In this flavorful conversation with Ivy Mix, author of Spirits of Latin America, some of the topics we discuss include:
- Ivy's background in the bar world, including her philanthropic work as a co-founder of Speed Rack.
- How Spirits of Latin America is tied intimately to Leyenda - a pan-Latin bar that Ivy designed in partnership with Julie Reiner of Clover Club.
- Why this book is as much a travelogue as it is a cocktail book. Yes - there are recipes, and yes - there is information on different spirits. But the soul of this book is also rooted in people and place. We dig into all this at great length.
- An interesting perspective shift in the form of a case study on the Havana, Cuba bartending scene, where bartenders tend to have more advanced degrees than their clients.
- We also dig really deep into Ivy's cocktail workshopping practices at Leyenda - which generated a number of cocktails in her book. It's almost impossible to summarize, except to say that she incorporates spreadsheets, improv, mad libs, and formal art crits. It sounds insane, but it's completely interesting and compelling.
- To cap it all off, we talk about bar hacks for getting esoteric booze in the quarantine era, the romance of split base cocktails, the problem with everyone wanting to be a National Geographic photographer, what to drink with Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- And much, much more
