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What are the criteria for a cocktail that goes on the house list at Congress?

I’ve said before. For me, a cocktail needs to look good and needs to smell good. It has to taste good, and it needs to be prepared by somebody who takes the care and time to do it correctly every single time. That’s my criteria for every cocktail I make, but especially something that’s going to go on the list. If it tastes good and it smells good, but it doesn’t look good, it’s not going to make it.

You were talking about how some bartenders have a distinct style, and you purposefully incorporate different paths with your program. Could you expand on that some?

There are some real classic traits that certain bartenders have, and on the other end of the spectrum, there’s the always pushing the envelope of what can go into a cocktail, go gastronomic with it, foams and things like that, but I think that my approach is to take the classical methods and combine it with modern risk taking, but still has something that will stand the test of time, not wows you for one drink or two drinks, but you want to continue ordering more than just one. They’re just cocktails. We’re not changing the world or anything, so when you look at the basics of it, it still has to be enjoyable repeatedly.

What was the most recently cocktail you developed, and what was your approach?

I think that’s the Montegomatica. I definitely have a strong interest in the tropical and tiki style that a lot of people have been paying a lot more attention to lately. It’s a fascinating story with a lot of great characters involved in the history of tiki. There’s a strong interest in bartenders, and bartenders usually have a strong interest in Fernet Branca, so my goal was actually to try and make a tiki drink or a tropical style drink that incorporated a good percentage of Fernet Branca in it. It took a few tries. It turned out that the orneriness of an overproof rum from Jamaica, called J. Wray, really kind of stood up to the style and sophistication of the Fernet Branca from Italy. We throw some lime and some Falernum in there to balance out the sour and sweet aspect of it, some mint in there for aromatics. And it’s basically an equal parts cocktail, and all the parts harmoniously combine in the glass, and it takes its name from obviously Montego being in Jamaica and the matica part is kind of a nod to Italian lingo a little bit, mostly because we have an Italian machine behind our bar that services wine that notoriously breaks down.

The Enomatic?

Yeah. The Enomatica. We were actually having it repaired that day, and we had to fly people from California to fix this thing, and so it was a big talk in the bar that day. Montegomatica just kind of popped up.

What’s a great simple cocktail for people to make at home, and what’s the recipe?

An Old Fashioned or a martini, those would be the two that I would stress that people take the time to do at home. The ingredients are simple to obtain and simple to make, though you have to make it correctly and you have to pay attention to what you’re doing. It gets themselves involved with the care that goes into it. The Old Fashioned you can make with any spirit. That’s the best part about it. If you’re a gin lover, or if you’re a whiskey lover or a rum lover, you can turn all of those into an Old Fashioned by adding two ounces of spirit of choice. A sugar cube. I prefer to use a raw sugar cube. I think it has more character. And a healthy dose of bitters, seven or eight dashes of Angostura bitters. You can also use other types of bitters for different effects. That kind of gets smashed into a paste down at the bottom, add some ice and stir it up until it’s nice and cold and mixed, and garnish it with whatever you’d like to look at while you’re drinking it.

Do you garnish with orange or lemon?

I usually garnish with a cherry, a nice Italian Luxardo cherry, but I definitely don’t muddle the cherry. I don’t want the cocktail to taste like cherry, I just want to that as an additive.

The martini is something everyone should know how to make. If you think you’ve put enough vermouth in, put some more in. I would say equal parts gin and vermouth, stirred lovingly, and maybe a twist of your choice. Maybe an orange or grapefruit or something like that.

So an ounce and a half of each?

Sure.

Where do you like to drink and what do you like to drink when you’re not at work?

I’m a big beer fan. I drink a lot of West Coast style beers. Growing up in the Northwest, I have a taste for big IPAs, nice Belgians, esoteric Belgian strong ales and things like that. The majority of what I drink when I’m not working is beer. There’s always the Fernet glass along side of it too, which is kind of a given.

Where do you like to drink your beer?

Outdoors is nice in Austin, Texas. One of the perks of moving down here was definitely the weather, so I take advantage of it as much as I can. There are plenty of bars with great patios here.

Any bar in particular?

I definitely visit my contemporaries in Austin. I visit Bill Norris at Haddingtons a lot. And he’s got a great team over there. Pesce, just around the corner, has great stuff. I like to drink there. Those are definitely cocktails, but when it comes to drinking beer, particular bars, I hang out at usually places that I wouldn’t find myself ever working in, or knowing many people there, cause it is my time off. I’ll go to Black Sheep Lodge on South Lamar because nobody I know hangs out there. It’s kind of a sports bar with TVs, and that’s not really my personality, but it gives me a chance to get away from what I do every day.

If you could only drink one more cocktail, what would be in the glass?

It would have to be a Negroni. It’s the first cocktail that really took hold of me. It was bracing, bitter and sweet all at the same time. It has this gorgeous Italian red color to it, and it’s a very sexy cocktail. I think that it really just kind – the first one I had jolted me and I’ve always been searching for that again.

Who would make it?

It would have to be one of my bartenders, Elizabeth Tipps. She makes the best Negroni I’ve had so far. No matter how hard I try, I still can’t make as good a Negroni as Liz Tipps.

What’s the key to a great Negroni?

I don’t know what she does to it, but there’s something about hers that’s better than all the rest. I would personally say that my successful Negronis use a nice strong juniper-forward dry gin. Otherwise your gin will get hidden by the Campari and the vermouth. A quality vermouth and a juniper-y gin is usually what I go for.