Editor's note: I'm working with Campari America to interview and feature some very cool, very talented LGBTQ players in the cocktail and spirits world in celebration of Pride Month. JR
Bartender Alex Negranza has a fairly outsized passion for Negronis--his Instagram handle and nickname is A_Negroni, and he spearheads Negroni Week in Houston where he works at Anvil Bar & Refuge. He's also the Global Brand Ambassador for Scrappy's Bitters. The guy doesn't seem to need to sleep. I spoke with Alex via Skype as a late afternoon storm system moved into Houston. Alex sipped an Americano as we chatted, while back in Long Island City I had a nice lean rye & soda. Alex took me through his journey from barista to bartender and broke down his obsession with negronis, his go-to airport bar order, and a recent tattoo of one of his favorite drinks.
Photo: Sam Landrum
JR: So you're ramping up for Negroni Week?
AN: Yes, I've actually just been on the phone with our distributor and our local Campari rep and working on a really cool shirt design we're doing just for the Houston market as well as some limited edition screen prints. I've been working with a local artist/designer Matthew Tabor on commissioning a piece of art. It’ll be a hand pulled, screen printed homage to the Negroni- each of the 25 will be hand signed and numbered by the artist, they’re gorgeous. We've got the launch party coming up, and the Houston United States Bartender's Guild June meeting is being hosted by Campari here at Anvil, so we've got a lot going on.
JR: So you're like the ringleader for Negroni Week there?
AN: Ringleader, cat herder, whatever you want to call it!
JR: It's funny, I always say about emailing for recipes or quotes from bartenders is like herding cats—drunk cats. Speaking of: what are you drinking
AN: An Americano. The Americano has been my go-to drink recently—as I've been visiting all these venues gearing up for Negroni Week, it’s a little easier to have a lower ABV Americano—can't always have a Negroni at each stop, this kind of limits my actual alcohol intake. And it's an appropriate cocktail—since it kind of started off the Negroni.
JR: I was on an epic travel bender last year, and I made a point of ordering Americanos as the first drink every time I got to a new town. And it's interesting the subtle variations you'll see from bar to bar, around the world.
AN: Did you have more people saying that they don't have coffee?
JR: It's about 30% of the time, if you don't specify “cocktail” you get a coffee.
Photo: Sam Landrum
JR: So where did you start your career in hospitality?
AN: I worked at a bunch of specialty coffee bars around Seattle.
JR: Isn't that compulsory in Seattle, doing a stint in a coffee shop?
AN: Exactly! It's actually what got me up to Seattle in the first place, and it definitely set me on a course for the bar world—I started working in bars while on a sabbatical from coffee industry and the sabbatical continues about six years later.
JR: That's a good sabbatical! I see a lot of bartenders who started in the coffee world, actually.I think there's more of an affinity between the two than some might think...
AN: I think the important thing with being a barista is being knowledgeable about things like temperature changes..how many times a grinder has been pulling a shot affects the actual particulate temperature, which changes extraction...you're worried about the cleanliness of your tools- the grinder, your portafilter baskets, when the last time you cleaned them was, your gaskets, your backflushing, temperatures of milk, preheating stuff, you’re so aware of the nuanced steps of making a cup of coffee.It’s something that seems so normal and easy to most people but in order to get a truly amazing cup of coffee every time there's so much prep and so much knowledge that it's a natural step for baristas to jump into the bartending world. But also, you're keen to those 30-45 second interactions, even shorter sometimes when you have to move a line, they're good at welcoming people, they deal with some of the same struggles that you would deal with in a bar, like people who are grouchy, or whatever, which happens—so in a way baristas are constantly in training to be bartender, but not everyone makes that jump.
JR: Yeah, that whole process behind the coffee bar-always has struck me as being a bit Japanese in its attention to detail, meticulous use of tools. The process...
JR: And of course, bartenders like coffee.
AN: Yes, they go hand in hand. And Baristas like bourbon!
JR: Specifically bourbon?
AN: Well, when I was doing coffee and you're starting to shut down around 4 or 5pm or if you're opening barista you're out by 2 or 3, and you hit that happy hour, man, for me it was always a bourbon and a beer.
JR: Yes, bourbon sort of magically burnishes off the rough edges, doesn't it? Imparts an instant warm glow to life.
Photo: Sam Landrum
AN: I'm having bourbon withdrawl actually, because everyone's in Kentucky at Camp Runamok this is the first year I haven't gotten to go—and I'm seeing all these posts from bourbon country from my bartender friends from around the country. Definitely a little envious of not being there. Camp is a magical place.
JR: But I'm imagining that in about 10 days you'll be glad you didn't go back-to-back bourbon intensive followed by Negroni Week.
AN: Yeah, and then right after that June 12th, 13th and 14th Bar Institute Austin happens, and I'll be there for that, and then it's straight off to Los Angeles for the Eater Young Gun Awards. I'm a semi-finalist so I have to go and possibly accept an award.
JR: How do you feel about competitions?
AN: It's weird, I've done a lot of events and competition but from the planning or judging side. I don't particularly like competing—I was always involved in barista competitions both in competing and judging but I always enjoyed the judging side more because you get to witness the spectacle of talent and see how people are honing their skills. I personally learned more by just watching people and how they represent their craft. And when you're competing you're focusing on you, a little bit. I never enjoyed that much, I like seeing the creativity. But I've judged a lot of comps, both coffee and cocktails. And I was a coffee writer for a brief stint.
JR: (Starting to do math in his head) How old are you?
AN: (Laughing) 27.
ME: So when did you start getting into all this? Were you, like, 12?
AN: I started, I guess when I was 16 ½. I graduated high school a year early and went to the local community college and studied music and psychology, working in coffee, Billy Wilson launched the concept of multi roaster cafes, in 2009, when he opened Barista in Portland, Oregon. But there's this little town called Modesto, California. And there was a very small cafe there that was multi roaster in 2007, and that's where I grew up and learned about coffee, where we served Ritual Coffee in and Barefoot Coffee. So I was going to San Francisco a lot and studying with Ritual, and when that coffee shop went out of business, I took my severance check and went up to Seattle and kind of fell in love with it. I stayed at this little boutique hostel that had just opened up and they said, hey, if you ever think about moving up to Seattle let us know, we like you, we like your personality, even as a guest you met people and engaged people, and that's something that we always love, if you want to move here let us know and you can come and work here, and live on site and do a work trade thing, just work 24 hours a week and then you can find another part time job or just figure things out until you get on your feet in Seattle. And that was early January and I was like, awesome, that sounds great, and two weeks later I was back in Seattle with two duffel bags and $300, and showed up at the hostel, and was like, I'm here, put me to work! And that's how I got involved in boutique hostels and hotels. I've always been a project guy, and I'll study one thing aiming to apply it to another world cause I think it's fun being on the side of things. Learning how to welcome people, show them around Seattle, and I was right there doing my hotel job, so I hosted a lot of visiting coffee people and other guests. And then it all just sort of snowballed from there.
Anvil Bar & Refuge
JR: So any words of advice or philosophy for someone coming into the hospitality world?
AN: So, it's interesting. You know Eleven Madison Park, of course. Well there is what I think of as a sister restaurant in Seattle, Canlis—not by ownership but concept and execution. Very early on in my hospitality career, I was like 19, 20—-an ambitious little fuck, to be honest—-and I remember going to Canlis in Seattle with some hotel executives and I remember standing up at the end of the meal and looking at my watch and it had been six and a half hours. When I think of hospitality I think of my experiences at Eleven Madison Park and Canlis and it's just that every little thing you need-and that you didn't even know you needed-is there, and attended to. And it's not noticed—good hospitality isn't something you notice. It's not something you throw in someone's face-it's these small details. Most people won't notice the little touches of fine hospitality. For instance, here in humid Houston a lot of times people will come in out of the rain and into the AC and one of the first things that happens is: their glasses fog up. And the first thing I do is hand them a napkin so they can clean their glasses. And they probably won't even think anything of it, but it registers on some level. And it's about caring, it's caring about someone. I don't even know how to describe it. But there's this warming feeling you get when you offer someone help and they didn't even know they needed it.
Photo: Sam Landrum
JR: I've noted a remarkable uptick in the sophistication and knowledge of young bartenders entering the industry. There's so much more information at your fingertips then there was 15 years ago, thanks both the to the internet, but also so many great cocktail blogs and books that are out there now. So they have high level “book smarts” but some of the finer points of hospitality might not have sunk in yet.
AN: I think a lot of younger, new bartenders are entering into the field and not starting out barbacking, but rather entering where there's an established bar program and starting straight off as bartenders, and might never have to get their hands too dirty, or plunge toilets, you know? And that stuff is pretty character building, as they say.
JR: Yeah, that's where you get grit, stick-to-it-iveness...and yes, those less glamorous parts of a job are character building, but they also lead you to a place where you a concept of all aspects of an operation, and take a 360 approach —and where nothing is beneath you.
AN: I tell a story about when a guy came into the bar and I greeted him as we do, and asked what he would like, and he said, very short, “Double rye on the rocks.” And I was like, ok, this asshole. You know home sometimes people just treat you as someone who's just their to get them what they want, not as though you have anything extra to offer. So he's sitting there drinking for awhile, and just staring at his glass and I offer him another, which he takes. just decide to ask him how his day's going. And he tells me that before he came in that he'd just gotten a call telling him that his favorite cousin had just been killed by a drunk driver in New Orleans and he pulled over to the first bar he passed to stop himself from driving straight to New Orleans and finding the son of a bitch who did it and killing him. You're never prepared for an answer like that. But it shows that you don't know what's going on with your guests. It's also a good reminder of what a refuge bars are for people.
And you don't have to have memorized the Savoy Cocktail Book to be able to sense what your guests need and to deliver it. It's really about loving your guests. You're part of these people's lives, and they're sharing it with you. And it's as much about that touch as anything, and some of the younger bartenders might not get that.
JR: Yes, and it's interesting how cocktails are just one element of what guests are there for—you know, you've been to spots with exquisite cocktails but zero bedside manner from the bartenders and it's sort of a non starter. If it's stiff and starchy you probably don't go back. But focusing on the good: what bars (other than your own) are you loving right now?
AN: One has to be Rob Roy in Seattle, that has a special place in my heart. It's a home away from home, and I love that bar staff so much. It’s not because they talk to me about spirits and geek out about cocktail stuff, to them I'm just a guy who comes in a drinks a lot and has a good time, and I'm just normal, regular. Amor y Amargo is definitely one of my favorite bars, I love bitters, I love the category of bitter, I love that they don't use citrus, I love Sother Teague. He did a presentation on Amaros about three years ago and we talked about all the botanicals, and how the French Alps differ from the Swiss Alps, common ingredients in Italy, and the family histories of the bitters—great stuff. And I was lucky enough to get to do a couple guest shifts there a couple months ago, and it was so great when someone would come in and say, talk to me about bitter! Which is like a dream guest for me. It was pretty cool to have guests specifically there for the love of bitter. Here in Houston I gotta mention Public Services, it's basically a wine and sherry bar, in downtown Houston, and a lot of the spirits they serve have been finished in fortified wine casks, which is really cool. But I always go in there and drink sherry-and I think it's from my background in Seattle, whenever it rains I always want to drink madeira and sherry. Especially with all this rain lately I've been loving drinking there.
JR: Basically anything you're gonna drink in Seattle is going to be done in the rain, of course.
AN: Exactly. Actually, when it would start really raining the owners and I would sit down and drink madeira and work on emails and stuff, because when it rains, it's slower. People don't come in as much...and it gives you some time to catch up on the back end of things.
Alex's very recent tattoo by Gabriel Massey, an homage to his beloved Jungle Bird cocktail, requested with his standard "Not too sweet".
JR: So you clearly have a real passion for Negronis—how did that develop.
AN: Have you ever been to the Red Fox in Portland??
JR: No?
AN: Great little divey bar on Alberta, one of the first bars I ever went to. So at the time my friend who took me there was ordering Italian Greyhounds—gin, grapefruit juice and Campari—and that's what I wound up drinking. But the POS they were using, when you would swipe the card to capture the data, it would save it under the first initial, and then as much of the last name that would fit—and so for me it read “A.NEGR” and the bartender just assumed the rest was “ONI”- hence how I got my nickname, Negroni. And I loved Campari-I was trained in coffee, so I was trained in bitter, and that’s an initial flavor that can throw people at first, I was coming from tasting espressos always day and evaluating them so that's where my palate was. And is!
JR: What do you order in an airport bar?
Gin & soda. And That's what I order in gay bars, too. Or it's a shot of Campari and a beer. Most every bar has Campari and most every bar has a local beer.
JR: Campari neat?
AN: Yes, it's a big thing in Houston, the industry shot is Campari shots. There's actually a bartender around town who has a tattoo of a shot of Campari, and underneath it it says “Staff meal”.
JR: And that seems like a good spot to end!
Coming next week: video with Alex mixing up one of his favorites, the Italian Greyhound.
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