Josh’s Introduction:
Welcome to Independent Study Day. A lot of you have been here before, but as a reminder: Independent Study Day was something that Jess and I created because we saw some gaps that needed filling. We call this Independent Study Day because we want you to step outside your usual classroom…or bar to learn from outsiders. You know, the people that you aren’t on top of for 35 or 50 hours a week.
We want you all talking with each other about how you run your bars. Any problems that you might be having, or anything you are super excited about. We all get better by talking with each other in a not-necessarily prescribed way.
We know that Toronto, even when you work in spaces that have you talking with guests as part of your job, can be a tough city to get a grasp on. Making friends, especially after lockdowns is hard and I think that Toronto, specifically, has become a less open and friendly place than it was 5 years ago. So we have this space for you all to make friends at. Sometimes it will work or maybe come easy to you, but if it doesn’t and you decide to move to some other city, we hope that you will have more luck. And if you are 23 and decide to move to Banff, I can promise you’ll have great time. Thanks to Will Clegg who has been showing up for the last 6 months or so but has decided to go play somewhere else.
Valley of Mother of God Gin is our sponsor this month. If you haven’t gotten familiar with the Valley of The Mother Of God yet, be sure to talk with them after Andrew and I are done. Get that side by side original recipe vs smoked gin. Really taste it. Really think about what that gin might work with when you go back to your bar feeling inspired.
Before getting down to it, please make sure that you write your instagram handle on the white board near the front if you haven’t already. If you have ideas for what you would want to talk about at Independent Study Day or any other Bartender Atlas gathering, please write it down and add it to the suggestion Yarai at that end of the bar.
After the talk, we will have tacos and the aforementioned Gin tasting and the opportunity to hang out with people in the room that you don’t know yet.
But now, our guest this month is Andrew Toplack.
Andrew Toplack doesn’t own a bar. He doesn’t manage a bar. He doesn’t have any spirited awards and has never showed up on a 50 best List. He has seldom if ever worked until 4am behind a bar or had to clean out a glass washer. But he is easily one of the most important people in Toronto’s bar and cocktail communities.
For almost 30 years Andrew has sought out and sometimes imported some of the most interesting esoteric spirits on the planet. Some of those spirits are in your rails now. He is the organizer and facilitator of the Toplack sessions which are free bar and booze oriented seminars that feature local and international talent. Sometimes these are about ways to open bars, sometimes they are about bitters. He has an email list that is 13 pages long and if you want to know about local cocktail oriented events, you should be on that list.
See the interview HERE