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| source: copyright Michael Young, 2013 |
For those of you who don’t
already know him, Brother Cleve is responsible for building and reinvigorating
Boston’s cocktail scene. This is not an exaggeration. He has been doing this
for over 30 years and generously so. He has trained some of the greatest bartenders
around the city from Jackson Cannon of
Eastern Standard,
Island Creek Oyster Bar and
The Hawthorne to
Misty Kalkofen formally of
Drink the list goes on. When
he’s not bartending, he’s making music. He’s also a well known DJ and
for creating lounge music as a member of the musical group,
Combustible Edison.
When I first heard of who he is
and that I will be meeting with him to work with 9tailors for a
bourbon-tastingevent, I was very nervous. I more so sat and watched and listened to 9tailors
owner, Samantha Shih and him talk. I nervously chimed in from time to time,
trying to make sure I didn't say anything overly eager or something for the
sake of not staying completely silent the whole time. He ended up being very
social and full of storytelling about his experiences.
One of his current positions is
being a Beverage Consultant at
Delta Group LLC in Boston. I got to ask him a
few questions and here is what he had to say:
Briefly describe your products, services and company.
“We offer a variety of services
and bars, including consulting on food and beverage menus, staff training,
social media and website design, architectural design, and financial management/evaluation/investment
services. Aside from the company, I also create cocktails for events (which I
often bartend as well). And I’ve been in the music industry for over 30 years,
performing around the world in bands (I play keyboard instruments and as a DJ.
I’ve scored music for television and films, and create soundscapes/sound design.
My clients have included Cinemax/HBO, Universal Studios Orlando, Discovery
Channel, among them.”
Please provide a brief background of yourself and your co-founders.
“The Foodservice sector of the
company is run by Henry Patterson, a 35-year veteran of the industry, and
former owner of the Bel Canto chain of restaurants, which he sold in 1991. I
met Henry in 2012, when he brought me in as Director of Beverage Programming. I
have been involved with cocktail development since the late 1980s, and have created
drink menus at many establishments and events since that time”
When did you join the company?
“2012”
Why did you decide to star your business?
“I am not the owner of this
business, just part of the a team. That said, I am also hired on my own by
individuals looking for signature cocktails for parties, weddings, or other
sorts of events. And I have been a DJ since the mid-90s, spinning in the clubs
all around the world. I also work corporate parties, house parties, weddings,
special events of all kinds. With around 10,000 records and CD’s and 50,000
digital music files, I can safely say I have something to please everyone”
What is unique about your products, services and company?
“My passion has always been the
alchemy involved in creating something new from diverse elements, be it in
music creation or mixing as a DJ or mixing as a bartender. I love to create a
flow in sound or in liquid. And, like an actor, I like to look the part.
Because one of my main styles has been with lounge music and cocktails, much of
my look has been built on retro/modernism, which sounds like a dichotomy but
really isn’t. But I also do things like tropical parties, where I dress in a
South of the Border/South Pacific hybrid. Or I can spin South Asian/Bollywood
music while dressed in Nehru suit. It’s all like parts in a play”
What is your favorite piece of advice that you tell your customers
about your product?
“Be it music or cocktails, having
some sort of theme for an event is always a fun approach. It gives a great
starting point and gives a way to tie everything – food, drink, music, décor,
fashion – together. I think it makes everything more memorable for the guest.
And the guest should be your number one priority”
What’s trending in your industry/field/business?
“Cocktails have grown enormously
in popularity since when I got started, which is when they were at their lowest
ebb. You couldn't even buy things like bitters back then, unless you searched
extra hard (I bout Orange Bitters in Indiana, for instance… the only place I could
find them! Now I can buy them at my local supermarket). Techniques like
barrel-aged and bottle-aged cocktails, carbonated cocktails, things like that,
as well as the plethora of (often local) craft spirits and imports of small
global brands…there is a wealth of flavors available to craft into tasty
libations. In music, things always move forward, and the internet has brought
the world of music and the music of the world closer together; you don’t have
to search fro records in piles of rubble (as I did for many years in the
bazaars of India, digging for tracks which will be on my new compilation
“Bombay Disco”, due out in Spring 2014). And while vinyl records have become
popular for the first time in a generation, advances in software for DJ’s and
producers has made it inherently easier to mix and produce music, even on
something as compact as an IPad. It’s amazing how far things have advanced in a
relatively short amount of time”
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| source: GQ, December 1996 by Dewey Nicks |
Where can my customers buy more of your products?
“Currently, I have a menu of
cocktails at First Printer in Harvard Sq, Cambridge, and at Rovezzi’s, an
award-winning Italian restaurant out in Sturbridge, in Central Massachusetts.
I’ve had cocktails on menus at places like Eastern Standard, Legal Seafoods,
Back Bar, Drink (well they don’t really have a menu…), Brick & Mortar, Noir
and many others”
What is your favorite drink? Why?
"The Manhattan has been my favorite cocktail for almost 40 years. I've even done lectures/seminars on its history at cocktail conventions and at universities. It's a simple drink to make, but also very simple to make incorrectly, so that's why it's my litmus test for bartenders. A well made one has the perfect balance between sweet, bitter and bracing, which is probably why its retained its popularity since the first one was poured back in 1873. I prefer mine made with American Rye whiskey, the spirit used when it was first mixed"
Anything else you would like to include?
“I also create, and serve,
original cocktails fairly often at
Redstar Union (redstarunion.com), a very
cool and intimate performance space in Kendal Square. You can only get access
to it by going to the website”
