July / August 2010

John Myers

“The Mix Daddy”

Sling spot: The Corner Room on Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fridays

Signature drink: “I make a pretty good Sazerac for being so far north of New Orleans.”

On being our most-named bartender crush: “I guess it’s better than being totally hated and vilified.”

Virgin beginnings: Percy’s Café in Vermont. “I used to tend bar during the 10 cent chicken wing night. No one else could deal with the crowd, which was mostly bikers. After that I went to the Toledo Lounge in [Washington] D.C.”

The Portland difference: Honesty. “The crowd [in Washington, D.C.] is pretty much the same; there are about the same number of lawyers…except that the Portland lawyers seem to actually practice law instead of just messing around in it.”

Sticking point: Freedom from cubicle confinement.

Memorable tip: One penny. “A guy walked in at 11 a.m. and ordered a beer. His tab came to $4.01, and he paid with his credit card. For a tip he wrote ‘$0.01. It wasn’t the biggest tip I ever got, but it was my favorite; I framed the receipt and had it hanging on my wall…”

How to become a master mixologist: Books and beer. “I have two to three hundred books sitting on my shelf at home dating back to the 1800s…I did all of my learning by reading and hanging out in bars.”

Trait of an excellent bartender: Abnormality. “Anybody can make drinks…[It] takes an abnormal person to handle the weird, emotional rollercoaster that is working at a restaurant.”

Personal poison: Ever-changing. “It’s like Sprite says, you’ve got to ‘Obey your thirst.’ At the Commercial Street Pub, it’s Miller High Life. At Grace, it’s beer, but then if I go to the Regency, it will be a Manhattan…”

If Portland were a drink: Cruzan Black Strap julep. “Portland’s history in the rum trade would [play a part] in it. It would be ice cold and slushy, with a bit of green for our six weeks of summer.”