Gratitude.

It’s been almost a month since the launch of this website and I’m grateful and blown away by the support from family and friends. While I’d like to be a bit more active in developing content - it’s coming, I promise - I’ve spent more time since the website’s launch simply speaking with people. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that in my many conversations about cocktail culture, nearly everyone I spoke to (men and women equally) agree that this culture and industry is significantly dominated by men. Luckily, we’ve got some pretty bad-ass female bartenders in Vancouver (Kaitlyn Stewart, Lauren Mote and Katie Ingram immediately come to mind, among many others). That said, we’ve still got a long way to go to ensure women are not only encouraged to lead teams behind the bar but also to create an environment that supports and opens the door for many more to enter.

Now that’s related to the industry itself, but let’s get more meta. Let’s remove all experts regardless of gender. Let’s take the average non-professional, female craft cocktail enthusiast. Here we’re talking about someone whose life does not revolve around this industry - they have other jobs, other things that consume them day to day - but love the experience, art and enjoyment of consuming a finely crafted drink. Some prefer to leave the crafting in the hands of professional mixologists at their favourite establishment, while others love exploring such recipes in their own home bar. Regardless of where on the spectrum these women find themselves, they’re involved, they’re engaged and they’re passionate about this craft. But you don’t hear from them very much. Why is that? I’d like to believe that there’s a narrative there, and perhaps this website will allow them to share their passions, knowledge and opinions. After all, cocktail culture isn’t just about the experts behind the bar, but also society itself that orbits around this culture. With the evolution of consumer perceptions, habits and voice, come changes to industries and societies. 

And we’ll do that one craft beverage at a time.