Mixology 101

Of all the words in the English language that have boomed in the past year or two, “mixology” is up there. WEEKEND recently reached out to drink specialists at Malibu Grill, Serendipity Martini Bar and Restaurant and FARMBloomington to ask about their craft and what being a “mixologist” actually means, if anything.

Emmy O'Connor, Malibu Grill

On her favorite specialty drinks to make:

“One of the cocktails that I tried to perfect is called the aviation cocktail. It’s a gin-based cocktail with lemon juice, crème de violet — a floral, purple-ish liqueur — and maraschino liqueur. So that’s one of my hands-down favorite cocktails to make. And almost anything with bourbon I will make. I love bourbon.”

On differentiating her drinks:

“What’s characteristic to a drink is the liqueurs. And liqueurs can vary from just your typical orange liqueur that can go in margaritas or any other type of cocktails to a Douglas-fir tree pine liqueur. If they’re made by a smaller distillery, they tend to put more time and effort into their product.”

On the YouTube video “Shit Bartenders Say”:

“One of my favorite quotes in there that mixologists say all the time, they pan to one of the bartenders and he goes, 'Aquavit bores me.' Aquavit is a Swedish spirit, and it kind of has a liqueur-ish hint to it as well, but it’s not well known in the Midwest or any of these areas, but apparently it’s huge in the coastal cities. I did think that was kind of funny.”

Zak Chmiel, FARMBloomington

On his favorite specialty drinks to make:

“I personally am in love with Sazeracs. They’re just simple, easy, good and strong, a nice way to end the day. That’s probably my favorite post-shift drink. If someone comes into the bar and says, ‘Just give me something good. What do you like making?’ I’ll make them a Sazerac nine times out of ten, just because it’s a good, basic, nice drink.”

On taking advantage of Chef Daniel Orr’s home garden:

“Chef has a giant garden at his place in Columbus, so he’ll just bring in barrels and barrels of fresh herbs, so I’ll use anything that he comes in with — like lemon grass, lemon balm, thyme, whatever he has. He’ll just give me a handful of stuff and let me play around, and that’s the other thing that I love doing.”

On the most original ingredients that he has used in drinks:

“I think it was last fall, I was messing around with some recipes I had found and I used pumpkin butter. I turned that into a cocktail. It actually turned out pretty well. It was kind of like drinking pumpkin pie. That was kind of interesting. We make a bacon vodka here that’s delicious in a Bloody Mary. Anything seasonal or anything that’s fun or interesting that either Chef brings in or somebody hears about, we’ll give it a try. We’ll see if we can make a drink out of it.”

Phillip Duffield, Serendipity

On his favorite specialty drinks to make:

“I prefer Old-Fashioneds. I’m a big fan of bourbon — it’s growing in popularity and diversity. I like making Old-Fashioneds with blood orange bitters and a blood orange. That’s a unique twist on it. And then my double espresso martini, which is my drink, my recipe. It comes with double espresso vodka, Frangelico, Kahlua, Godiva white chocolate, Godiva dark chocolate, some simple syrup, coffee and cream.”

On the difference between a mixologist and a bartender:

“Well, a mixologist is someone that can create drinks without a recipe, and in my opinion, a bartender is someone who tends to a bar, doesn’t really get creative with it. They make simple mixed drinks. They’re not making complex drinks or they’re opening beer, for instance.”

On snobby mixologists:

“You’ll get those mixologists who take it so seriously that if you tell them that you want to drink a certain way, they’ll almost get offended by it. It’s like, well, it’s serious but it’s not that serious, you know? It’s like cooking. Everyone can change your recipe. It’s all about palate. So I do find it funny when people take their job way over-the-top seriously.”