Shake It Up With: Best Bartender Nominee Douglas Williams of Bottle Boot Cigar

Shake It Up profiles the eight Beijing mixologists that are up for the title of Beijing's Best Bartender in the Beijinger's 2015 Reader Bar and Club Awards (vote here through May 17). Today we talk with Douglas Williams, co-owner and co-founder of Bottle, Boot and Cigar, otherwise known as BBC.

How has BBC gotten to where it is today?
I came to Beijing two years ago on a six month contract, to work at a company that did restaurant and bar consulting. I liked it so much that I decided to stay, and met a few partners that wanted to open our own restaurant and bar consulting firm. After we found a space for an office, we realized “why not open a bar of our own.” So BBC has a sliding door at the back, which leads to a room that’s part office space, part bottle shop, and also a meeting space for us to plan consulting.

What lead to your transition from mere consulting to also being a proprietor?
Well, part of good consulting is providing proof of concept. It’s one thing to say ‘I consulted in Europe and the US and had a high degree of success.” But here in China, the business is so different from back home. I felt that if we had our own space that was successful, then it would be a good way to give people a sense of security that we know the ins and the outs of running a business here in China.

What drink do you pour yourself to unwind at the end of a long day, or after a long shift at the bar?
It varies a bit, but being from San Francisco, a lot of my friends and I would drink fernet, this bitter amaro from Italy. I’ll occasionally pour some for my Chinese staff to try, and they tell me it’s like Chinese medicine: bitter and herbal [laughs]. Having a drink like that is amazing for me at the end of the day. And sometimes when I’m finishing up, I’ll have a cigar and sip on some rum or Spanish brandy. My favorite rum at the moment is one from this company called Plantation. It’s from Plantation, a city in Jamaica. The bottle I have was bottled in 2001. It’s really special, full of flavor, and definitely takes the edge off a bit.

Back up a bit  why would you drink something that tastes like Chinese medicine?
[Laughs] In San Francisco, drinking fernet is a rite of passage. We bartenders say: “Once you can drink that, you know you’ve cut your teeth in the business.” It’s appealing to me because it’s bitter, and it’s very settling  especially after you eat Thai or Sichuan food, it’ll really settle your stomach. But because it’s bitter and has herbs, it reminds Chinese people of the medicine they had when they were kids. And there’s some merit to that  when I was a kid, I could find fernet in the same aisle at Walgreens as the other stomach medicines. It was a loop hole for buying alcohol in 80s, for us ‘Frisco kids that weren’t yet 21.

What are your favorite bars, clubs and restaurants in Beijing?
I love to go to see Eric at Mao Mao Chong. He used to work with a bunch of my friends and I when I consulted at (the now closed) Apothecary, and I’m glad to see him doing so well at Mao Mao Chong’s now. And every once in awhile I’ll swing by Cafe de la Poste to check in with all the characters there. It’s a bit of a dive, but it has a fantastic atmosphere and great people, it’s such an awesome place.

In your expert opinion, what kind of drinks go best with cigars?
It’s hard to choose, because there’s really so many different cigars that are unique as far as flavor goes. Some have a lighter wrapper, so they tend to be more dry, almost like a tea or wine that gives you that dry tannin feeling in your throat. I like to pair that kind of cigar with a sweeter drink, or at least one with residual sugar, like a nice aged rum. Then there’s the cigars that you typically see with really dark wrappers, that look almost black. Those already have a sweetness and roundness of flavor, so I pair them with something drier like cognac or Spanish brandy. I look at it like pairing a drink with a desert or a food item.

On the flipside, how can cigars augment the drinking experience?
With cigars you’re not inhaling the smoke, so it’s just a “mouth feel” thing. Whether it’s the lightly wrapped bitter cigars, or the heavier ones with the sweeter flavor, they all can complement the beverage amazingly well, when paired correctly.

Tell us about the drink that you’re preparing for us today.
This is a little variation on the classic Negroni cocktail (pictured above). We have a few signature drinks, and this is one of the most popular. It has Royal Dock gin, from Hayman’s, which is navy strength, so it has that extra punch to it. I make it with La Quintinye Rouge sweet vermouth, then some Campari, and two bar spoons of coffee tincture, which is the essence of coffee you get after steeping it in alcohol. The coffee tincture adds a lot of complexity to the Negroni, adding some bitterness that really rounds out flavor. We sell quite a few Negronis, and do lots of variations on it like this, although this variation is one of our most popular. It’s a great way to add a twist on a classic. 

Want another round? Follow the Shake It Up series here ... and don't forget to honor your favorite Beijing watering hole before May 17 here.

Image: Ken