I'm starting this thread for newcomers to the forum. While posting is limited to forum members, you're welcome to sign up for access here.

What we ask, before granting access to anyone and everyone, is that you drop us an email at the main Guild address [info at oregon bar guild dot org] and introduce yourself before applying for forum membership.

Upon approval, we also request that you make your first post in this thread and introduce yourself to the rest of the Oregon Bartenders Guild forum members. I'll go first.

My name is Jeffrey Morgenthaler. I'm a bartender at Bel Ami in Eugene, and I've been tending bar for 12 years.

My first bartending job was in a tavern, and only to help pay some bills while I was in college. That first job taught me a lot about people, but very little about other aspects of bartending. I stayed at that job for four years and fell in love with the profession.

Over the years I worked in all sorts of bars, from clubs to restaurants and just about anything in between. During this time, I developed a passion for classic cocktails and became a voracious reader, collecting all manner of books on the subject. Unfortunately, many of the recipes called for items that were no longer available.

Working in restaurants gave me not only an appreciation for fresh, seasonal ingredients, but also an insight to the world of culinary techniques. Soon I was making my own replacements for some of the items called for in those old recipes.

I began writing about my drinks - and bartending in general - on my website several years ago. The website has grown in size and popularity as time has passed, and has given me not only a much-needed outlet, but has also put me in contact with some extremely knowledgeable people from whom I have learned a great deal about bartending.

I formed the Oregon Bartenders Guild with the seven other board members (I hope some of them will introduce themselves here) primarily as a way to further my lifelong education, and to hopefully pass some of that information along to my fellow Oregon bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts. We have some brilliant minds here in the state and I look forward raising awareness about the mixological revolution that is taking place here.

That's about it. I'd love to hear how you ended up here, so let us know who you are and what you'd like to achieve by being here.

Sometimes I just can't catch a break. I've got to follow Morgenthaler AND Neil Kopplin?

I'm Lance Mayhew, currently president of the OBG and more importantly, one of the people lucky enough to have the opportunity to form the only independent bartenders guild in the united states with 7 of the most talented bartenders that i know.

I've been behind the bar for 14 years. I turned 21 and within a month I was behind the bar at Stuart Anderson's Black Angus Fun Bar (you can always tell a great bar when they have to throw the word fun into what they are doing). From Stuart Anderson's I learned volume bartending (we used to be a huge nightclub in addition to a steakhouse) and how to make every variation of a LIT under the sun. I've bartended all over since then, from nightclubs to fine dining. As I've aged, bartending has gone from a good way to make easy money and meet lots of girls to a craft that I have developed a real passion for. I'm at a point in my life where I can afford to be picky. If I'm going to enjoy a cocktail I'd like it to be made correctly and with care. Thats not to say that I'm a snob by any stretch of the imagination. I still like beers and shots after a hard shift, but mixed drinks have the ability to go far beyond ordinary in the right hands. I love giving my guests that experience and sharing my passions with others.

I was lucky enough to meet Jeff Morgenthaler this past summer, and not only do I enjoy sharing a passion with cocktails with him, but he inspired me to begin my own (although not as famous) blog <a href="http://www.lancejmayhew.blogspot.com/">here</a>.

We're going to be doing some really interesting things in the near future here at the OBG and we're committed to not only raising the standard of our craft here in Oregon, but also showing the rest of the country just how good things already are here.

Welcome to our forum!

Hi all, I'm Erik Ellestad. I already sort of did this, but, I'll add a little extra info about me...

I am a cocktail enthusiast, blog author, and contributor to the DrinkBoy and eGullet.org forums, where I usually go by a nom de web like: eje, ejellest, or erik_flannestad.

I grew up in a small Midwestern town and went off to college at a nearby city. I soon found I had spent all my paper route money on beer, records, and comic books. I needed to get a job and Brat and Brau was hiring.

I discovered I really enjoyed cooking and ended up working for 10 years in the food service industry. In that time I filled just about every possible back of house role (short of "chef") from dish washer to the kitchen manager of the wholesale and supply operation of a local Southwestern restaurant chain.

Finding myself behind the brunch toaster at a not very nice job in Berkeley, CA, at 30, I decided I needed to get out of Food Service, before my wrists and knees gave out. Through connections with friends, I ended up as a Quality Assurance tester at a computer game company in Northern California. I currently work in technology for a University in San Francisco.

Even though, I got out of food service professionally, I remain a committed flavor junkie. Few things please me more than experiencing a new combination of tastes and smells that tickle my senses and tweak my cortex. For the last bunch of years, along with food, cocktails have become an interest (obsession, my wife would say.)

My name is Blair Reynolds, aka Trader Tiki, tikimonkey, houston, houstronx

I'm originally from San Jose, CA, with various stints in Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, SoCal, and most recently, Portland, OR.

I've been writing on the internet in some way, shape, or form since the late 90s, starting with a few sites at GameSpy, and eventually independent sites, covering LAN parties and network gaming. Professionally, I've spent most of my time in the video game and other software industry (like, Erik, starting in QA). I am currently working in e-commerce as a... well, I consider myself the Plan D (if you've read Anthony Bourdain) of the internet, pulling together whatever I can to make it work. I've also spent a few years in the food service during the times when computer work was slow, managing an independently owned pizza delivery shop, and bartending, hosting, cooking, cashiering and serving at the restaurant portion of the business.

I currently work from home, which gives me plenty of time to write, research, and drink at my home bar, Reynolés Galley.

I'll make an awful admission, that I did indeed go to bartending school in San Francisco many, many years ago. It was great learning for someone who didn't know much at the time, though the colored water was... well, not good. It was nice to get some time behind a speedrail and ice well.

Craig, who you'll see on the boards, has been a huge influence, and really got me started towards the one-way slope we call the finer side of drinking. When we met, I was 19, with a bottle of chilled Jaeger permanently attached to my face. Since then, I was introduced to tiki cocktails, Martin Cate of Forbidden Island, as well as many aspects of fine food and drink. Thanks, you magnificent bastard.

I'll soon be hosting Tiki Third Tuesdays at Teardrop, and look forward to being part of bringing cocktails from the era of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic back into the spotlight.

Welcome Jessica. Professional experience is no requirement to be a part of our forums. We are happy to have you.

Congratulations Craig! Welcome to the craft.

Greetings all, I'm Robert Hess... perhaps better known as "DrinkBoy".

Technically you could say I got my start in 1997 when I was planning a "home bar" and realized that I probably should actually know what to "do" in a home bar, so I started down the path of teaching myself about cocktails. I was fortunate enough to run across HotWired's "Cocktail" site run by Paul Harrington. Each week they featured a different drink, and I would simply focus on that one drink for the entire week, making it using the websites recipe, as well as searching out other recipes and trying them as well in order to discover how the various recipes differed. The rest, as they say, is history.

-Robert

Jeff... I think I have a full "snapshot" of Paul's site let me see if I can prep it up in a distributeable manner.

This is Matthew, who goes by the handle Ouroboros on this board and elsewhere on teh intaworbs. Perhaps we've played pong in some other forum.

I was living in the East Basy during the fallout from the dot-bomb. This was after Paul Harrington had moved north, but you could still chance upon a good bartender. The house I lived in (two homebrewers, two bakers, an elementary school teacher, a theology student, a film history student, a soprano) had a copy of Harrington's book. And we spent a year tasting it A-Z, dog-eared and stained the pages of our favorites.

When I moved to Portland, I grew into the role of bartender of the house (a programmer, a cellist, a recovering journalist, an activist, a homebrewer). I man the bar for our parties, put together a happy hour now and then, and push drinks before dinner. I do a fair amount of cooking, and I do enjoy reverse-engineering tastes.

I have the bad habits of someone who has never worked a bartending job (little-to-no speed, few things memorized, not enough clean towels). I will be working on that.

I am here to learn everything I can from those who are, and will be regarded as, the best mixologists in Oregon. I am here to trade: ideas, recipes, materials (really, what individual would need two liters of pimento dram?). And I am here to serve as taster and critic, with discipline.

welcome all.

Hey everyone.

I signed up out of peer pressure. My spiritual guru yoga barista suggested that the OBG would help me max out my 401(k) without the use of trans-fat and still keeping my night and weekend minutes. Thanks, OBG! You're the Awesomus Prime!

Hello, I’m Alyson and I am a bartender and server at Teardrop Cocktail Lounge. Sorry to be so late to post…
I think I came to love classic cocktails because I started drinking whisk(e)y when I was ever so slightly underage- it seems nobody in California carded a girl ordering scotch or bourbon, but I digress. Learning how to drink brown spirits quickly grew into a love for my first and favorite cocktail, the Manhattan.
I worked in the service industry for years and was waiting tables in San Francisco at a restaurant called Annabelle’s when a cocktail server position was offered to me. I was anxious to be behind the bar, and quickly found the bartenders were more than happy to let me mix my own drinks as often as I wanted. They gave me their advice, I read books, and I was fortunate to be around a number of individuals who knew way more about classic cocktails than the average bartender.
I finally turned 21 and was able to start legitimately mixing cocktails. Soon after I moved to Portland. I bounced around a couple interesting but not incredibly successful bars, including the Driftwood Room (pre Hotel Deluxe), Baraka on Alberta St, and Shula’s steakhouse (Shula’s was interesting in that I had complete freedom behind the bar which many a night meant a favorite cocktail book, a cocktail shaker, and plenty of servers offering tasting notes).
Finally I found happiness (and a much better Manhattan) at Teardrop. Now, my favorite part of bartending is learning something new every day, and realizing that no matter how much I may think I know, I have not even begun to scratch the surface. I look forward to talking, learning, tasting, drinking and trying to scratch the surface with the rest of the forum. Cheers!

My name is Bradley Dawson.

I have been a bartender for eleven years. I am the bartender at Belly Timber, thanks to Lance's reference.

Always searching for new flavors and the freedom to continue my search, I have seen many sides of a restaurant and learned many things about myself. Such as, I love bartending and love learning more about technique and product. I'll remain a life long student to the craft and happily share whatever I have picked up along the way.

There are some really interesting people in the food and beverage industry and that's what keeps me wanting to be a part of it. Lifer.

I also run Jupiter Music Studio as a recording engineer in my spare time.

Food, music and the pursuit of finding the newest and most unique flavors and sounds is the cornerstone of my existence. When I'm not in a bar picking the brain of the bartender you'll see me in a record shop.

Hello everyone, my name is Dane Kingrey. I am not a bartender, or an industry professional, but merely a conspiciously amature cocktail enthusiast. I'm fairly certain that I won't be able to make any valuable contributions to your discussions, but I felt compelled to introduce myself in lieu of feeling like some sort of sleezy voyuer, reading your discussions without your knowledge.

I truly appreciate a well made cocktail. However, since I started frequenting bars, a hundred years ago, the only drinks I ever ordered would be beer, wine, or whisky, over. I very much enjoyed the more upscale bars, loved the atmosphere and had a great time talking with freinds, staff and patrons, but anything other than straight booze was a disappointment. Although when at home, I would make cocktails of all kinds for myself and friends and enjoy them very much.

Mr. Morgenthaler showed me that there were professional bartenders that cared about my drink as much as I did, and were willing to create an extraordinary cocktail rather than just something that contained the (sometimes) correct ingredients. I learned that there was a whole community of people who felt likewise, and I am relishing in the experiences of learning and expanding my cocktail enjoyment. While I currently seem to prefer the simpler, more "classic" cocktails, I am afraid that people like you are going to get me to experiment and broaden into new horizons. I am afraid that my home bar just can't handle the capacity; I am going to have to expand.

Thank you for helping me to expand my personal cocktail enjoyment by sharing your vast knowledge and allowing me to read your very helpful discussions. Cheers!

Numero dos el burro!

[while drinking a mug of Paul Masson brandy ($11/bottle)] "In Vino Veritas" says Doc Holladay in a pivotal Tombstone scene, and in my world that one phrase sums up the allure of booze. They say it's a "depressant" and though that is alcohol's dubious FDA summation we all know it can be many other things: social lubricant, truth serum, escape, obsession, courage, fuzzy-memory-maker, a way to be able to stand ourselves when we look in the mirror... My real name is Aimee Akwai, I'm Alan's sister. 28 years old and still figuring out the answer to "what do I want to be when I grow up?"...I'm in the meantime having a great time bartending at Bay 13 Restaurant in The Pearl. I've actually only tended bar for a total of about 9 months, but what I lack in experience I make up for in charm, balls, and sarcasm. "Piss and vinegar" was how one friend affectionately (and succinctly) put it. I have discriminating tastes that are by no means elitist. My forte is providing customers with what they want. I have a talent for reading people, combining flavors, and perfecting execution. My intention here on the OBG forum is to become better at what I'm currently doing. You can always count on me for an honest opinion. After all, why settle for sweet when you can have scintillating for free? I must say it's been a pleasure to meet many OBG members thus far. Thanks to Jeff for including me on this blog, and also to David and Daniel for their continued warm hospitality at Teardrop Lounge. My boss John Super at Bay 13 has also been a very positive factor in my development as a bartender. Current Favorite Libations: Daniel's Gin-Elderflower concoction A.K.A. "The Sound and the Fury" Jeff's Boodles Gin STIRRED martini "Serenity" (mine) Laphroaig 15 neat Deschutes Greenlakes Organic Ale ;) 'Till next time.

Hi I'm John King,

Originally from Oregon I have since moved to Shanghai (land of many bars). While I'm not a bartender myself I've created an online course for the Alcohol Server Permit Renewals you all have to do. See you around the forum.

John,

Hello All,

I am Robert Fuller. I've been perusing the OBG discussions and attending a few of the meetings, but have yet to add my own thoughts and comments. So, here we go...

I have been bartending for about five years now. I began my tenure in the East Hills of Los Angeles, continued in San Francisco, and feel like I have come home here in Portland. The bar and cocktail lounges of our wonderful city are very inviting with more of an emphasis on the quality of ingredients and balance rather than the previously prevalent flair and often sloppy misrepresentations of cocktails. The sloppy renditions I am not terribly pleased to say I've sent across many a bar. I began as a server turned bartender during school because the tips were better and it was way cooler to say I was a bartender. I have turned from most of my sputtery slinging and entered into the exciting world of balance, quality, craftsmanship, and yes, even the jigger. I have gained so much just in the small exposure I have had with the guild so far and look foreword to much more.

I have the unique opportunity of sharing the bar with Neil Kopplin at Carlyle. He has, ever so kindly, offered instruction and direction in honing my skills behind the bar and has drastically changed the way I approach my craft.

Looking foreword to all that the OBG has to offer and hope I can offer something back now and again. Thanks all,

Rob

I’m Columbine Quillen and I manage and bartend at 28 in Bend, OR.

I’ve been bartending for eight years, unlike most people I didn’t start working in the service industry until after college. An evil ploy of the don’t work much, it’s fun, work at night, make more money handcuffs that snagged me at the age of 22. With an entirely fake resume and the need to get out a restaurant where I was always trying not to get my tits or ass grabbed by the managers or owners (I wish I could say it was a strip club, but no, it was just a pizza/pasta restaurant with horny Italian owners) I got a job at the hot restaurant in that time as the lunch bartender in Denver (before this I had only waited tables). I loved that restaurant. It was beautiful and the staff never had any turnover. Everyone there was a career service industry worker and I learned a ton there. I was really lucky to have that as my first bartending job because I worked for amazing professionals with passion and knowledge and I was able to learn a ton about alcohol because the bar was abunduntly stocked.

Just like anyone else in the service industry, I moved around a lot, mostly staying in fine dining but having a stint here or there in places best left off a resume. After an eight month stint in the Virgin Islands I went back to where my parents lived and ended up managing and bartending at a bar where I could do anything I wanted. I was able to create my own cocktail list and really just do what it takes to make a bar run. My heart was broken to leave that job, as I opened that bar and it really was my baby when I left. But I knew I had to get out of that little town as there was nothing else left for me there.

I came to Bend almost four years ago, finding it the hardest place I’ve ever lived to find a bartending or server job. I eventually got a job when the new Anthony’s opened. I had never worked in a corporate restaurant before and I honestly hope I never have to do it again. The money was good and solid, but my soul was being stripped out of me every time I walked in that building. I was finally offered a job at my dream restaurant which ended with me being fired five months later after an investor complained about me. I had just bought a house and was devastated. I thought I might leave this industry filled with idiot bosses and obnoxious customers so I pursued my jewelry business instead. But I couldn’t stay away and I got a part time job at my current bar 28. I decided 18 months ago to put the jewelry on the backburner and take over managing the bar. I love that bar, I can honestly say I love going to work every night - even when it is hard. I love what I am able to create and taste and mess around with. I work with an amazing staff who sells the hell out of my cocktails and an amazing kitchen who preps almost as hard for the bar as they do for the kitchen.

Check out my blog:

http://stickyswizzles.blogspot.com

Greetings fellow cocktailians.

I'm Gwydion Stone and I'm the maker of Marteau Absinthe, which I distill in partnership with House Spirits Distillery.

Last year, after several years of intensive study as an absinthe geek and founder of the Wormwood Society, I decided it was time to get out there and actually make a proper absinthe, and I went to an insane amount of trouble and expense to make Marteau absolutely authentic.

My journey into cocktailia began with meeting Robert Hess on eGullet several years ago, which as it turns out, wasn't a bad place to start. Fortunately Robert was local and he soon introduced me to Murray, Casey and Ben at ZigZag, Jamie (then at Vessel) and Ryan Magarian, then at Zoë. Ryan introduced me to Christian and Lee at House Spirits, and the rest is history.

Along the way I've become a huge fan of classic and classic style cocktails and never tire of finding out what mixes well with absinthe. Pineapple. Rum. Who knew? Please feel free to give me your fabulous absinthe cocktails.

Other things about me: I used to be an avid fine-woodworker and made Celtic harps up until the mid-1990s, when apartment living forced me to put my shop in storage. I look forward to getting back into it after I move to Portland and get a house.

I've had a lifetime involvement with esoteric studies, beginning in the 1970s, primarily in alchemy, Qabala, Druidism and Gnosticism. I'm a 32° Scottish Rite Freemason and was Master of my Lodge in 2004-2005.

I also love to cook and garden.

Thanks for having me!

Cheers,
~ Gwydion

I've been meaning to post here for quite some time so, hello!

My name is Jade and I live in gorgeous Bend, OR with my awesome boyfriend and dog. I bartend at Greg's Grill under a fabulous bar manager who is always bringing in new goods for us to try. Due to a fire in the kitchen (yes, a fire) I'm on a forced vacation (hence the free time). I've been behind the bar for five years, at all of the usual bars: some nice, some not-so-nice, one really kind of scary. After school, I found my dream job an office job working for the Feds up in Portland and after a year of constant ridicule for my lack of "cubicle flare" and the Office Space jokes that only I understood, I decided to pack up and move to Bend and become a ski bum. And really, what other profession do you get to come into work at 5PM after going skiing all day?

My boyfriend (also a bartender) and I have a great home bar and our other roomate is a brewmaster, so we dedicate many of our free nights to "Research and Development". This is where my bar nerdiness really becomes evident. We mix, read, research, and taste with general merriment. Anyhow, so we're a house of beer/wine/cocktail/cigar/food geeks/snobs/obessive folks who are into general shenanigans and debauchery.

So, with that, I am really digging on a lot of these posts and look forward to learning from all of you here!

Jade