Get to Know Chilled 100 Bartender Rich Williams
By Chilled Magazine
Currently based in downtown Los Angeles, Chilled 100 member Rich Williams tends bar at the restaurant Otium
A simultaneously casual and upscale joint, a combination that Williams notes is difficult to achieve.
Williams has been working behind the bar since his college days also supplementing his income by continuing to work part-time well into his “real world” career in marketing. It was about ten years ago when he realized that he felt his happiest when working behind the bar. “It was like a light bulb clicked on!” he says. “I fell in love with the controlled chaos of it all, the feeling of being on stage, and the immediate feedback bartending provides.”
For Williams, his favorite ingredient is his go-to modifier when he is coming up with riffs on classic recipes. “Cynar is my jaaammm!!!” he remarks.
“Sometimes I have a specific ingredient or flavor profile I am utilizing,” explains Williams about his process of coming up with riffs of drinks. “Sometimes just a cocktail name will materialize, and I build a cocktail to fit the name. Sometimes there’s a general theme or color scheme I’m looking for. I guess the only specific process for me is constantly thinking cocktails and jotting down ideas.” Williams also notes that cocktail culture is continuing along the path that focuses on physical and mental health and creates cocktails accordingly.
His best advice to other bartenders? “Always listen to your shake. Ask yourself: is there enough ice in the tin? Was the ice fresh and dry? These factors will affect your cocktail.”
Whiskey Mango Foxtrot
Ingredients:
- 1/4 oz. Cruzan Black Strap Rum
- 1/2 oz. Plantation Pineapple
- 1 oz. Michter’s Rye
- 3/4 oz. lime juice
- 1/4 oz. simple syrup (or 1 barspoon rich simple)
- 1 oz mango puree
- 1/4 oz. Banane Du Bresil
- 1/2 oz. Aperol
- Preparation: Whip with crushed ice, dump, top with crushed ice
Preparation: Garnish with chili mango, dehydrated lime, mint sprig.