These Women Will Keep You Warm This Season
DeJorn Huffman of Sable Kitchen & Bar. (Photo: Bols Genever)
Lynn House recalls that one time at The Violet Hour two years ago when she was the only woman in a roomful of men.
Usually when that happens it’s a bachelor party, and the only woman in the room is the featured entertainment, but on this particular occasion it was an absinthe tasting event for professional mixologists.
House got a few curious looks and even a couple of "So, what are you doing here?" inquiries from some of the guys and even though it pissed her off she never allowed them to see her stress out. After all, as one of the top bartenders in the city who’s a force to be reckoned with during competitions, she had just as much right to be there as they did.
"I felt like they were all thinking, 'Who brought their cocktail waitress?'" she says, laughing at the incident today.
As Blackbird’s in-house mixologist, House is part of a small crop of women changing the role of females in the cocktail-making industry.
She has a slender, petite frame (from years of dancing) and an infectious smile, but you won’t find her in scantily clad clothing behind the bar. She’s typically outfitted in slim black pants and a stylish, yet not fussy top.
Blackbird's Lynn House (Photo: Blackbird)
Same goes for DeJorn Huffman, who's an ambassador for Bols Genever by day and behind the stick come night at Kimpton's Sable Kitchen & Bar. It could have easily been a humiliating experience for her when a male patron once pointed to her male counterpart and asked, "Um, can you ask him to make it?" Instead, Huffman looks at the incident as a learning experience and is determined to work to be at the top of her game.
"It has already been proven (by scientific studies) that women have better taste buds than men, so we’re already more ahead in the industry than people think," says Huffman. "The challenge is that we have to work harder and we always have to look polished if we want to be taken seriously in this industry."
House adds, "A guy can get away with wearing hoodies and gym shoes (and casual wear in general), but we can’t (and should not) because we don’t want to give anyone an excuse for saying we’re not good at our jobs."
Huffman and House cut their teeth in mixology—and market-fresh cocktails—with Debbi Peek, the in-house mixologist at The Bristol. Peek had been bartending for about 14 years, but only got serious about it when she took the very first mixology class of Bridget Albert, who many say sparked the cocktail revolution in Chicago.
Debbi Peek of The Bristol. (Photo: The Bristol)
"I think a lot of Chicago bartenders owe a lot to her," says Peek. "I think she gave more credibility to the profession, and it’s more acceptable for women to do it. Before, when you thought of women bartenders you pictured short skirts and tight tops and girls just in it for the money."
As president of the Illinois Chapter-USBG (United States Bartenders Guild), Peek says she'd like to see even more women consider bartending as a career and not just something to do while they’re waiting to land an acting or modeling gig.
She's so high profile, in fact, that she’ll be representing the United States in the International Bartenders Association's "World Cocktail Challenge"—her third such honor—in Singapore in November 2010. She'll compete in the "classic" category, where she’ll be charged with making five different versions of the same drink.
The competition has been going on for almost 60 years, and Peek is almost certain there were no women participants during those early days.
They've come a long way indeed, baby.
Here are some of their favorite winter-weather cocktails certain to keep you warm all season:
Starry Night (Lynn House):
1 oz Ron Zacapa rum
1.5 oz Jans Dutch Liqueur
3 oz hot coffee
Angostura-infused whipped cream
Vanilla sugar
In a coffee or Irish coffee mug layer in Ron Zacapa rum, then Jans, and top with hot coffee. Top with two spoonfuls of Angostura cream and dust with vanilla sugar.
Hot Buttered Rum (Debbi Peek)
1 ½ oz Dark Rum
1 Tb Buttered Rum Batter
6 oz hot water
Top with grated fresh nutmeg.
Buttered Rum Batter
1 stick butter softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
Holland Toddy (DeJorn Huffman)
.75 honey syrup
½ fresh lemon juice
.75 yellow chartreuse
1.75 Bols Genever
3 sprigs of time
Shake dry; double strain. Fill with hot water and garnish with lemon slice(s).