THL: What are your other gigs and interests?

Vice President of the Oregon Bartenders Guild, a chapter of the USBG (United States Bartenders Guild). I help out at the OBG Cocktail Cart, the first of its kind, and make craft cocktails in the rain on occasion.

THL: What is something that best represents your personality?

Don't ask me, ask Joe Esposito and Ralph Macchio:
or Watch This

THL: What is your bartending style?

2 parts Hospitality
1 part Fun
1 part Craft
Dash of wack-a-doo

THL: How do you find inspiration for new cocktails and recipes?

The most inspiring part of what I do is work alongside talented people, sharing ideas and trading techniques that help us grow as a community. There is no better time in history to be a bartender, and no better place than Portland!

THL: Besides bartending, what things do you do well?

Ordering. It's taken me a lifetime but through hard work, dedication, and some great mentors I've learned a thing or two about how to order well at any given restaurant/bar at any given time.

THL: Ever had any strange customer requests while bartending?

Aside from a few hotel keys left on the bar, I've been challenged to a one-armed pushup contest and been asked to serve mezcal from a ladle.

THL: What is your favorite after-shift drink?

Cheap lager and a fernet

THL: What is the one thing you can’t live without from your home liquor cabinet?

The amari. Jeez, I just don't know what I'd do without a lil Ramazzotti in my life.

THL: What is the most underrated cocktail?

The Old Fashioned. It's remarkable that even now, with craft bars springing up all over the country, you can order an old fashioned and get a completely different drink at every bar.

THL: What is the test of a great bartender?

A truly great bartender cares more about the people at his bar than what's sitting on the back bar.