Although we may be accustomed to black bartenders at our favorite clubs or local spots, their place in history often gets misplaced. One man working in the spirits industry is trying to change that.
According to The Post and Courier, Duane Sylvestre and drinks historian David Wondrich are now attempting to correct the larger picture of U.S. beverage culture by restoring the African-American bartenders who’ve been erased from it.
Growing up, Sylvestre says the only black bartender he knew was Isaac Washington, the Love Boat character played by Ted Lange. Now, even though he has gone on to become a professional in the spirits industry, not much has changed in that aspect. In uncovering the history of black bartenders roles in cocktail history, he hopes to uncover role models for young African-Americans considering careers in the spirits industry.
Sylvestre and Wondrich spoke yesterday at a BevCon session titled "Dark Spirits: The History of Black Bartenders." At the session, Sylvestre touched on why this effort is so near and dear to his heart.
“Five years ago, there was a bartender look, and there was nobody who resembled or looked like me,” Sylvestre told the Charleston audience. “When you went to the trade events, there would be one or two people of color…Asians, you’d see two or three of them, but blacks were few and far between.”
Unfortunately, many black bar-backs, formerly known as porters, have been erased from history. Despite this, they have been able to come up on the life stories of a few pioneering bartenders such as Cato, John Dabney, Richard Francis and Benjamin Sheekles. One of the most influential African-American bartenders, Tom Bullock, worked at the Pendennis Club in Kentucky. Bullock wrote a book titled The Ideal Bartender which is considered a classic of cocktail writing. Sylvester describes it as “a snapshot of drinking culture in this country before Prohibition."
“These stories are important because bartending was never a destination anyone would have,” said Sylvestre, who works as a brand ambassador. “In the black community, even more so: ‘That’s service work, you don’t do that. (Be a) doctor, an engineer, do something respectable.’ These stories allow people to connect.”
“We showed the prosperous black community what craft cocktails are, and showed white bartenders how you throw a party,” Wondrich explained.
We look forward to this venture, and hearing more about the history most of us have been deprived of learning about yet is so essential to our culture. After all, so many black folks love a good drink.
