, you
can be.
If you want to join us to seewhat other people are doing and
(17:21):
like if you want to learnthrough them, that's also
welcome.
Like no one's forced to put adrink on the menu, like the
menus come out and but a lot oftimes the staff is very eager to
put drinks on the menu becausethey have learned of the ways
that other people make drinksand they're very much
representative of them and thethings that they want to give
(17:42):
other people, and so it's verynatural for them to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
You know what I'm almost hearing kind of like
behind what you're saying too.
That's almost like a generalhospitality model.
Like you know, we we becomecomfortable in our own
hospitality, in our own homes,doing things when people made us
comfortable in the teachingprocess, right Like if, if we
were raised by like a familythat got stressed and yelled and
all this stuff aroundhospitality, we're going to be
(18:08):
unsettled, maybe insecure,nervous.
But when someone really givesus the space to experiment, to,
to explore, to try to test allof those things, it makes us it
feels safer and that's that'sreally beautiful.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Well, I mean, I think this is, you know, also ties
into your podcast.
Like you do that as well, right?
Like you provide a place wherewe can all remember, a place
where we had an amazing dinner,we had an amazing cocktail.
It's never just about the drinkor the food, it's always about
so many things, and so weprocess things so fast.
(18:46):
We don't know how to explain it, but we're like it was magical
and it was this and it was that,and so there's there's a lot of
pieces that go into that thataren't just what's put on the
table.
It's like who's behind thescenes and who's who spent 12
hours raising this rib.
Like who's doing that?
Right, somebody with a lot oflove and care did that.
(19:08):
And why was it delicious?
Because there was a lot of timespent on thinking about when
you were going to have yourfirst bite.
And that should transcend tococktails as well.
Like we're working on a cocktailmenu now, and you know we had
like a hurricane in the summerand we're like you know, we're
not we're.
Everybody needs to get back ontheir feet or we'll be fine.
(19:30):
The, the, we'll, we'll, we'lldelay the, the, the menu, and
what I've loved about that delayhas been that our staff kept
working on their drink and itjust kept like evolving.
And so I'm like, okay, you like, you like this, like you like
this part right, like this isthe part that we all like, where
(19:52):
we're like.
You know, I've had, I havesomeone on staff who started out
with their drink, was like thisinitially, and then it's had I
don't know, maybe 12, 15iterations and now it's this
really refined, beautiful drink,and she's come to that
conclusion by continuing tospend time and energy and love
(20:13):
on it and like, eventually wehave to launch this menu because
we'll run out of the season.
Right, but the process isbeautiful and so because of the
process, it's all kind of worthit.
The time and the energy and theAC breaking and the things, and
(20:42):
so all the little things.
It's like, eh, you know, butthe process of how we get drinks
to the table is really, reallyvaluable to me as the bar owner,
and I say this often and thisgoes for anybody in hospitality.
This isn't just for people inthe cocktail space or very
interesting culinary spaces,this is for anybody that's
managing a bar, managing anykind of service related, service
related business.
We are talent managers and howwe manage those talents is
(21:07):
really indicative of the finalproduct.
Wow, we can manage.
Um, like, everybody has,everybody in the room has a
talent.
So how do we figure out wherethat, how that works?
And some people are incredibleat spreadsheets, some people are
not.
Some people are incredible atflavoring and some people are
(21:27):
not, but they're reallyinterested.
And so there's still like this,very like, the appreciation for
everybody's talent is reallyimportant, and then managing
that talent is also just asimportant.
Right, some people love thetouches of going to talk to
tables and, like, I just want toknow everything about them, the
touches of going to talk totables and like I just want to
know everything about them andit's like that's beautiful.
(21:47):
So how do we work that into theprogram and how do we help
others see and have eyes wherethey don't have them?
And you do.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The more you're talking.
You just are so intentionalwith people, which I think is so
rare in this industry.
It's usually it could be I'mspeaking generally, but a little
bit cutthroat, it's tough.
Oh, I just lost my train ofthought, but I just got it back.
I was wondering if you've everbeen filmed.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Has anyone ever come in and filmed your interaction
with your staffs?
No one, I wish somebody would.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
It's so cool, but also as you're talking, I'm like
I want to see this play out.
Oh, so does.
Oh, my goodness, julia, you'reon the call?
No, I'm kidding, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Somebody is welcome to joke and many people are
welcome.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I mean we get like interviews and things like that.
But you're right, Like theintegral parts are super
interesting.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
And that's the very human part, that's the
relationship piece, that's theconnection, the belonging.
Like I feel, like you arecreating belonging through
bartending, through yourapproach to bartending.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I mean it can be cutthroat, but a lot of times
you're really cutting your ownthroat If you're not looking at
those things.
You know, like the biggestvalue for us is our staff and
how they can develop and feelgood and come to work and be
happy, and like that's such animmense value.
And again, like I think aboutthat too, it's like what is it
(23:15):
that's really cutting throatshere?
Like what is it that's reallymaking things hard here?
And you can't look at someoneand be like be creative and make
good drinks, because that'sweird, that's unnatural.
And so the natural thing is todevelop a system where that can
happen is to support people whenthey are being creative, is to
(23:36):
listen.
When you're like we had ameeting yesterday and we had
several of the team members belike okay, this and this is the
part that I love, because nowit's like okay, now you guys
have the eyes that I want you tohave on these drinks, um, and
that are going to make peoplehappier in the long run where
they're like I don't know if thegarnish on this is the right
and I was like okay, tell meabout it.
(23:57):
And I was like tell me, tell memore, tell me more and it was a
great meeting because I waslike this is amazing, they love
the drinks as much as I do.
They're looking at them andsaying you know, we can't serve
this right now this way, butlet's fix it.
How do we fix it?
What's the ingredient typechange?
Did we change something inproduction?
(24:17):
Did we change something withour purveyor?
Are we getting different guavas?
Are they out of season?
Are they a little bit more tart?
Are they a little bit more tart?
Are they a little bit moresweet?
And I was like, yes, this iswhat success feels like when
everybody's telling you thethings that have to get fixed,
because they have the same eyeson the program that you do.
I felt successful.
And then I also felt like I gotto jump on this.
(24:40):
I got to fix these thingsbecause my team is actually
motivated to tell me thesethings.
And we got to sort and I didthat yesterday and I was like
you know what?
You got it.
I want you guys to always feellike you can tell me these
things and I love that you'redoing this and you're right, let
me get on these things and getthem fixed.
And we found the source of theproblem, and I couldn't be
(25:00):
happier about that.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
I keep jotting down, just like different words or
thoughts that come to mind, andyou have so much humility as a
leader to be able to do that.
It's just really beautiful whatyou've created.
And I'm like okay, who do Iknow in the film industry?
Cause I think this model reallyneeds to be shown for two
reasons like to other people inthe industry, but also, I don't
(25:25):
know, just to culture and theeveryday host, because there is
this rigidness that has enteredthe hospitality industry and
it's making us scared of it andnot want it and burnt out.
But it doesn't have to be thatway.
And you know, I was hearing youtalk about the development of
drinks and I've done a littlebit with food styling and cakes
and charcuterie, and everyone'slike oh, you're just a natural.
(25:46):
I'm like no, no, no, like ittook.
There's a lot of years behindthat.
There's a lot of cakes thatwent straight in the trash.
There's a lot of like, reallyhideous cakes that I've never
taken pictures of.
You know, and it is, it is aprocess, and the process is so
much easier and so much morebeautiful when there's people
that allow space for it.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
And um, because we didn't think they were good
enough for you, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
But I love that.
I think, um, I mean you talkedabout how, maybe in the drink
space you weren't verycomfortable yet, but you can
start there.
You can start with, like, whatis it that?
What are the things, what arethe flavors that I love, what
are the flavors that make mefeel good?
Right, and it doesn't have like, honestly, it doesn't have to
(26:34):
be elaborate Like you can say Ilove cherries, right, I love
cherries, I love that there'sdifferent cherries, I love that
they have acidity and sweetnessand I like the color and I like,
I like the way they smell.
And so there you go, you startnow.
Now you're developing what is itthat you love about this flavor
(26:54):
and how do you want to presentthat to others and how do you
want to explore that and say,well, what?
And then you know from thereyou have the beginnings of
already thinking about how toput things in, look and form the
difference between food and oneof the.
There's many differences, butone of the biggest differences
between food and cocktails isthat food starts out hot and it
(27:16):
gets cold, and cocktails startout cold and they get hot.
Hot and it gets cold, andcocktails start out cold and
they get hot, and so you justhave to think about the process
of making things cold anddiluted.
And how do we keep those things?
Because alcohol should bediluted.
Alcohol at 40% alcohol byvolume is very strong, right?
So how does?
Because if you put a spirit anda flavor together but the
(27:39):
spirit is so overpowering thatyou can't actually taste it,
then we failed at the deliveryof that flavor because we didn't
think about dilution, we didn'tthink about ice type, we didn't
think about all these things.
But you can start with a flavorand we can get you to a drink
and then, once we get to thethrough the mechanics of the
drink, then we're like whatabout the beauty of this drink?
(28:01):
Where's your garnish?
How does this drink?
What is the visual aspect ofthis cocktail telling you?
When I see this drink that'sred and has a cherry on it, what
is it telling you?
It's red and has a cherry on it?
Like what is it telling you?
It's telling you that it'sgoing to be delicious and it's
(28:28):
going to be sultry and it'sgoing to taste like, you know,
cherries.
And what, if you deliver a drinkthat you're like it looks like
a cherry style drink.
It looks like it's going to be,you know, a little tart, maybe
a little sweet, and then youtaste it and it's super bitter
and you're like what happened,right?
And so it's in the delivery andthe expectations and the way
that the visual drink is likevisually going to tell someone,
(28:49):
like, if I make a beautifuldrink, everybody should be
staring at it through the room,everybody.
And when they get it, did theyget all the things that they
thought they were going to get?
And are you proud of thecocktail that you made?
Does it have all the elementsthat you like?
And so we can get you to drink?
If you just start with thethings that you're going to,
that's going to make you work ona drink for two months, right?
(29:11):
You're like I really loveTerry's and I'm going to figure
it out because I love Terry somuch.
And you're going to see 20iterations of because you have
to know if you know the why, wecan figure out the how.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
And so I would love for you just for a second.
I mean, when I say I'm at thebasics, I'm like, okay, this is
like super embarrassing, I can'tbelieve I'm even saying this.
I've never even had a cocktail,that's okay, and you know why.
Okay, so I, um, I'll get deepfor a second and then pull away.
(29:46):
So my my dad was an alcoholic.
It was always hard liquor andso when I came around 21, I was
scared of hard alcohol.
The one thing he never drankwas wine.
And so when I started drinking,I drank wine and I was like,
okay, I know what I like, I knowmy limit, this is kind of like
my safe space.
And then I was like, okay, Iknow, I don't have a problem, I
(30:07):
definitely can explore.
And I just had.
So talk about fear and nothaving anyone to walk me through
it.
I never even knew what to order.
So I would look at a menu andI'm like I don't want to spend
that money.
I don't even know what I like,you know.
And so I've just been.
I mean, believe me, I love myred wine, but I've just kind of
like stayed there.
So, um, I'm sure there areothers listening maybe not many,
(30:32):
but that are in the same campas me, talk to us about like the
very, very basics, like I guessyou could take it at home or at
a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Well, let's do.
Where do you want to start,like, how to order a cocktail if
you're a beginner, yeah, andI'll say too um, like, the
cocktail doesn't have to bealcoholic Interesting, yeah.
Non-alcoholic cocktails to meare more interesting because you
(31:01):
have to in order to deliver anactual cocktail without alcohol.
You have, you have production,you have things that you have to
do for there to be density, forthere to be flavor that isn't,
doesn't just taste like alemonade and so like there's a
lot of elements of thought thatgo into a non-alcoholic cocktail
(31:23):
.
And then you can also exploreflavors through the lens of of
non-alcoholic drinks.
But when you think aboutordering, we tend to start with
the way that we style the menuis that we'll list the cocktails
at the top that are lighter.
Let's say we'll list them bytype.
So we'll list them by spirittype vodka, gin, rum, tequila.
The cocktails at the top areusually the lighter cocktails.
(31:47):
Maybe they have soda, maybethey have a more sour profile.
And then the cocktails towardsthe bottom tend to be more boozy
, heavier, have more boldflavors.
That can help really deciphersomeone in decision and say well
, I feel like today a littlerainy, I don't know, I've maybe
feel like something a littleboozy, to kind of, you know,
(32:09):
feel a little like I need to bevery introspective.
How you feel has a lot to dowith the cocktail that you're
going to choose, and that's thebeauty about cocktails as well,
that you're like I don't know.
Today I feel like it's superhot outside, like I want
something tart, like give me afresh squeeze, margarita, and
(32:30):
I'm going to call it a day.
I'm going to get some energyfrom that tequila.
I'm going to go and do a bunchof fun things, which is why you
know champagne drinkers andtheir celebratory it's bubbly,
which is why you know champagnedrinkers and their celebratory
it's bubbly.
Like there's always a feelingbehind why you've gravitated
towards that cocktail.
And I think, knowing that first, where you're like how do you?
And we'll ask people like, well, how do you feel?
Like what is?
What is going on?
(32:51):
Are you guys celebrating?
Are you guys?
You know what has brought ustogether, you know, and then
it's about flavor.
Together, you know, and thenit's about flavor because you
can be, you know.
That's where I think flavor canbe polarizing, because some
people can say I absolutely lovethis drink because it has
(33:11):
passion fruit and I likechampagne and vanilla, and these
three things together cametogether in this drink and I
absolutely love this combinationof drinks.
But passion fruit was the thingthat drove me here.
And then you look at let's saylike if you wanted something
bitter, right, you're like, Idon't know, I had a big heavy
meal.
Maybe I want something with anAmaro and I need something to
(33:31):
settle my stomach, because youknow we want to, or I want to go
to, I want to go to bed in anhour, so I need to have an
old-fashioned.
And that's where it starts.
It starts with you, you know,and it should start with you,
because cocktails are made foryou.
Otherwise, we'd just serve youhighballs, we'd serve you vodka,
(33:51):
sodas, gin and tonics.
You know, we'd just serve yourefreshing, diluted base spirit
cocktails, which can beincredible as well.
Um, like, my drink of choice, uh, for a very long time, was
tequila soda.
It's like I love tequila sodabecause tequila, to me, was so
interesting.
I picked different tequilas andtequila and I and I wanted it
(34:16):
to be refreshing and I was likeand I love, I love, I love Topo,
chico and I love sodas and I,um, and and I would make all the
cocktails that you wanted.
But if you had to, if you askedme what was my drink, I was
like I really want a tequilasoda, because it's going to be a
different tequila soda Everytime.
The tequila is so differentevery time.
(34:44):
Nonetheless, um, like, I lovechampagne, like I love, like I
like, if you, if you open abottle of champagne in the room,
I can smell it from a mile away.
Like I'm like, oh, like, blancde blancs, like it's, like
that's, you know, and that's the, that's the thing that you
gravitate towards.
So flavor is probably the mostlike.
How do you feel will put you ina place where you can choose
(35:04):
the drink of style or the typeof spirit, but flavor will
really be what drives you tothat, to that drink.
Right, yeah, cause, and you'remaking these decisions so fast,
like, you're making them so fast.
You're reading a menu.
You're like I don't like that.
Okay, I love this, that soundsinteresting.
And then something catches youreye and you're like but what
(35:25):
about this?
Right, and it took you 10seconds to read that.
And you make those decisions sofast.
But the intimidating factors,what's holding you back?
So don't be intimidated.
Know that cocktails aresupposed to be special.
They're supposed to be for you.
Sometimes I go out and I'm likeyou know I'm going to try
something different, because Ieat the same thing every day at
(35:47):
my favorite restaurant and if Iorder something different
they'll be like, are you?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
okay, I don't know, I was just going to try something
different, right?
And if you?
Speaker 3 (35:59):
feel exploratory, if you feel like you're going to,
you're like no, you know what?
Today I got to try somethingelse, because a margarita is not
going to cut it, and which iswhy margarita always cuts it.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
So so for people that are like I want to explore, I
want to explore the creativityof this, like I think there's a
lot of people that listen thatprobably are like okay, I've
dabbled with cooking, I'vedabbled with baking.
You know, I've taken yourcharcuterie classes.
I want to keep, like, expanding.
Is your book a good place tostart for, kind of like an A to
(36:33):
Z cocktail making?
Speaker 3 (36:36):
Yeah, the book is a really good way to start for
exploring what your senses arefor the cocktail right, where we
show you from beginning to endthis is how we thought of this
drink.
And then, all of a sudden,you're like what do I think
about drinking and what do Ithink about drinks?
And what flavors do I like?
And what if I made that cherrybounce with peaches?
(36:57):
Or I made it with a differentfruit?
And what would happen if Iswitched these two things around
?
And it could be really bad, itcould be really good.
And then there's a learningprocess, just like when you were
, I was baking cakes and Ididn't like them, and so they
started again.
And I started again and, um,and it's really like it should
(37:20):
be fun, it should be, itshouldn't feel tasking.
And if it does feel tasking,stick to what you know and stick
to what you love, right, likeyou're.
Ultimately, if you're goinginto a restaurant or you're
going to a bar, like it's yourdollar and you know you want to
spend it where you're going, toget satisfaction.
And um, the exploratory phase,whether you're doing it at home
(37:46):
by yourself or you're doing itat at a place, like it's about
the trust that you have in thosepeople making your drinks and
also in the trust that you havein knowing yourself.
Like it might be um, that mightbe a little bit harder for
people to see to say you know,maybe I do love or maybe I don't
like apricot or like maybe.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Like you know, I don't think.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
I do and um, but most of the time people are very
certain of the things that theylove or don't like.
It's always the gray area wherereally interesting cocktails
come about, because, um, Ididn't know that I like quince
until we paired it up withcinnamon and then we made it
into, we used a pear brandy andI was like this is really good.
(38:24):
And a lot of times there willbe drinks on the menu that are
supposed to be eye catching anddifferent, and we know how
people are going to feel aboutthem, because we're like they're
going to wonder why we put bluecheese in this and they're
going to be like why?
Right, but we know it's not foreveryone.
(38:44):
So we know how to talk to youabout that drink.
We're like look, it tastes likethis, it's going to be like
this, and if you're not certain,let's stick in the areas that
you know.
And then one day that personmight come in and she's like
give me that blue cheese drink,Cause today's the day that I
feel like I got to try somethingdifferent.
And it's the trust andrelationship over the course of
(39:07):
time that they have in us.
And then somebody might justcome in and be like this drink
is speaking to me because it'sso weird and I love it and we're
like, okay, like that's ouraudience, for, you know, it's a
1% audience for this drink andwe accept that.
We have so many other drinksthat you're going to love.
We have other drinks that feelmore comfortable, but, um, but
(39:27):
it's about you.
Sorry, I went on a 10 minuterant.
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (39:31):
That's great.
My mind is always in 10,000directions and I don't know if
it's like the entrepreneur in me, the creative, but I'm like we
need to come and do a series onhow to approach cocktails.
I'm like let's do it.
I want to go.
I'm never in Houston, but thereI think there are a lot of
people that are intimidated ofcocktail menus.
(39:52):
And you break it down in such abeautiful way, like in a very
realistic way for the everydaydiner, for the everyday host.
That makes me feel so much morecomfortable approaching it.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Well, I mean, we really don't want you to be
intimidated, we want you to feelcomfortable in the space.
But I don't think drinks are,or shouldn't feel, intimidating.
And if they do something aboutspace telling you that or
something about the words beingused on that menu, like we can
talk about menu development forhours and it's like where do you
(40:29):
place this cocktail so peoplecan see it?
Where do you place this otherdrink?
How do you price things?
How do you?
What does that look like?
If the space is inviting, themenu is inviting, the staff is
inviting, the cocktails areinviting, it's so many more
things than just about thecocktail.
The cocktail is the thing thatyou're like oh, I'm going to try
that.
Like, even after 10 years ofbeing in Houston, I get excited
(40:50):
when someone's like I haven'tbeen there and I was like oh, my
God, okay, when you come, letme know.
And like I want to know how youfeel about it, and I feel like
there's just something reallynice to say it's okay if you
haven't been here, we hope to behere for you for a long time
and when you're comfortable, youshould come.
Whether that's the cocktails,or that they live too far, or
(41:13):
whatever that is, someone shouldstill feel welcome, even if
they haven't been here in the 10years that we've been here.
I shouldn't feel like, oh, youhaven't been here in the 10
years that we've been here.
You know they shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
I shouldn't feel like , oh, you haven't been here all
too bad.
Like like that's not nice,that's not, that's also like not
a that's not challenging for usas well.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Right, like we keep constantly reinventing ourselves
and challenging ourselves, likethat's a great for for for
continuing that to say there'sstill people who haven't come to
see us in town.
Of course, it's an enormousplace.
Houston's enormous.
There's so many people here andwe hope that when they do come,
(41:53):
that they love it, that theyenjoyed their time here and they
felt that it was worth comingin from an hour away or wherever
they're coming from, you know.
So that's also super cool.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Well, you are onto something beautiful, my friend,
and I think a lot of people areprobably checking flights,
putting you into their Googlemaps, trying to make their way
there, cause I think yourapproach is one that um is
inviting and refreshing.
In the industry, I think moresuccess is to come.
Well, let's do this.
So we end each of ourconversations with the same
three questions, and I wouldlove to hear your answers as
(42:27):
well.
The first one is something youhave eaten recently and loved.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
Mexican cuisine has a lot of corn, right.
So we put corn in the tortillas, we'll put corn in a guisado
and we'll even eat corn in a cupwith spices and a little chile
mayonesa.
So, like there's, we'reconsuming corn all the time.
I had something called cornribs from a Persian inspired
(43:00):
restaurant and basically whatthey did is they took the corn
and they shaved it, so it madelike these curls.
So when you're grabbing it,you're not grabbing the cob,
you're grabbing the, the whatthey call the ribs, which is so
smart, right.
I was like, oh, the corn hasribs, I love it.
(43:22):
Um, so first you got me on cornribs, so you got me on the name
, and then I was like all right,I got to try this corn rib and
it's an appetizer, so the restof the meal was phenomenal, by
the way, but this was the thingon their Instagram that I was
like that looks so cool, like itlooks so cool and I love corn.
(43:42):
So I got to go, I got to go, Igot to go see him.
And is that in?
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Houston.
It is in Houston, yeah.
So we come to Jewel Up and geta drink and then we go get corn
ribs.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Rumi's is the place they also have one in Georgia, I
believe, but the one here.
It was like I've heard about itfrom different friends and I
was like, okay, well, we got togo.
So the spices on the corn ribswere new to me.
They were new to me, so it wasthis.
(44:15):
It was this ingredient that isthat is so familiar that it's
part of my blood, right, likeI'm so familiar with this
ingredient.
But the way they seasoned itand they like they like fried it
and seasoned it, um, and Icould just eat that every day.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
So good.
I'm a big corn eater too.
That sounds phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
The seasoning was like vegetal and herbal and deep
, and I was like I've never hadthese flavors on, like I've had
spices, I've had citrus, youknow a little, a little fat from
the mayonnaise, but I've neverhad these flavors on corn.
So not only were they newflavors to something familiar
(45:02):
that I loved, but I was like andit looks beautiful, I love the
way that you guys presented it.
I was like I could eat thisevery day for the rest of my
life.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
So good.
Well, how about a gathering youattended that made you feel a
strong sense of belonging?
And, if you could pinpoint it,what it was that made you feel
that way?
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Okay, that one's super easy, cause I just came
from an event.
Um, there's an event thathappened in Aspen.
Let's see how long has it beennow?
Two, maybe two weeks.
It was the early part of um ofthe month, so it was the middle
of August, I think in Aspen.
(45:45):
And what Reisado is a um?
It brings together manydifferent Latinos from different
parts of lives and of life indifferent parts of the world, of
lives and of life in differentparts of the world, and we put
(46:05):
together a festival of differentpanels and film and music and
food and it's just absolutelybeautiful.
And one of the things aboutbeing in the culinary space is
that we often go to food andwine events and we do these.
I do these events all of thetime.
That would have been my firstfestival where the intent and
(46:28):
focus was around Latino issuesand around entrepreneurial
issues and things to haveconversations with others who
also have this bilingual lensand to meet other people who are
doing similar things.
And I got to meet someone who'snow like I feel like she's my
best friend.
She owns a cocktail bar in SanMiguel called Bekeb, and Bekeb
(46:53):
does an artisanal Mexican focuson their ingredients and I'm
like that's how I make drinksright, so I bring that to the
table and she makes that as apart of her program in San
Miguel and we discussedcocktails and drinks and people
(47:13):
and fun, and it was amazing.
Now we're going to figure outhow to get together again, and
so I made these amazing friendsover the course of um of two
days and like real deepconnections, um, real true
connections, and I reallyenjoyed meeting everyone there
and being in a space where wewere like, oh, how do you
(47:36):
incorporate that into food?
What are the things that youare, what are the things that
you're doing right now that youcurrently love?
What are the things that youwant to work on?
And it just helps you dreambigger.
You know like that's.
There's something beautifulabout feeling like when you're
in a space of love, anything'spossible love, anything's
(48:01):
possible Right.
And so you're, you dream bigger, you think bigger, you act
bigger.
You, you have um your heart'sin the right place and so, um,
that was really moving for meand and it really helped
pinpoint a lot of the, a lot ofthe goals that I have in the
next few years, and I was like,oh, I have a mentor now that I
found who has an incrediblebackground in business
(48:22):
administration and he worked forthe small business
administration and he wrote abook.
We're throwing his book launchin the bar, and so there's just
a lot of things that happenedduring that weekend that were
magical and incredibly heartfelt.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
So grateful you had that.
Speaker 2 (48:47):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
That's really beautiful and that's what's
available to us in community.
That experience, goodness, okay.
Well, last but certainly notleast, totally different tone in
a question, but somethingyou've discovered lately that
you think everyone should knowabout.
It could be a Netflix show, anAmazon purchase, anything.
These are always fun.
Speaker 3 (49:10):
Oh, wow, let me think I feel like I'm always
discovering food places.
I'm like, I feel like I'malways like, I'm always like
discovering food places.
Yeah, like that's always mylike.
I'm always like how do we youknow what are?
What is it that we're doing?
Are we going to go eat there?
So I feel like my discovery isalways in in something not food
related.
Um, I feel like there's okay.
(49:37):
So I haven't actually done thisyet yet, but I have become
intrigued by it and I have agroup of friends who have a um,
a consulting company, andthey're incredible, and they
were making these ediblegarnishes and and we started
(49:57):
looking down the path of likethey would print something on a
garnish or they would print, youknow, a logo on it.
And I was like that's reallycool, like usually the way that
I garnish things that come fromum, from what's in the drink.
We we garnish with what's inthe drink, and it opened up to a
much larger conversation aboutcocktails.
But there's this and I boughtthis pen on.
(50:21):
They call it a pen, but it'sactually like a hand printer and
it's a hand printer that printsedible ink over a drink or over
a cake or anything.
You could print a littlepicture or a logo or something
just like whatever you want itto say.
(50:41):
And I haven't gotten it yetbecause I ordered it two days
ago, so I think it's arrivingtoday, but I feel like there's a
power in words, there's a lotof power in words and then
messaging, and I feel like Ilove the idea of being able to
write something over a drink forsomeone, or writing over you
(51:05):
know, whether we make a cake orsomething like that or over the
foam of a cappuccino, and I'mlike that could be a really nice
way of making small like.
You know, if I make a small,like when my mom comes to the
bar, like if I make hersomething, like personalizing
this little thing for her ordoing something that's going to
(51:27):
make her smile or make her laugh, or like make her feel really
special, like there's somethingthere, and I was like it's a
tool that can really, for thepeople that I know and love, I
can use, because I always createso many little things for them,
right, like that's what I makefor Christmas, that's what I
make for, like I'll make, I'llmake coquito eggnog.
(51:50):
I make Christmas drinks forfriends and family and I was
like, well, there's this littlething that I could add to
personalize a touch.
And I was like, well, there'sthis little thing that I could
add to personalize a touch, andit doesn't sound like much, but
for someone who makes cocktailsall the time, it's not really
something I've ever utilized andI think that there's something
(52:12):
really sweet about it and reallyawesome.
We'll see how.
And again, it's like the thoughtcame from seeing my friends
make their edible logos and Iwas like, oh, I guess that's
something you could do on drinks.
I'd never thought about doingthat, cause when we garnish, we
garnish in a very classic styleand really what it leads to is
this conversation about themodernization of cocktails.
Right, and so really that'slike the beginning and opening
(52:32):
the door of, like, what is themodernization of cocktails?
Look like they're notnecessarily all stemmed in
classics, even though they couldbe, and the way those drinks
look is also very different andvery elaborate.
And I really like thatconversation and I really like
that space.
It's like we're making littlepearls in the bar, we're doing
(52:53):
spherification, and so there's avery interesting step in that
direction that I feel like I'mgoing to really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (53:03):
I am so excited.
I hope you post about it so wecan all follow.
That'd be a really fun reel, ohmy goodness.
Well, this conversation wassuch a fun one, so different
from other ones that we've done,and, I'm sure, leaving a lot of
us ready for a drink, ready fora trip, ready to go get your
book.
Well, we will attach everythingin the show notes links to the
(53:25):
restaurants, links to socials,all of those things.
But thank you so much for yourtime.
Speaker 3 (53:30):
Thank, you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (53:32):
Well, guys, you know the drill we will see you next
week.
Hey everyone, welcome back to Making Room.
I'm so glad to be here with youagain this week.
We are gearing up for theholiday season and that feels so
wild to say.
My heart and my mind are alwaysstill in summertime, but I want
to dive in with with our newfriend, alba today.
As much as I love hospitality,as much as I host, goodness
(00:28):
gracious I have next to noknowledge about bartending or
anything in that world.
So I'm excited to learn rightalongside you, to start off as
you go into this holiday season.
Goodness, if you have kids, ifyou have a family, the holiday
can feel so busy, so quick, andas much as you want to embrace
it and be present, we alwaysstill have to eat right and we
(00:50):
always want to feel good aboutwhat we eat.
We want the flavors to still bethere and feast and fettle
Wants to come alongside you andmake that possible.
They want to give you mealsdelivered straight to your door,
ready to eat, no prep required,just like you had a private
chef straight to your door,ready to eat, no prep required,
just like you had a private chef.
So if you live in the Northeastand you are looking to get
(01:11):
dinners, lunches, snacks, evenlunches, to pack for your kids.
You can have all of thisdelivered straight to your door
with code gather atfeastandfedalcom.
Again, I don't recommendanything that we don't fully
stand behind.
All the flavors are there, theconvenience is there.
You don't need to look anyfurther.
Be sure to give them a try.
The link is in the show notes.
Well, let's talk about ourfriend Alba, if you don't follow
(01:32):
her already, alba is adistinguished bartender,
acclaimed author, charismatichost and bilingual cocktail
educator.
Hailing from Mexico and raisedin Texas, alba embraces her
proud Mexican-American heritageas a seasoned entrepreneur with
a remarkable global focus At hercelebrated Houston
establishment, julep, alba hasset a standard for excellence,
(01:55):
earning the prestigious JamesBeard Award, which you guys know
we love, for Outstanding BarProgram in 2022.
Julep has also secured a spoton the 50 Best Bars North
America list, ranking 46th thatsame year, which is an
incredible accomplishment.
Throughout its decade-longtenure, julep has consistently
(02:16):
been named one of the top 5 barsin the US by Bon Appetit and
earned recognition as one of thebest bars in America by Esquire
.
All Goodness celebrating all ofthose things with you guys.
Well, alba's talent anddedication has garnered
widespread acclaim.
Thrillist recognized her as oneof the best bartenders in
America.
(02:36):
We're going to talk about thatpoint specifically in this
episode.
Also named Bartender of theYear, the Houston Chronicle
included her among their 50 mostfascinating people.
And Cherry Bomb.
We all know that one honoredher in their prestigious Cherry
Bomb 100 list.
In addition to her influentialbar career, alba is an
(02:57):
award-winning author of thecocktail book Julep, which I
need to get my hands on I can'tbelieve I don't have one for
this episode today, but I'mgoing to get one which received
an International Association ofCulinary Professionals Award in
2019 for its exceptionalcontribution to the wine, beer
and spirits category.
Beyond her professionalachievements, abba treasures her
(03:18):
family, her parents, siblings,nieces and nephews, her beloved
pets, max the dog and Missy thekitten, so sweet.
In every endeavor, shecontinues to leave a mark,
blending creativity, expertiseand a deep-rooted passion for
mixology and hospitality Allthings that I am so excited to
dive into today.
Well, let's not wait any longerand get into the conversation.
(03:40):
Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitalityeducator and the host of Making
Room by Gather podcast.
I am set to see our communitiesget back to the table through
hospitality, but it wasn'talways this way.
My husband and I moved toThailand, and through it I
experienced some loneliness, andwith it I was given a choice to
(04:04):
sit back and accept it or to dosomething about it, and for me,
that meant two things that Ineeded the healing to learn how
to accept an invitation and theconfidence to know how to extend
one.
Through this process, Ideveloped some of the richest
and deepest relationships of mylife.
Through Making Room by Gather,you will hear conversations from
(04:24):
myself and experts in the areasof food, design and
relationships.
You see there are countlessthings trying to keep us from
the table, but can I tell yousomething?
Take a seat, because you areready, you are capable, you are
a good host.
I feel like once the fall hits,the holidays are basically here
(04:50):
, and I feel like there's somany ways to prepare and to get
our minds wrapped around theholiday season, and talk about
mixed drinks and bartending is agreat way to do that.
I think it's an area that a lotof us can grow in, and so I'm
looking forward to thisconversation.
I shared earlier in the introthat I have an embarrassing
amount of knowledge aboutbartending, and so I'm going to
(05:13):
look to you a lot in thisepisode to fill us in, but I
want to learn more about yourjourney to here.
I feel like you have a veryniche career and niche
background.
You've gone a long way in theindustry, so tell us what you
want us to know about.
What led you here.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Hi.
Well, thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here.
I feel like.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I feel so welcomed and like that beautiful
introduction.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I was like, oh wait, that's me, I like you know it's
a career that's been since 1998.
I can't do the math, becauseit's my life and it's been
amazing.
I feel like I really I love tohear like someone like you talk
(05:58):
about it because it is niche,but to me it's my entire life
and my entire being, and so Iguess I don't think of it as a
very unique and interestingplace because I'm just like, as
much as I am, a cocktail creator.
(06:18):
I'm also a bar owner, and so I'ma small business owner, and
that's a life of you know that'sa life of excitement just as
well.
And figuring out how to, how tobootstrap and how to how to get
up and going on some days, andbut there's this beautiful
creativity that feeds my workand you know there's this.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I heard on a podcast that sometimes you have to do
the things that you don't liketo do to accomplish the dream
that you have.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And that's very real for people who are in the
creative space, you know,because like, okay, I'm going to
do all of these things becauseI have to get done, but the
creativity really like, fuelsthe energy and it feels like
your, your lens on on the world,you know.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
So, between those two spaces of interesting time, I'm
curious, when did you start?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
when did your interest spark?
I guess for bartending and kindof like creating in the alcohol
space, I guess right.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, I feel very fortunate.
I feel like when I tell mystory I knew I always knew my
belief, my belief in my, in myfaith in my career.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
But I was bartending before cocktails had come back
from the dead.
I worked in bars where it wasreally about hospitality focus,
and I loved the human connectionbefore I loved anything else.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
So I tend to say like before, I was making cocktails,
I was making friends.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
And it was my very first job that I ever had while
I was at the University ofHouston and I was like this is
me kidding, I think I'm gettingaway with something I don't know
.
Like I think that you know, Ifelt and I still feel that way,
which is amazing where I'm likeis this really my job?
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Like okay, I'm not going to jinx it, like it's cool
, I'm going to go with it, butthere's that feeling of like wow
, I can't believe all theseamazing places, amazing people
are part of my world.
And then you get the call thatthe AC is broken.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
And then you're like, okay, got to go fix the AC.
I'm going to think about thisin a minute and this is great.
Thank you, world.
I'm very appreciative.
Let me go see what I'm going todo about this.
Let's go find out what theissue is.
It could be something as smallas a tiny battery that needs to
get replaced, or the whole thingcould have gone down.
You never know.
So there's a lot of gratitudeand there's also a lot of
(08:50):
self-acknowledgement in theprocess, but the very beginnings
of it for me was so fun butalso so fulfilling and so
nourishing that I came from youknow my background before I had
my first bartending job.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I talk to listeners a lot about how my Italian
background influences my tableculture, and your background is
Mexican, american, right?
Yes, yeah, and we haven't hadmany conversations surrounding
that cultural background, thattable culture on the show, and
so I'm excited to hear more fromyou.
How would you describe how yourMexican heritage shapes your
(09:25):
career and, I guess, yourexperience with the table?
Speaker 3 (09:29):
I mean there's so many intricacies to that.
I think one of the.
The thing that comes to mindfirst is that I'm bilingual and
when you're bilingual, your lens, you have a double lens on
things.
Like you see things in two ways, right.
So it's added a lot ofinteresting names to my
(09:56):
cocktails.
It's also kind of made me do adeep dive into certain things
that I normally wouldn't look atif I hadn't known this one
thing about drinking culture, orthis one thing about how we
refer to, because everybody hasa drinking culture, you know,
(10:16):
and if you look at, and it'swhether it's when you drink, how
you drink, who you drink with,um, and the festivities
revolving around that, andcommunity, and so drinking
culture, I, I'm, I kind of havetwo, and so because of that,
(10:38):
it's really expanded my, uh, myperspective on cocktails and
even the dining, or how to dine,when to dine, and that's, I
think, the, the, the biggest, um, like the biggest quality of, I
guess I would say of culturebeing culture forward, because I
(10:59):
, you know, I am bilingual, likeI live in a, in a city where
we're multicultural, like we'realways looking at other cultures
and appreciating them to see,really, like, what kind of food
do you have, like, what are youguys eating and what are you
guys drinking?
And what I love about that andmaybe this is something that I
(11:21):
appreciate from my staff as wellis that I am very privileged to
have a multicultural staffbecause I live in a
multicultural city and becauseof that the drinks get really
interesting.
The drinks and the foodcultures get really interesting.
We love to when we do cocktail.
(11:42):
We do cocktails by committee,which means that we bring the
cocktails to the table and wesay, hey, what do you think
about this?
And then you know they'restemmed in classics.
So I'll say where did this ideaof the composition of your drink
come from?
The elements are cultural, fromthat person, like, whatever
your experience was growing up.
People put drinks on the menuthat are so beautiful because
they come from the place thatthey really love, and if you put
(12:06):
love on the table, other peopleknow that.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So let me clarify.
So I come to Julep, which iswhere I would go right, that's
the name of your restaurant orbar and you would come over to
me and ask me about mybackground and then craft a
drink.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Oh no, the staff themselves.
So we do a cocktail bycommittees.
The staff makes a cocktail thatis representative of themselves
.
Wow, and they're you know,they're, they're upbringing.
So I've seen cocktails from alltypes of different people and
personalities and cultures andthat makes our cocktail program
(12:43):
really well rounded.
And that makes our cocktailprogram really well-rounded and
it makes us think about like Ididn't know that was the case
for you know, like I didn't knowthat was a popular drink in
Guatemala.
Like I didn't know that was apopular drink and you know,
wherever you're coming from.
Like we welcome all of thoseperspectives and so I do that in
(13:04):
the program because I've donethat my whole life as a cocktail
personality and I think aboutdrinks in that way.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
There's a few thoughts that were coming to
mind as you're saying that as aboss.
I'm sure that makes your stafffeel such a greater sense of
belonging, having thatpermission to kind of like, be
creative and have a piece ofthemselves, like their
background, as a part of thebigger picture, right?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Those are also like the perks of the job, right,
like the fun parts, like thoseare like you should be proud of
the things that we serve, likeyou should be excited about them
.
And I even know that if it wasjust my perspective on the menu,
if it was just my dreams, likeI find that kind of boring.
(13:50):
I'm like, well, what are youguys doing, how are you guys
developing and how can I be apart of that journey?
But also, how can we learn fromyou and how can we bring this
to the table for others?
Wow, and so there's a greatsystem of of respect and love
(14:12):
and appreciation.
But also like, how do we sharethis, whether the people through
a delicious cocktail, and andalso like this should be the fun
part of the job, right.
So, in the creative, likecreativity isn't something that
you can turn on and off.
Creativity is a muscle that youexercise.
(14:32):
Yeah, if we exercise thatmuscle, then we and you know our
staff can vary from, frompeople who have been in the
industry for a long time andthose who haven't, and so, all
of the all the perspectives arewelcome, right, cause, we can.
We can work you through a drink, like we can make a balanced
drink, but the elements of, of,of that personality of that
(14:56):
drink really can come from you.
And how do we get, how do weget you to a place where you
feel comfortable about thosethings and like wow, and so it
doesn't feel contrived, it'svery much like so, because
that's how really cocktails atthe base of them.
It's like I saw this drink andthen I thought it could have
this or I could have that, and Ithought about this flavor,
(15:17):
because I ate at a restaurantand I combined these three
ingredients because I love theway that they tasted in this
(15:40):
place, and so and so, and sowe're this constant sponge of
absorbing information all day,because things and like how do
we get all those things andprocess them and say, okay, well
, this is what I think the nameof this drink should be, because
this song is really funny andthis is how it ties into the
drink.
And this is what happened to mewhen I was a kid and when I was
, you know, going through thisthing and like I really thought
this was cool when I went tothis place and I was with my
(16:01):
family and like place and I waswith my family and like the
journey is so important.
The journey is just asimportant as the final product
in the cocktail Wow.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Oh, my goodness, you are onto something there.
I mean all of a sudden, yourbackground and accolades and
everything it all makes sense,you know, because you're doing
something so unique.
I think that there is anelement of I don't know if fear
is the word or intimidation whenit comes to exploring different
table cultures.
Right, because there's so muchunknown, there's so much
different, and you're making itsafe, you know, you're making it
(16:33):
comfortable.
Yeah, that's beautiful, that'svery rare.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
And I think too, because I've worked every
position in the bar, you know,like I understand, um, I
understand my employees from aperspective that I've been in
those positions before um, that,like I know the job is on it's
a very micro level.
(16:59):
It's very, um, you know it'svery repetitive, very, you know
it's very repetitive, right, itcan be.
And what are the parts that aremaking it interesting and
creative for you?
And so providing a space where,if you want to be creative, you
can be.
If you want to join us to seewhat other people are doing and
(17:21):
like if you want to learnthrough them, that's also
welcome.
Like no one's forced to put adrink on the menu, like the
menus come out and but a lot oftimes the staff is very eager to
put drinks on the menu becausethey have learned of the ways
that other people make drinksand they're very much
representative of them and thethings that they want to give
(17:42):
other people, and so it's verynatural for them to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
You know what I'm almost hearing kind of like
behind what you're saying too.
That's almost like a generalhospitality model.
Like you know, we we becomecomfortable in our own
hospitality, in our own homes,doing things when people made us
comfortable in the teachingprocess, right Like if, if we
were raised by like a familythat got stressed and yelled and
all this stuff aroundhospitality, we're going to be
(18:08):
unsettled, maybe insecure,nervous.
But when someone really givesus the space to experiment, to,
to explore, to try to test allof those things, it makes us it
feels safer and that's that'sreally beautiful.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Well, I mean, I think this is, you know, also ties
into your podcast.
Like you do that as well, right?
Like you provide a place wherewe can all remember, a place
where we had an amazing dinner,we had an amazing cocktail.
It's never just about the drinkor the food, it's always about
so many things, and so weprocess things so fast.
(18:46):
We don't know how to explain it, but we're like it was magical
and it was this and it was that,and so there's there's a lot of
pieces that go into that thataren't just what's put on the
table.
It's like who's behind thescenes and who's who spent 12
hours raising this rib.
Like who's doing that?
Right, somebody with a lot oflove and care did that.
(19:08):
And why was it delicious?
Because there was a lot of timespent on thinking about when
you were going to have yourfirst bite.
And that should transcend tococktails as well.
Like we're working on a cocktailmenu now, and you know we had
like a hurricane in the summerand we're like you know, we're
not we're.
Everybody needs to get back ontheir feet or we'll be fine.
(19:30):
The, the, we'll, we'll, we'lldelay the, the, the menu, and
what I've loved about that delayhas been that our staff kept
working on their drink and itjust kept like evolving.
And so I'm like, okay, you like, you like this, like you like
this part right, like this isthe part that we all like, where
(19:52):
we're like.
You know, I've had, I havesomeone on staff who started out
with their drink, was like thisinitially, and then it's had I
don't know, maybe 12, 15iterations and now it's this
really refined, beautiful drink,and she's come to that
conclusion by continuing tospend time and energy and love
(20:13):
on it and like, eventually wehave to launch this menu because
we'll run out of the season.
Right, but the process isbeautiful and so because of the
process, it's all kind of worthit.
The time and the energy and theAC breaking and the things, and
(20:42):
so all the little things.
It's like, eh, you know, butthe process of how we get drinks
to the table is really, reallyvaluable to me as the bar owner,
and I say this often and thisgoes for anybody in hospitality.
This isn't just for people inthe cocktail space or very
interesting culinary spaces,this is for anybody that's
managing a bar, managing anykind of service related, service
related business.
We are talent managers and howwe manage those talents is
(21:07):
really indicative of the finalproduct.
Wow, we can manage.
Um, like, everybody has,everybody in the room has a
talent.
So how do we figure out wherethat, how that works?
And some people are incredibleat spreadsheets, some people are
not.
Some people are incredible atflavoring and some people are
(21:27):
not, but they're reallyinterested.
And so there's still like this,very like, the appreciation for
everybody's talent is reallyimportant, and then managing
that talent is also just asimportant.
Right, some people love thetouches of going to talk to
tables and, like, I just want toknow everything about them, the
touches of going to talk totables and like I just want to
know everything about them andit's like that's beautiful.
(21:47):
So how do we work that into theprogram and how do we help
others see and have eyes wherethey don't have them?
And you do.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
The more you're talking.
You just are so intentionalwith people, which I think is so
rare in this industry.
It's usually it could be I'mspeaking generally, but a little
bit cutthroat, it's tough.
Oh, I just lost my train ofthought, but I just got it back.
I was wondering if you've everbeen filmed.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Has anyone ever come in and filmed your interaction
with your staffs?
No one, I wish somebody would.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
It's so cool, but also as you're talking, I'm like
I want to see this play out.
Oh, so does.
Oh, my goodness, julia, you'reon the call?
No, I'm kidding, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Somebody is welcome to joke and many people are
welcome.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I mean we get like interviews and things like that.
But you're right, Like theintegral parts are super
interesting.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
And that's the very human part, that's the
relationship piece, that's theconnection, the belonging.
Like I feel, like you arecreating belonging through
bartending, through yourapproach to bartending.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I mean it can be cutthroat, but a lot of times
you're really cutting your ownthroat If you're not looking at
those things.
You know, like the biggestvalue for us is our staff and
how they can develop and feelgood and come to work and be
happy, and like that's such animmense value.
And again, like I think aboutthat too, it's like what is it
(23:15):
that's really cutting throatshere?
Like what is it that's reallymaking things hard here?
And you can't look at someoneand be like be creative and make
good drinks, because that'sweird, that's unnatural.
And so the natural thing is todevelop a system where that can
happen is to support people whenthey are being creative, is to
(23:36):
listen.
When you're like we had ameeting yesterday and we had
several of the team members belike okay, this and this is the
part that I love, because nowit's like okay, now you guys
have the eyes that I want you tohave on these drinks, um, and
that are going to make peoplehappier in the long run where
they're like I don't know if thegarnish on this is the right
and I was like okay, tell meabout it.
(23:57):
And I was like tell me, tell memore, tell me more and it was a
great meeting because I waslike this is amazing, they love
the drinks as much as I do.
They're looking at them andsaying you know, we can't serve
this right now this way, butlet's fix it.
How do we fix it?
What's the ingredient typechange?
Did we change something inproduction?
(24:17):
Did we change something withour purveyor?
Are we getting different guavas?
Are they out of season?
Are they a little bit more tart?
Are they a little bit more tart?
Are they a little bit moresweet?
And I was like, yes, this iswhat success feels like when
everybody's telling you thethings that have to get fixed,
because they have the same eyeson the program that you do.
I felt successful.
And then I also felt like I gotto jump on this.
(24:40):
I got to fix these thingsbecause my team is actually
motivated to tell me thesethings.
And we got to sort and I didthat yesterday and I was like
you know what?
You got it.
I want you guys to always feellike you can tell me these
things and I love that you'redoing this and you're right, let
me get on these things and getthem fixed.
And we found the source of theproblem, and I couldn't be
(25:00):
happier about that.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
I keep jotting down, just like different words or
thoughts that come to mind, andyou have so much humility as a
leader to be able to do that.
It's just really beautiful whatyou've created.
And I'm like okay, who do Iknow in the film industry?
Cause I think this model reallyneeds to be shown for two
reasons like to other people inthe industry, but also, I don't
(25:25):
know, just to culture and theeveryday host, because there is
this rigidness that has enteredthe hospitality industry and
it's making us scared of it andnot want it and burnt out.
But it doesn't have to be thatway.
And you know, I was hearing youtalk about the development of
drinks and I've done a littlebit with food styling and cakes
and charcuterie, and everyone'slike oh, you're just a natural.
(25:46):
I'm like no, no, no, like ittook.
There's a lot of years behindthat.
There's a lot of cakes thatwent straight in the trash.
There's a lot of like, reallyhideous cakes that I've never
taken pictures of.
You know, and it is, it is aprocess, and the process is so
much easier and so much morebeautiful when there's people
that allow space for it.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
And um, because we didn't think they were good
enough for you, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
But I love that.
I think, um, I mean you talkedabout how, maybe in the drink
space you weren't verycomfortable yet, but you can
start there.
You can start with, like, whatis it that?
What are the things, what arethe flavors that I love, what
are the flavors that make mefeel good?
Right, and it doesn't have like, honestly, it doesn't have to
(26:34):
be elaborate Like you can say Ilove cherries, right, I love
cherries, I love that there'sdifferent cherries, I love that
they have acidity and sweetnessand I like the color and I like,
I like the way they smell.
And so there you go, you startnow.
Now you're developing what is itthat you love about this flavor
(26:54):
and how do you want to presentthat to others and how do you
want to explore that and say,well, what?
And then you know from thereyou have the beginnings of
already thinking about how toput things in, look and form the
difference between food and oneof the.
There's many differences, butone of the biggest differences
between food and cocktails isthat food starts out hot and it
(27:16):
gets cold, and cocktails startout cold and they get hot.
Hot and it gets cold, andcocktails start out cold and
they get hot, and so you justhave to think about the process
of making things cold anddiluted.
And how do we keep those things?
Because alcohol should bediluted.
Alcohol at 40% alcohol byvolume is very strong, right?
So how does?
Because if you put a spirit anda flavor together but the
(27:39):
spirit is so overpowering thatyou can't actually taste it,
then we failed at the deliveryof that flavor because we didn't
think about dilution, we didn'tthink about ice type, we didn't
think about all these things.
But you can start with a flavorand we can get you to a drink
and then, once we get to thethrough the mechanics of the
drink, then we're like whatabout the beauty of this drink?
(28:01):
Where's your garnish?
How does this drink?
What is the visual aspect ofthis cocktail telling you?
When I see this drink that'sred and has a cherry on it, what
is it telling you?
It's red and has a cherry on it?
Like what is it telling you?
It's telling you that it'sgoing to be delicious and it's
(28:28):
going to be sultry and it'sgoing to taste like, you know,
cherries.
And what, if you deliver a drinkthat you're like it looks like
a cherry style drink.
It looks like it's going to be,you know, a little tart, maybe
a little sweet, and then youtaste it and it's super bitter
and you're like what happened,right?
And so it's in the delivery andthe expectations and the way
that the visual drink is likevisually going to tell someone,
(28:49):
like, if I make a beautifuldrink, everybody should be
staring at it through the room,everybody.
And when they get it, did theyget all the things that they
thought they were going to get?
And are you proud of thecocktail that you made?
Does it have all the elementsthat you like?
And so we can get you to drink?
If you just start with thethings that you're going to,
that's going to make you work ona drink for two months, right?
(29:11):
You're like I really loveTerry's and I'm going to figure
it out because I love Terry somuch.
And you're going to see 20iterations of because you have
to know if you know the why, wecan figure out the how.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
And so I would love for you just for a second.
I mean, when I say I'm at thebasics, I'm like, okay, this is
like super embarrassing, I can'tbelieve I'm even saying this.
I've never even had a cocktail,that's okay, and you know why.
Okay, so I, um, I'll get deepfor a second and then pull away.
(29:46):
So my my dad was an alcoholic.
It was always hard liquor andso when I came around 21, I was
scared of hard alcohol.
The one thing he never drankwas wine.
And so when I started drinking,I drank wine and I was like,
okay, I know what I like, I knowmy limit, this is kind of like
my safe space.
And then I was like, okay, Iknow, I don't have a problem, I
(30:07):
definitely can explore.
And I just had.
So talk about fear and nothaving anyone to walk me through
it.
I never even knew what to order.
So I would look at a menu andI'm like I don't want to spend
that money.
I don't even know what I like,you know.
And so I've just been.
I mean, believe me, I love myred wine, but I've just kind of
like stayed there.
So, um, I'm sure there areothers listening maybe not many,
(30:32):
but that are in the same campas me, talk to us about like the
very, very basics, like I guessyou could take it at home or at
a restaurant.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Well, let's do.
Where do you want to start,like, how to order a cocktail if
you're a beginner, yeah, andI'll say too um, like, the
cocktail doesn't have to bealcoholic Interesting, yeah.
Non-alcoholic cocktails to meare more interesting because you
(31:01):
have to in order to deliver anactual cocktail without alcohol.
You have, you have production,you have things that you have to
do for there to be density, forthere to be flavor that isn't,
doesn't just taste like alemonade and so like there's a
lot of elements of thought thatgo into a non-alcoholic cocktail
(31:23):
.
And then you can also exploreflavors through the lens of of
non-alcoholic drinks.
But when you think aboutordering, we tend to start with
the way that we style the menuis that we'll list the cocktails
at the top that are lighter.
Let's say we'll list them bytype.
So we'll list them by spirittype vodka, gin, rum, tequila.
The cocktails at the top areusually the lighter cocktails.
(31:47):
Maybe they have soda, maybethey have a more sour profile.
And then the cocktails towardsthe bottom tend to be more boozy
, heavier, have more boldflavors.
That can help really deciphersomeone in decision and say well
, I feel like today a littlerainy, I don't know, I've maybe
feel like something a littleboozy, to kind of, you know,
(32:09):
feel a little like I need to bevery introspective.
How you feel has a lot to dowith the cocktail that you're
going to choose, and that's thebeauty about cocktails as well,
that you're like I don't know.
Today I feel like it's superhot outside, like I want
something tart, like give me afresh squeeze, margarita, and
(32:30):
I'm going to call it a day.
I'm going to get some energyfrom that tequila.
I'm going to go and do a bunchof fun things, which is why you
know champagne drinkers andtheir celebratory it's bubbly,
which is why you know champagnedrinkers and their celebratory
it's bubbly.
Like there's always a feelingbehind why you've gravitated
towards that cocktail.
And I think, knowing that first, where you're like how do you?
And we'll ask people like, well, how do you feel?
Like what is?
What is going on?
(32:51):
Are you guys celebrating?
Are you guys?
You know what has brought ustogether, you know, and then
it's about flavor.
Together, you know, and thenit's about flavor because you
can be, you know.
That's where I think flavor canbe polarizing, because some
people can say I absolutely lovethis drink because it has
(33:11):
passion fruit and I likechampagne and vanilla, and these
three things together cametogether in this drink and I
absolutely love this combinationof drinks.
But passion fruit was the thingthat drove me here.
And then you look at let's saylike if you wanted something
bitter, right, you're like, Idon't know, I had a big heavy
meal.
Maybe I want something with anAmaro and I need something to
(33:31):
settle my stomach, because youknow we want to, or I want to go
to, I want to go to bed in anhour, so I need to have an
old-fashioned.
And that's where it starts.
It starts with you, you know,and it should start with you,
because cocktails are made foryou.
Otherwise, we'd just serve youhighballs, we'd serve you vodka,
(33:51):
sodas, gin and tonics.
You know, we'd just serve yourefreshing, diluted base spirit
cocktails, which can beincredible as well.
Um, like, my drink of choice, uh, for a very long time, was
tequila soda.
It's like I love tequila sodabecause tequila, to me, was so
interesting.
I picked different tequilas andtequila and I and I wanted it
(34:16):
to be refreshing and I was likeand I love, I love, I love Topo,
chico and I love sodas and I,um, and and I would make all the
cocktails that you wanted.
But if you had to, if you askedme what was my drink, I was
like I really want a tequilasoda, because it's going to be a
different tequila soda Everytime.
The tequila is so differentevery time.
(34:44):
Nonetheless, um, like, I lovechampagne, like I love, like I
like, if you, if you open abottle of champagne in the room,
I can smell it from a mile away.
Like I'm like, oh, like, blancde blancs, like it's, like
that's, you know, and that's the, that's the thing that you
gravitate towards.
So flavor is probably the mostlike.
How do you feel will put you ina place where you can choose
(35:04):
the drink of style or the typeof spirit, but flavor will
really be what drives you tothat, to that drink.
Right, yeah, cause, and you'remaking these decisions so fast,
like, you're making them so fast.
You're reading a menu.
You're like I don't like that.
Okay, I love this, that soundsinteresting.
And then something catches youreye and you're like but what
(35:25):
about this?
Right, and it took you 10seconds to read that.
And you make those decisions sofast.
But the intimidating factors,what's holding you back?
So don't be intimidated.
Know that cocktails aresupposed to be special.
They're supposed to be for you.
Sometimes I go out and I'm likeyou know I'm going to try
something different, because Ieat the same thing every day at
(35:47):
my favorite restaurant and if Iorder something different
they'll be like, are you?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
okay, I don't know, I was just going to try something
different, right?
And if you?
Speaker 3 (35:59):
feel exploratory, if you feel like you're going to,
you're like no, you know what?
Today I got to try somethingelse, because a margarita is not
going to cut it, and which iswhy margarita always cuts it.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
So so for people that are like I want to explore, I
want to explore the creativityof this, like I think there's a
lot of people that listen thatprobably are like okay, I've
dabbled with cooking, I'vedabbled with baking.
You know, I've taken yourcharcuterie classes.
I want to keep, like, expanding.
Is your book a good place tostart for, kind of like an A to
(36:33):
Z cocktail making?
Speaker 3 (36:36):
Yeah, the book is a really good way to start for
exploring what your senses arefor the cocktail right, where we
show you from beginning to endthis is how we thought of this
drink.
And then, all of a sudden,you're like what do I think
about drinking and what do Ithink about drinks?
And what flavors do I like?
And what if I made that cherrybounce with peaches?
(36:57):
Or I made it with a differentfruit?
And what would happen if Iswitched these two things around
?
And it could be really bad, itcould be really good.
And then there's a learningprocess, just like when you were
, I was baking cakes and Ididn't like them, and so they
started again.
And I started again and, um,and it's really like it should
(37:20):
be fun, it should be, itshouldn't feel tasking.
And if it does feel tasking,stick to what you know and stick
to what you love, right, likeyou're.
Ultimately, if you're goinginto a restaurant or you're
going to a bar, like it's yourdollar and you know you want to
spend it where you're going, toget satisfaction.
And um, the exploratory phase,whether you're doing it at home
(37:46):
by yourself or you're doing itat at a place, like it's about
the trust that you have in thosepeople making your drinks and
also in the trust that you havein knowing yourself.
Like it might be um, that mightbe a little bit harder for
people to see to say you know,maybe I do love or maybe I don't
like apricot or like maybe.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Like you know, I don't think.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
I do and um, but most of the time people are very
certain of the things that theylove or don't like.
It's always the gray area wherereally interesting cocktails
come about, because, um, Ididn't know that I like quince
until we paired it up withcinnamon and then we made it
into, we used a pear brandy andI was like this is really good.
(38:24):
And a lot of times there willbe drinks on the menu that are
supposed to be eye catching anddifferent, and we know how
people are going to feel aboutthem, because we're like they're
going to wonder why we put bluecheese in this and they're
going to be like why?
Right, but we know it's not foreveryone.
(38:44):
So we know how to talk to youabout that drink.
We're like look, it tastes likethis, it's going to be like
this, and if you're not certain,let's stick in the areas that
you know.
And then one day that personmight come in and she's like
give me that blue cheese drink,Cause today's the day that I
feel like I got to try somethingdifferent.
And it's the trust andrelationship over the course of
(39:07):
time that they have in us.
And then somebody might justcome in and be like this drink
is speaking to me because it'sso weird and I love it and we're
like, okay, like that's ouraudience, for, you know, it's a
1% audience for this drink andwe accept that.
We have so many other drinksthat you're going to love.
We have other drinks that feelmore comfortable, but, um, but
(39:27):
it's about you.
Sorry, I went on a 10 minuterant.
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (39:31):
That's great.
My mind is always in 10,000directions and I don't know if
it's like the entrepreneur in me, the creative, but I'm like we
need to come and do a series onhow to approach cocktails.
I'm like let's do it.
I want to go.
I'm never in Houston, but thereI think there are a lot of
people that are intimidated ofcocktail menus.
(39:52):
And you break it down in such abeautiful way, like in a very
realistic way for the everydaydiner, for the everyday host.
That makes me feel so much morecomfortable approaching it.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Well, I mean, we really don't want you to be
intimidated, we want you to feelcomfortable in the space.
But I don't think drinks are,or shouldn't feel, intimidating.
And if they do something aboutspace telling you that or
something about the words beingused on that menu, like we can
talk about menu development forhours and it's like where do you
(40:29):
place this cocktail so peoplecan see it?
Where do you place this otherdrink?
How do you price things?
How do you?
What does that look like?
If the space is inviting, themenu is inviting, the staff is
inviting, the cocktails areinviting, it's so many more
things than just about thecocktail.
The cocktail is the thing thatyou're like oh, I'm going to try
that.
Like, even after 10 years ofbeing in Houston, I get excited
(40:50):
when someone's like I haven'tbeen there and I was like oh, my
God, okay, when you come, letme know.
And like I want to know how youfeel about it, and I feel like
there's just something reallynice to say it's okay if you
haven't been here, we hope to behere for you for a long time
and when you're comfortable, youshould come.
Whether that's the cocktails,or that they live too far, or
(41:13):
whatever that is, someone shouldstill feel welcome, even if
they haven't been here in the 10years that we've been here.
I shouldn't feel like, oh, youhaven't been here in the 10
years that we've been here.
You know they shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
I shouldn't feel like , oh, you haven't been here all
too bad.
Like like that's not nice,that's not, that's also like not
a that's not challenging for usas well.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Right, like we keep constantly reinventing ourselves
and challenging ourselves, likethat's a great for for for
continuing that to say there'sstill people who haven't come to
see us in town.
Of course, it's an enormousplace.
Houston's enormous.
There's so many people here andwe hope that when they do come,
(41:53):
that they love it, that theyenjoyed their time here and they
felt that it was worth comingin from an hour away or wherever
they're coming from, you know.
So that's also super cool.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Well, you are onto something beautiful, my friend,
and I think a lot of people areprobably checking flights,
putting you into their Googlemaps, trying to make their way
there, cause I think yourapproach is one that um is
inviting and refreshing.
In the industry, I think moresuccess is to come.
Well, let's do this.
So we end each of ourconversations with the same
three questions, and I wouldlove to hear your answers as
(42:27):
well.
The first one is something youhave eaten recently and loved.
Speaker 3 (42:33):
Mexican cuisine has a lot of corn, right.
So we put corn in the tortillas, we'll put corn in a guisado
and we'll even eat corn in a cupwith spices and a little chile
mayonesa.
So, like there's, we'reconsuming corn all the time.
I had something called cornribs from a Persian inspired
(43:00):
restaurant and basically whatthey did is they took the corn
and they shaved it, so it madelike these curls.
So when you're grabbing it,you're not grabbing the cob,
you're grabbing the, the whatthey call the ribs, which is so
smart, right.
I was like, oh, the corn hasribs, I love it.
(43:22):
Um, so first you got me on cornribs, so you got me on the name
, and then I was like all right,I got to try this corn rib and
it's an appetizer, so the restof the meal was phenomenal, by
the way, but this was the thingon their Instagram that I was
like that looks so cool, like itlooks so cool and I love corn.
(43:42):
So I got to go, I got to go, Igot to go see him.
And is that in?
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Houston.
It is in Houston, yeah.
So we come to Jewel Up and geta drink and then we go get corn
ribs.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Rumi's is the place they also have one in Georgia, I
believe, but the one here.
It was like I've heard about itfrom different friends and I
was like, okay, well, we got togo.
So the spices on the corn ribswere new to me.
They were new to me, so it wasthis.
(44:15):
It was this ingredient that isthat is so familiar that it's
part of my blood, right, likeI'm so familiar with this
ingredient.
But the way they seasoned itand they like they like fried it
and seasoned it, um, and Icould just eat that every day.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
So good.
I'm a big corn eater too.
That sounds phenomenal.
Speaker 3 (44:41):
The seasoning was like vegetal and herbal and deep
, and I was like I've never hadthese flavors on, like I've had
spices, I've had citrus, youknow a little, a little fat from
the mayonnaise, but I've neverhad these flavors on corn.
So not only were they newflavors to something familiar
(45:02):
that I loved, but I was like andit looks beautiful, I love the
way that you guys presented it.
I was like I could eat thisevery day for the rest of my
life.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
So good.
Well, how about a gathering youattended that made you feel a
strong sense of belonging?
And, if you could pinpoint it,what it was that made you feel
that way?
Speaker 3 (45:22):
Okay, that one's super easy, cause I just came
from an event.
Um, there's an event thathappened in Aspen.
Let's see how long has it beennow?
Two, maybe two weeks.
It was the early part of um ofthe month, so it was the middle
of August, I think in Aspen.
(45:45):
And what Reisado is a um?
It brings together manydifferent Latinos from different
parts of lives and of life indifferent parts of the world, of
lives and of life in differentparts of the world, and we put
(46:05):
together a festival of differentpanels and film and music and
food and it's just absolutelybeautiful.
And one of the things aboutbeing in the culinary space is
that we often go to food andwine events and we do these.
I do these events all of thetime.
That would have been my firstfestival where the intent and
(46:28):
focus was around Latino issuesand around entrepreneurial
issues and things to haveconversations with others who
also have this bilingual lensand to meet other people who are
doing similar things.
And I got to meet someone who'snow like I feel like she's my
best friend.
She owns a cocktail bar in SanMiguel called Bekeb, and Bekeb
(46:53):
does an artisanal Mexican focuson their ingredients and I'm
like that's how I make drinksright, so I bring that to the
table and she makes that as apart of her program in San
Miguel and we discussedcocktails and drinks and people
(47:13):
and fun, and it was amazing.
Now we're going to figure outhow to get together again, and
so I made these amazing friendsover the course of um of two
days and like real deepconnections, um, real true
connections, and I reallyenjoyed meeting everyone there
and being in a space where wewere like, oh, how do you
(47:36):
incorporate that into food?
What are the things that youare, what are the things that
you're doing right now that youcurrently love?
What are the things that youwant to work on?
And it just helps you dreambigger.
You know like that's.
There's something beautifulabout feeling like when you're
in a space of love, anything'spossible love, anything's
(48:01):
possible Right.
And so you're, you dream bigger, you think bigger, you act
bigger.
You, you have um your heart'sin the right place and so, um,
that was really moving for meand and it really helped
pinpoint a lot of the, a lot ofthe goals that I have in the
next few years, and I was like,oh, I have a mentor now that I
found who has an incrediblebackground in business
(48:22):
administration and he worked forthe small business
administration and he wrote abook.
We're throwing his book launchin the bar, and so there's just
a lot of things that happenedduring that weekend that were
magical and incredibly heartfelt.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
So grateful you had that.
Speaker 2 (48:47):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (48:48):
That's really beautiful and that's what's
available to us in community.
That experience, goodness, okay.
Well, last but certainly notleast, totally different tone in
a question, but somethingyou've discovered lately that
you think everyone should knowabout.
It could be a Netflix show, anAmazon purchase, anything.
These are always fun.
Speaker 3 (49:10):
Oh, wow, let me think I feel like I'm always
discovering food places.
I'm like, I feel like I'malways like, I'm always like
discovering food places.
Yeah, like that's always mylike.
I'm always like how do we youknow what are?
What is it that we're doing?
Are we going to go eat there?
So I feel like my discovery isalways in in something not food
related.
Um, I feel like there's okay.
(49:37):
So I haven't actually done thisyet yet, but I have become
intrigued by it and I have agroup of friends who have a um,
a consulting company, andthey're incredible, and they
were making these ediblegarnishes and and we started
(49:57):
looking down the path of likethey would print something on a
garnish or they would print, youknow, a logo on it.
And I was like that's reallycool, like usually the way that
I garnish things that come fromum, from what's in the drink.
We we garnish with what's inthe drink, and it opened up to a
much larger conversation aboutcocktails.
But there's this and I boughtthis pen on.
(50:21):
They call it a pen, but it'sactually like a hand printer and
it's a hand printer that printsedible ink over a drink or over
a cake or anything.
You could print a littlepicture or a logo or something
just like whatever you want itto say.
(50:41):
And I haven't gotten it yetbecause I ordered it two days
ago, so I think it's arrivingtoday, but I feel like there's a
power in words, there's a lotof power in words and then
messaging, and I feel like Ilove the idea of being able to
write something over a drink forsomeone, or writing over you
(51:05):
know, whether we make a cake orsomething like that or over the
foam of a cappuccino, and I'mlike that could be a really nice
way of making small like.
You know, if I make a small,like when my mom comes to the
bar, like if I make hersomething, like personalizing
this little thing for her ordoing something that's going to
(51:27):
make her smile or make her laugh, or like make her feel really
special, like there's somethingthere, and I was like it's a
tool that can really, for thepeople that I know and love, I
can use, because I always createso many little things for them,
right, like that's what I makefor Christmas, that's what I
make for, like I'll make, I'llmake coquito eggnog.
(51:50):
I make Christmas drinks forfriends and family and I was
like, well, there's this littlething that I could add to
personalize a touch.
And I was like, well, there'sthis little thing that I could
add to personalize a touch, andit doesn't sound like much, but
for someone who makes cocktailsall the time, it's not really
something I've ever utilized andI think that there's something
(52:12):
really sweet about it and reallyawesome.
We'll see how.
And again, it's like the thoughtcame from seeing my friends
make their edible logos and Iwas like, oh, I guess that's
something you could do on drinks.
I'd never thought about doingthat, cause when we garnish, we
garnish in a very classic styleand really what it leads to is
this conversation about themodernization of cocktails.
Right, and so really that'slike the beginning and opening
(52:32):
the door of, like, what is themodernization of cocktails?
Look like they're notnecessarily all stemmed in
classics, even though they couldbe, and the way those drinks
look is also very different andvery elaborate.
And I really like thatconversation and I really like
that space.
It's like we're making littlepearls in the bar, we're doing
(52:53):
spherification, and so there's avery interesting step in that
direction that I feel like I'mgoing to really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (53:03):
I am so excited.
I hope you post about it so wecan all follow.
That'd be a really fun reel, ohmy goodness.
Well, this conversation wassuch a fun one, so different
from other ones that we've done,and, I'm sure, leaving a lot of
us ready for a drink, ready fora trip, ready to go get your
book.
Well, we will attach everythingin the show notes links to the
(53:25):
restaurants, links to socials,all of those things.
But thank you so much for yourtime.
Speaker 3 (53:30):
Thank, you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (53:32):
Well, guys, you know the drill we will see you next
week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!