I am always very proud when I see Latines winning and succeeding in our industry. Making noise, landing in top positions, being nominated, being recognized, being featured, and most importantly leading by example, working harder than the person next to them. Winning by merit, no shortcut.
Through my travels, guest shifts, and events around the world, I’ve been able to connect with a lot of people, a lot of latines, front and back of house, and I love hearing their stories… what were they doing before the bar industry, how is their family doing, when did they migrate, how tough has it been, how are you now?… and everyone’s story is different, but they all will have one that will give you goosebumps, or more often than not, will make your eyes watery.
As Latines, we need to build stronger bonds so we can build a stronger community, and the first step is through honest human connection. We need to start taking time to really get to know each other and know each other’s stories. Where do we come from and how did we get here? What are our passions and where do we strive to go? It’s my hope that we first, as Latines, start working more together, collaborate more, and also work harder to educate ourselves about our heritage, so we can proudly share more with the world.
There’s already a very positive wave and buzz focusing on latine culture, in the last few years I’ve seen how more and more cultures from around the world are embracing Latine culture. Our music, our food, our dancing, our distillates, our colors, our flavor, our sazón!… And on the Latine side, more people being proud of their accent, of their last name, eager to showcase their native flavors, wave their flag.
I believe the future is very bright for our community. Big personalities from our industry in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Peru, Colombia, and Argentina, to name a few, are making a lot of noise bringing their flavors and their heritage to other markets and sharing it with the world. In May of this year, at a festival in Mexico City, I was very proud to see how so many of the big bars in the city focused on bringing guests not just from Asia, Europe, and the US, but actually from different parts of Colombia and Puerto Rico. Latines supporting Latines. In a city with so many international eyes, and where for the last few years, all I would see were bars only bringing bars from non-Latine countries, that made me very proud to witness. I’ve always said, if we don’t start by supporting each other, no one will.
On the brand’s side, I have also seen a positive shift where more and more support is being given to showcase the heritage of Latine countries, but mostly from brands of Agave distillate, Rum, and recently Gin, with Gins being produced in Mexico and Venezuela. This has opened opportunities for the creativity of many bartenders from the Latine community to showcase their flavors from back home. Now, other spirits such as scotch, brandies, vodka, and cognacs, are still farther away from incorporating Latine flavors or bartenders into their marketing campaigns, and I think there’s a big opportunity there. For example, Shochu works great with Caribbean flavors!
So I hope that in the future, it is not only spirits with Latine decent who work or incorporate Latine flavors and work with Latin bartenders, but also spirits that not necessarily were born within Latine lands.
On a more personal note, someone asked me the other day what motivates me and keeps me wanting to pursue more as a Latine bartender, and for me, there’s three things:
- One is of course self-motivation to be the best you can be. You have to want it. And this comes from values that my family taught me since I was very little, that whatever you do in life you better give your 110%. If you are going to do something you better do it right or not bother at all.
- Second, is passion. I’m constantly and every day driven by passion to carve myself a space in this industry that I felt in love with. The best industry in the world, where I have met so many wonderful people and have lived so many incredible moments, so to be able to make a good living out of this industry I need to carve a path and create enough value for people to buy. Because life is about creating value.
- And third is as a Latino and Venezuelan. I’m very proud of where I come from and the language that I learned how to speak when I was born. I am proud of my journey and the journey that a lot of us latines have had to endure to get what we want and what we have. I learned a lot from growing up in my country, and it is my intention to represent it everywhere I go.
As far as other things that motivate me, I love giving back. I am where I am because a lot of people helped me, and still do. So I am always looking to give back, being that through photography, or by sharing my learnings either that I’ve gotten through experience, through mentors, or through my past jobs in the corporate world, where I have worked for the last 16 years. There’s a talk that I’ve shared with a lot of people from my Latine community and it is called “From Zero to One”, here I talk about how to monetize your skills as bartenders outside the bar, and also how to be “more professional” when we are navigating through opportunities that are available for bartenders outside the bar.
Lastly, I want to close out with things that I still believe that big corporations can help, not only the Latine community but the industry as a whole. We work in the alcohol industry, and alcohol is a drug, a very addictive one. Service industry workers are very much in contact with it, and have very easy access to it, so I wish there were also campaigns and education focused on the effects of alcohol on our bodies, and on creating conscience about its use. Also, ergonomics in the workplace, the right postures, exercises, and how to condition our bodies to endure those long and demanding shifts. How should we stretch before a shift? Moreover, could brands sponsor English classes for one or two bartenders in a region? – And lastly, mental health, meditation, the benefits of eating healthy, and yoga, among so many other things that could be so beneficial to our communities and that could keep helping shape our future as professionals in the service industry.
Tiangui
- 2 Dashes of saline solution
- 8 drops of wormwood tincture
- 20 ml of tamarind water
- 20 ml Mamey Tea cordial
- 40 ml Patron Tequila Reposado
Wormwood Tincture:
- 40 g – Wormwood
- 200 ml – Tequila Patron Silver
- 40 g – Agave
Sous vide ingredients at 60 degrees celsius for 18 hours. Then filter.
Tamarind Water:
- 250 g Tamarind
- 350 ml Hot Water
- Peel the tamarinds.
- Steep the tamarinds in the hot water for two hours.
- Strain and clarify.
Mamey Tea cordial
- 100 g Mamey Tea
- 100 g Agave Syrup
Mix both ingredients and whisk until agave dissolves into the mamey tea.
Mamey Tea:
- 125 g Mamey pulp
- 365 g Pericon Tea (3 g Pericon herbs mixed with 240 g Hot Water)
- Weigh the ingredients and blend together in the blender.
- Filter and clarify through a coffee filter.
