013 - Shaking Things Up and Making Better Cocktails with Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal

"One of the great fallacies of working and life I find is this work-life balance because there is no such thing as work-life balance because my work is life and life is my work." - Phoebe Esmon

We met Phoebe at a bar. After all, isn’t that where some of the best friendships start? She was bartending at Gan Shan Station when Tony walked in and asked about the vermouth selection — using a little trick he learned from a friend when deciding whether or not you should order a Negroni. Phoebe’s response was simply “I’ll make you a great Negroni.” And that she did.

It becomes immediately clear that Phoebe Esmon and her partner, Christian Gaal, know their spirits. While they define themselves as “cocktail bartenders,” we see them as much more than that: they are artists, historians, and teachers. They are two fountains of knowledge overflowing with fun factoids like when dry vermouth was born and why the VSOP label on Cognac isn’t actually French.

Though their business, Spirit Animal Bev, Phoebe and Christian work with local businesses to help them craft beverage menus and recipes to fit their brand or event — much like you’d hire a chef to oversee the menu development for a restaurant. They have worked with many local Asheville businesses around town including Katie Button’s Nightbell (now closed) and Cúrate; Gan Shan Station; and Eda Rhyne. They have taught classes on amari, trained numerous bartenders and restaurant staff, and worked closely with distilleries in developing new recipes. They'll even bartend your wedding via their event business, called Party Animal.

Phoebe is also the Co-Dean of Bartending and Hospitality for Portland Cocktail Week, where she is developing a bartending curriculum with Sother Teague (Teague is the beverage director of Amor y Amargo, a famous bitter bar in NYC, author of I’m Just Here for the Drinks, and host of The Speakeasy podcast).

Their latest projects include a running a soon-to-open natural wine speakeasy called Pink Moon that will open up behind The Double Crown later on this year.

Phoebe will also be helping Melissa Gray develop cocktails for her new cake and cocktail bar, RosaBees, which we talked about in Episode 11 during our interview with Melissa.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Why Phoebe and Christian decided to move to Asheville
• What special projects they’re working on now (spoiler: we told you a little about the speakeasy but that's not all)
• Christian’s advice for what to do when you see a black bear
• Weird liquor laws in North Carolina
• The two main types of ratios in cocktails
• Why ice is so important when making cocktails and the three steps to making better ice at home
• What you need to stock your own cocktail bar at home
• How to buy better tasting, purer, and more sustainable tequila

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Curious to learn more about what we do? Making It Creative is a boutique marketing agency in Asheville. We are dedicated to working with small business owners that are deeply passionate about what they do by helping them build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.

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Music by Commonwealth Choir

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