Black Hat Shack Bar

The heroes of our new interview are the manager of the Black Hat Shack Bar, Maxim Alferov, and the bartender of the Black Hat Shack Bar, Nikita Kostylkov. We talked to them about tiki, the importance of job training and, of course, their love for the profession.

Tell us a little about yourself, how did you get into this profession?

Maxim: My name is Maxim, and I am the manager and part-time senior bartender here.

Nikita: My name is Nikita, I'm the bartender and the head of Hawaiian shirts here.

Maxim: He always has the coolest outfit here!

Nikita: I stand out a little.

Maxim: How did we get into this field... We, like many, were in our student years. I was offered to go to study at school, at the bartending association. At that time I didn’t even think that I would work as a bartender, I just went to study. A week later I got an internship at a restaurant, studied at the same time, studied in an association and worked. Then I received a diploma, first decided that the restaurant industry was not for me at all, and then went through all the stages from barback to bar manager. So I got there.

Why did you think that restaurant business was not your thing?

Maxim: I was very bored at first, not at ease: polishing dishes, making coffee. Let's just say there wasn't a good teacher in the restaurant. That's why I thought.

Why did you change your mind?

Maxim: Because I realized that the restaurant industry is different from the bar industry. I really wanted to get there, at that moment there were still clubs in Tomsk, and it was always fun, it was interesting.

Nikita: And everything is getting more and more boring for me. When I was sixteen, I went to the first bar - with a lot of cider, there were no cocktails, nothing. And at some point I just realized that I wanted more - I wanted a story with cocktails. I took a course to understand what I would encounter. After that I came here, this is my funny and short story.

Maxim: Well, you studied with Toroschin.

Nikita: I studied a little. I got to know how fun and exciting it would be.

Maxim: And then he came to us.

Nikita: And two years just flew by.

What course did you take?

Nikita: Basic. I was interested to know what you would encounter, because a cocktail bar and just a bar are two different elements.

What achievements in your profession are you proud of?

Maxim: Actually, you can be proud of different things. I think for me it's about team building. Our bar has an excellent team, very good, kind, hardworking - this is the most important thing. We have been working together for several years now, no one leaves or runs away, so this is the most important achievement for me.

Nikita: For me, perhaps, this is the fact that very often at the bar I don’t name cocktails at all: what goes into it, how it’s prepared. Guests simply list a few flavors or ingredients, I cook, and so far, probably, not a single prepared cocktail has been returned to me. This is a very interesting experiment in understanding other people’s receptors, because your own are your own, but here you are trying to adapt to each guest.

Maxim: We work in such an industry that first of all guests come to us, and talking about your achievements is not entirely correct.

It's less about merit and more about those professional milestones that you are proud of and what internally makes you move forward.

Maxim: I got to Dmitry Sokolov!

Nikita: I got hit by a Kamaz truck, that’s it!

Maxim: Achievement!

Nikita: What makes us move forward is, of course, the love for the profession and the desire to develop. As Charles Schumann, who has been in the top 50 bars in the world for several years, said, it is precisely the love of the profession and the movement forward that does not allow it to fade away. The man is already about 80, and he continues to peel potatoes for his establishment in the backyard. It is clear that the man loves his establishment and lives by it. The main thing is not to fade away.

Maxim: I agree on everything!

Many bartenders are interested in different areas, do you have any special specialization, the area that you are most curious about?

Maxim: Let's start with the fact that we are all young bartenders here, and we are trying to follow all the trends in our industry. Of course, if we have the opportunity, we make up for it, plus we are constantly learning. We have visited the Roman Toroschin training center several times; we are invited to every course and we go. Exhibition -we study there. Each bartender here is responsible for his own, for what interests him most. Let’s say Nikita is just working on molecular research, he has learned, he is interested, and he continues to do it. Ekaterina, the bartender, does the preparations. She liked this process, she wanted to study it, so she is engaged in preparations. For my part, I try to send guys to courses and learn from them everything that I don’t know myself. Plus, we value self-education.

What is interesting about the Black Hat Shack Bar concept?

Maxim: We have an Irish Caribbean bar. We specialize in rum history and promote this culture. We have about 150 positions of rum, about 30 positions of Irish whiskey. In addition, we have a large cocktail menu, mostly rum-based. Based on tiki culture - these are mixed multi-ingredient cocktails.

Since we are promoting the Caribbean theme, we are looking for exactly the same tastes, so that these are fresh fruits, from which we make our own puree. We serve bright and tropical flavors in ceramic glasses – we seek out and order from different places to add something interesting. This is the story we are dealing with.

We also have a magnificent cabinet - this is a private collection and is not for sale. Each guest can come, bring with them some bottle of rum that is hard to get, and put it in this cabinet.

Nikita: Of course, we will give this guest a taste of the rum that he brought. In addition to the rum collection, we also have a glass collection. We have a lot of glasses, there are exclusive glasses that you will not find anywhere, some we make specially to order.

Maxim: Some, however, do not arrive by Russian post...

Each of our bartenders knows almost the entire history of each rum. It’s impossible to know everything, but we can tell all the main secrets about each bottle.

Nikita: In our menu, a guest can easily find 2-3 rums that he will like, if he doesn’t like something, then we will try to develop the story further. It’s not that we offer one thing to everyone, we try to find something new and interesting, we don’t stop only at rum, although it is at the forefront. Two years ago we had about 110 positions, during which time we found another 40 interesting, unique positions.

Very interesting, I had no idea there were so many of them.

Maxim: This is still modest.

Tell us more about tics. How did you come up with the idea to open a tiki bar in Moscow? How does this resonate with guests?

Maxim: Dmitry Sokolov could talk about this better - it was all his idea. There was a place where he worked before, just a tiki bar. After something changed there, he left there and wanted to create his own intimate bar. He is a big fan of rum, as can be seen from the collection. He began to push away from it all. I came when there were still bare walls here, and slowly they began to develop this whole story. Who already knows about tiki and comes for it, but many guests come specifically to try something new and react differently: someone says that everything is wow and cool, someone says that it’s a little different, not taste. Still, tiki are such specific cocktails that not everyone will like, but we do not forget the classics - we never work only according to the card. In principle, we can leave every guest happy, satisfied, and we will try to do something that he will really like.

Nikita: I can say that many guests are accustomed to classic cocktails, or those cocktails that are served everywhere. How many times have I come across, for example, a person wants a coconut cocktail, you offer him a Pina Colada, and he immediately says “ugh, I don’t want it, it’s pop.” And you begin to explain that a bottle of Malibu costs nothing, that our entire menu is built mainly on puree and our cordials, so we get a completely different product. Only thanks to such curiosity on the part of the guest can you take it by storm :)

Frankly, I don’t even remember the last time I saw Pina Colada on the menu.

Nikita: They are found in many establishments as a classic cocktail, they make it with Malibu, cream and pineapple juice. Ours is puree, puree and syrup. And rum, of course, is impossible without rum. Add more lemon for balance.

Do you prefer making tiki cocktails, classics, or do you like to experiment?

Maxto them: It’s different for everyone here. To work in this bar, in my opinion, you need to fall in love with the whole tiki story and love rum. These are not just cocktails that you took from your head, mixed, created, created a porridge and gave away. No, there are basic flavor ingredients that go together. In fact, it’s quite interesting, and you can’t say for sure that you like to cook more. We never stop at one thing. We like to cook everything because we do it all for the guests - we love to see satisfied faces, happy sparkling eyes saying: “yes, this is delicious.” If a guest says that it is very sweet for him, then we will make it sour for him.

Nikita: For me, classic is when everything goes according to your standards. Twists on the classics - change the ingredients a little, move away. In tiki style, you can increase some flavor in the cocktail at the request of the guest. There is no such thing as something you prefer more. Somewhere you follow the instructions, somewhere you deviate from them. Here to each his own. Some work like robots, others improvise.

Can your guests' opinions influence your decision on a menu item? Let's say you introduce something on a regular basis, or, on the contrary, withdraw it because it is unfashionable or the guests don’t like it?

Maxim: Of course, we focus on the opinions of the guests. We check certain sales every month. Ours are quite large, 70% are cocktails. I can’t say the exact number, but we are looking and asking for feedback from guests. Every day after the waiter and bartender have finished their shift, we ask what the guests liked. If they say 9 out of 10 about a cocktail, then we understand that something is wrong with it and begin to modify it or simply remove it and change it to another. Plus, as Nikita rightly said, the key behind the bar is communication between the bartender and the guest. If several guests have the same taste, it means they really want to see it, they will come for it. Then, yes, of course, we'll put it on the bar menu. Ours is already extensive - when a card is served on the table, your eyes widen. Here we are already consulting, someone is seeing something for the first time and does not quite understand the combinations.

Nikita: Even the most banal thing: some people look at passion fruit and think it’s sweet. Although, in essence, it gives acidity.

Maxim: The map is one story. There are simply many bars where there is no card at all. We still have it for simplicity, but if they order the Blue Lagoon, of course, we can make it. Nothing is impossible.

Is it difficult to come up with new drinks based on tiki culture? What guides you when working on the menu? What inspires you?

Maxim: In general, everything was invented for us a long time ago. To prove this, we have a very large collection of tiki books - here is the cabinet, you can look at it. This is written by the same people who also promote the rum story, we constantly update it and read all the new literature. Plus, there is training, courses that we take and try to implement this into cocktails. I can’t talk about inspiration, the main thing is love for this business, love specifically for the history of rum. Then you just take the classics and start slowly, which can be replaced, but not spoiled, but rather made more interesting. Coming up with ideas is not an easy process.

Nikita: Lately this has been happening with our team. Even if we participate in some competitions independently of each other, we always consult each other about taste. There is no such thing as everyone working independently. Because, again, everyone has different tastes and preferences, and you can’t please everyone.

What do you like to drink?

Maxim: Rum or rum? I choose rum! In fact, when you go to other bars, you drink a cocktail to see what other flavor combinations there are. Personally, when I come to another bar, I open the card and choose 2-3 cocktails for myself to really try. Next comes communication with the bartender, he advises something. I can also say that I am a bartender, I came to try and find something interesting. In general, if you sit somewhere and relax, then, of course, it’s strong alcohol.

Nikita: For me, if you just sit, the simplest cocktail you can make is a Daiquiri. There’s nothing stopping you from pouring rum into a rocks glass and squeezing lemon into it. I agree about other bars - you are interested in what interesting and tasty things they have there. Classics are classics everywhere, but something original and unique is something you have to go and try. Maybe through this some kind of idea will be born.

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Does it happen that you recommend specific dishes for specific drinks?

Nikita: Rarely. We rarely recommend because we don't have many snacks that are specifically finger foods. Usually the dishes on our menu are meant to sit down, relax, and eat. The only thing we recommend trying as a light snack is probably poke. Also Hawaiian style.

Maxim: We have many different types of poke. Each one separately, we can recommend a cocktail to go with them, but often the guest simply says his taste preferences, and we already select a cocktail for him. We do not have food pairing as such.

That is, this is not an end in itself, and the concept of food pairing is not close to you.

Nikita: I would say that the guests wanted more food pairings with rum, with pure alcohol. It is more difficult to choose a tiki style cocktail for a cocktail.

Maxim: Everyone has their own taste preferences.

Within the bar, do you follow general trends or do you try to work only in tiki culture?

Maxim: We support social projects, for example, “Angel's Share” , and follow all trends. Of course, we don’t have rotary evaporators, although we really want to buy one, but when purchasing it, we must understand what we will do next with it, so that the equipment doesn’t just sit there - you can pick up a lot of knowledge, and it won’t work out Nothing. But we naturally follow trends. For example, waste-free production in a bar. We buy various environmentally friendly things to move forward and not fall behind.

Plus, I think the direction of bottled cocktails is now developing very strongly, we also support this - we have our own bottled cocktails, and the real gun is the Zombie, it’s very tasty. Plus we make seasonal drinks - a small selection is being prepared for winter. Naturally, we don’t forget about tiki – we celebrate Mai Tai Day, Rum Day.

Nikita: We also have Irish roots, so we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Speaking of Irish roots, the traditions there, as opposed to tiki, are not so diverse. Do you make whiskey-based cocktails? Or is it still an independent alcohol?

Maxim: If a guest says that he wants to try some cocktail with whiskey, then we will make it, but in the list for whiskey, if there are cocktails, then only a couple.

Nikita: Yes, there are 2-3 positions.

Maxim: Cooking is not a problem. Everyone is now noticing that our guests are already growing up, and if before they did not know what a Negroni was, then everyone began to find out, and now guests come to us who are already quite well versed in drinks. They come up and say: “I would like such and such a cocktail.”

What equipment do you use most often behind the bar?

Maxim: We don’t have any super expensive devices, we mainly use a thermocirculator, ice makers, coffee machines, a blender, a vacuum dehumidifier - everything is classic, everyone uses it. We place greater emphasis on equipment - everyone has personal equipment, not necessarily a complete set, for example, someone has their own spoon, which is convenient for mixing, someone has a shaker, someone has a jigger. These are things that you have been working with for a long time, you know what can and cannot happen to them. Often no one changes them, and if we go somewhere, we always take them with us.

How do you approach choosing dishes? You have a collection with history, but what about tableware for everyday use?

Maxim: For everyday use, we mainly have tiki-style glasses. At Complex Bar we take the main part, plus, if possible, we update it every time and order from different guys who make them themselves, literally in small “ceramic undergrounds”. Dmitry often orders from other countries to have something that no one else has. We select the style of the glass to match the cocktail, and if everything matches, we take it and purchase it.

Is there any history associated with this bar?

Maxim: A lot. This is probably the very first thing that comes to mind. Guests often say that we are like a ship - our interior matches. And then one day we really became a ship. Then very cheerful guests arrived and began to sit down withovami: “It’s like being on a ship here!” And it was at that moment that something went wrong, and the entire bar counter was filled with water - we stood ankle-deep in water, as if in a storm, as if water had poured onto the deck. “It’s true,” we thought. Since then we are officially a ship :)

Well, at the end of our interview, a traditional question: what do you think needs to be done to become a professional in your field?

Maxim: Learn, develop, follow trends, follow the people in our industry who bring these trends. In addition, search for information independently, listen to guests and their wishes. Everyone has their own understanding of professionalism. Someone can be a great mixologist, someone can be a great bartender who is always on friendly terms with guests and everyone likes them, someone can be a professional bar manager, senior bartender. Everyone has their own. To find this “yours,” you need to study, try, and overcome every difficulty. It’s not easy everywhere, each bar has its own specifics - somewhere you will work and carry dishes for the first time, and in some bar they will immediately give you the opportunity to prove yourself. The main thing is not to be afraid and move forward confidently.

Nikita: Every professional knows his goal and strives for it. There is no such thing as “I just want it,” and then at some point I got tired of it and quit. This will never happen. The goal should always be ahead, and you should be aware of what to do to achieve it.