As he prepares to launch a pair of new downtown bars, Bobby Heugel is sizing up one of most powerful enemies to the handcrafted cocktail scene . . . Big Liquor.
The celebrated Anvil owner takes issue with what he calls a "growing hypocrisy" among his fellow bartenders, calling out those who publicly champion culinary heritage while pouring brand-name spirits known to undermine the smaller producers who keep those very traditions alive.
"I'm all for a casual cocktail movement," the mixed-drink guru wrote in a recent Facebook tirade. "But that doesn't mean I'm selling out my integrity because a large brand throws a lot of money in my face, flies me on trips, lowers my bar cost, or hires a hooker as a spirits rep."
"That doesn't mean I'm selling out my integrity because a large brand throws a lot of money in my face, flies me on trips, lowers my bar cost, or hires a hooker as a spirits rep."
Heugel earlier broached the topic in a May interview with CultureMap, explaining that the Pastry War — his forthcoming tequila and mezcal bar at 310 Main — will source more than 80 percent of its product from families he and his Clumsy Butcher cohorts know on a personal level.
But as one of Heugel's Facebook followers points out, the tequila issue gets complicated with a major spirit conglomerate like Beam Inc., which owns family-owned brands (El Tesoro) alongside those with more of an agribusiness approach (Sauza).
"Do you not carry all Beam products because of Sauza?" the commenter asks. "No Knob Creek, no Overholt, no Laphroaig, no Cruzan Blackstrap, no El Tesoro (made by a family you know personally)?"
Heugel admits on Facebook that the Sauza/El Tesoro situation has been tricky for him, but says he wants to support El Tesoro's adamant commitment to sustainability, regardless of the Beam connection.
Click here to follow Heugel's ongoing FB debate and be sure to visit the Tequila Interchange Project website on how to choose your agave spirits responsibly.
Drinks guru Bobby Heugel has taken to Facebook to debate the role of big-business liquor companies in an age of handcrafted cocktails.
