Mixologist or Bartender?

A bartender can pour you a perfect pint, but it takes a mixologist to create a drink that can change your pallet's life.

There is a verbal phenomenon generating quite a buzz in the bar world. From peanut shell covered honky tonks to the most sophisticated champagne bars of NYC, a certain title is being thrown around willy nilly to describe someone who snaps the caps off bottles and yanks draft taps for thirsty patrons. The term of course is “mixologist.”

Now, the only other term that is so grossly misused – and as far as I am concerned, uttering this phrase should carry a penalty tantamount to a lifetime of shovelling bat guano in a Mexican cave – is the title of “bar chef.” What has the world come to when jobs that used to have such straight-forward titles – and ones that actually described the deeds performed – are now raised to some type of scientific status? Well, there is in fact good reason for a few bartenders to be elevated to mixologists; after all, “bartender” doesn't quite do justice to someone who can change your pallet's life!

When the term bartender is used, most of us think of a grumpy, stern-faced old guy wearing a cap and spit polishing a beer glass a la Emil Johnson in the cowboy classic Blazing Saddles. Truth be told, the people behind the “wood” at most establishments are some of the best-looking people in the world and generally their main focus is not producing life-altering libations from scratch, but rather collecting huge tips to support their acting careers from patrons who hold a thin grasp of sobriety. Those souls, who can shake a Cosmo in seconds and think that powdered sour mix was in the original recipe for a margarita – they are bartenders.

Mixologists are the professionals that create, concoct, refine and take pride in their discerning pallet, one that allows them to not only taste why certain vodkas work better with certain fresh fruit, but can also tell you what a double strain will do for your cucumber smash. These are the patrons of the liquid arts.

The few mixologists that I have met and worked with in my travels can explain the differences between the spirits within a category, the history of these beverages, as well as their tasting notes. But you could say any well read cocktail hobbyist could do the same, and I would agree. What sets the hobbyist apart from the professional is that the professional understands how to use this knowledge to meld flavours together to produce grand fluid creations. To further this skill set, some mixologists such as myself have worked with the labs to create the liquid that goes inside those beautiful bottles on the back of the bar. To do this, the tasters must have a keen sense of the classic attributes of a spirit category, as well as know how to differentiate the flavour profile of the spirit being created from others in the marketplace to produce the pinnacle of taste. This is what a mixologist is. It is not the parrot who can recite the recipes of popular drinks and snap bottle caps into a garbage bin without looking. It is the artist who not only understands flavours, but can create with those flavours.

“Bar chef,” which shall be referred to as “BC” from now on in hopes of curbing the usage, was created to describe a mixologist who incorporates culinary methodology and/or ingredients into their libations. Most have tried to utilize molecular gastronomy, which was popularized by the master chef Ferran Adria, the owner and creator of the Spanish restaurant elBulli. The concept behind molecular gastronomy is to create a new dining experience through the use of science. For example, by adding specialized chemicals to olives that have been blended into a juice, a variety of chemical reactions will transform the olive puree into what can be best explained as an olive soft-boiled egg. When the consumer places the “olive” into their mouth, the chemical membrane explodes from the heat of their tongue, imparting the flavour of an olive, but the textural experience of an egg yolk.

Some mixologists have employed a variety of these techniques to enhance and build an all-encompassing sensorial experience – something beyond merely producing an outstanding Manhattan. I admit I employ these techniques, which I refer to as culinary mixology for the simple and humble reason that, although I know a fair amount about the culinary arts, have a cookbook, and have run dozens of seminars, I am not a papered chef. Those who do not know the difference between a cook and a chef would probably dismiss this point, which is why the term “BC” is not scoffed at more widely. However I feel this term diminishes the schooling and work of those who are designated chefs and bestows false accreditation to those who are just creative and understand how to apply culinary techniques to the fluid arts.

Let me conclude with a joke.

Two old school buddies run into each other on the street after a 30-year separation. They begin a conversation as they reacquaint themselves. Of course the topic of employment comes up and the one responds that he has been running his medical practice for over 15 years now and loves it, commenting that all of his hard work in medical school really paid off. He then promptly asks his old schoolmate what he now does for a living. The other responds that he is an illustrator for Valentine's Day cards and quickly adds, “So I guess you could call me a cardiologist.”

Hence, the difference between a bartender and a mixologist is now defined, and the term bar chef quashed!

For our Toronto readers: You can taste Jeremy Parsons's exotic creations at the tenth anniversary party of Cocktails: The Fluid Experience at Ame on Friday, November 20th, from 10 p.m. -2 a.m. (19 Mercer Street, Toronto).