This week’s guest bartender is James Mackay, currently of boutique nightspot, Snafu and it’s sibling bar/restaurant, The Athenaeum. James is currently 2 months away from flying off to Copenhagen to continue his University studies. No doubt, those lucky Danish will be reaping the rewards of James’ fine taste in mixed drinks and spirits when he lands himself a job at one of the city’s drinking establishments.
This week, James has fashioned a list of some prohibition-era drinks (1920 – 1933) in honour of the 77th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. More on prohibition later, but in the meantime we posed a few questions to Mr Mackay…we started with a difficult one...
Name: James Mackay
Year’s bartending: 2 years plus a couple of months.
Favourite tool (behind a bar): Big muddler. Despite the fact it’s mainly used for crushing ice, there is something reassuring about holding a massive plastic muddler whilst working behind a bar in Aberdeen.
Most useless tool (behind a bar): Hal Prescott (and in front for that matter).
Your secret ingredient: Love.....only joking that’s not a secret. Probably Velvet Falernum. It can change a simple sometimes-clichéd drink (Mojito) into something far more complex (swizzle).
Mojito or NO-jito? I have to admit I'm a bit of a Mojito fan - drinking not making them. Although there is a satisfaction to making a well-made one, it's just the "aye gie’s another ten of them mo-jito's" comment that really crushes the soul. Or as one delightful patron put it "gies a fajita".
Preferred spirit/drink: All depends on mood/time/occasion but if I had to choose it would be a rum like Angostura 1919 or Appleton V/X - lots of lime, ice and a little coke.
Most disgusting find at the end of a shift: Nothing at the end of a shift - I have always managed to dodge that bullet - but during a Sunday day shift, some kind customer decided the toilet wasn't to his standards and just squatted on the floor. That didn’t exactly help the hangover.
James and his menu will be appearing at the Corpse & Cocktail this Sunday 5th December. There's (s)no(w) excuse for not being there...(one and only snow joke, I promise).
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