In this episode, we hang out with bartender Zac Hoffman and focus in on cocktail competitions and the craft bartender experience. What does it take to become a real bartender, how do you deploy those skills to build a career, and what’s it like going head-to-head with other skilled mixologists to create a cocktail that rises above the rest?

Some of the specific topics we discuss with Zac include:

• How he steered his chef-driven career, kicked off at the Culinary Institute of America, to take a more liquid-focused route, going on to drive some of the best beverage programs in the Mid-Atlantic.
• What it means to be a brand ambassador for a craft spirits venture, and how brand ambassadorship can enhance the career of an aspiring bartender.
• The four different tiers of cocktail competitions, as defined by Zac, ranging from the God-tier, to more local or brand-driven experiences.
• What it takes to develop a successful cocktail competition entry, drawing from Zac’s experience using Embitterment Aromatic Bitters in his recent creation: Don’t Sleep on Kings.
• How to spend an intoxicated evening with Karl Marx,
• And much, much more.