Drinking in America

If you’re from Boston or ever spent any time there, you probably know two things: the people like to drink and they like to do it at Eastern Standard. Located just an Adrian Gonzalez homerun away from Fenway Park, Eastern Standard serves up some of the city’s best cocktails. Perhaps some of the local nine will be popping champagne corks here in October?

When you do visit, keep an eye out for Assistant Bar Manager, Kevin Martin. He makes a mean drink and an even better interview.

With Eastern Standard just around the corner from the world-famous Fenway Park, how do the beer drinking baseball fans mix with the cocktail crowd?

Game days have this energizing intensity, between slinging beers and highballs we’re stirring Sazerac Cocktails and dry shaking egg drinks all while being 5 people deep.  While the beer drinking crowd enjoys their cold brews they always inquire about the cocktails we’re spinning and more often that not will try one out.  It’s a great mix of people, I love watching people sipping on Jack Roses and Final Wards in a sea Red Sox jerseys.

Do most people order a specific drink or put their fate in your hands?

A lot of people while order their default as their first drink and through the evening will watch the different cocktails over the bar.  After a couple questions and short conversation, they have one of our house cocktails in their hand.  Others come in and say make me what you feel like or I like gin and sherry, we take them as they come, either way, if you’re happy I’m happy.

We had the martini trend. Then the single malt scotch trend. The single barrel bourbon trend. The high-end tequilas. What’s next?

Aged cocktails, maybe.  Ever think what a Martinez would taste like after three months in a sherry barrel, or how a Marconi Wireless would change after 2 months in a bourbon barrel?  I think this could get really interesting and take some serious trial and error.  Imagine bellying up to a bar and ordering a four-month-old Negroni?  Just a guess…

Tell us about one nightmare night behind the bar?

I would say one epic night was when I had just started working at Eastern Standard, and I was on the bar with two tenders and a bar back.  It was a usual weekday night with a good dinner crowd. Once the flow was established, we cut the third bartender. That left me, another bartender and the bar back.  What we didn’t know was there was a sold out concert down the street that was about to let out.  I feel like everyone from that concert ended up at ES. We were four people deep and there were only two of us on a 41 foot bar. No matter what we did we couldn’t keep up.  Needless to say we now keep track of the concerts down the street.

Finally, somebody asks you what you do for a living. Your answer -bartender or mixologist?

I say bartender.