Five Questions for the Bartender: Miles Thomas
The Tavern Law tender tells us the worst thing he’s ever experienced in a bar…besides someone shooting him, that is.
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 04, 2009 at 11:00AM
2 Comments
Best known as the bartender who took a bullet to the arm defending Serafina (we certainly hope he made employee of the month that June), Miles Thomas has also toiled alongside Top Chef star Ashley Merriman at Belltown’s Branzino. These days you’ll find him behind the stick at Tavern Law, the new “speakeasy” from the Spur boys.
But Thomas is also an entrepreneur, the man behind Scrappy’s Bitters, a line of old-fashioned bitters available all around town. Ask for them at your favorite cocktail lounge today.
Here, five questions with Miles Thomas.
What is the most underrated spirit?
For me there are two. The first is Armagnac—brandy was being made in Armagnac about two centuries before anyone even thought about making brandy in Cognac. It is similar to Cognac but with some distinctive differences: the first is in the distillation. Armagnac is produced in an alemic still and cognac is made a pot still. And they are aged in different oaks—Armagnac is black oak and Cognac is limousine oak.
The second spirit is Damiana, which is a south American flower liquer flavored with Damiana flower. It has a sweet floral flavor with a unique spice, I use it the way I would St Germain.
What’s your favorite Seattle bar (other than Tavern Law)?
The obvious choice would be Zig Zag, it has an amazing selection and great bartenders who have all been very supportive of me and what I do. I have never seen them give any one a hard time for ordering a Cosmo or Lemon Drop. They are friendly and never pretentious.
Maybe it’s cheating since I used to work there, but I would also say Serafina. They are an awesome group and my business partner Chris Bollenbacher—best keep secret in Seattle—works there. He teaches classes and creates amazing liqueurs. Check him out.
What drink do you order at that bar?
I am not really a cocktail drinker, usually I drink some sort of amaro or Jameson on the rocks.
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen someone do in a bar?
Besides someone shooting me? Some friends brought a girl in that I wouldn’t serve but thought she would be alright with just water. Later, I caught her with the Angostura bitters bottle trying to drink out of it…Wait, I also saw a girl grab the back of some guy’s bar stool and throw him on the floor. I wanted to be mad, but she was cute and he was a dick.
Name three reasons you live in Seattle.
The summers, the water, the mountains, trees, and my friends…not in that order.
Um, that’s five things Miles, but we’ll take ‘em.
Find Five Questions with all the best bartenders—from Boudreau to Bartoloni — here.
[Photo Ronald Holden for Cornichon.org ]
Armagnac is made in the Landes district, south of Bordeaux, where the vineyards are family-owned. Grapes are high-producing, low-quality folle blanche(aka trebbiano in Italy) and their best use is the low-tech distillation in a small pot still. The resulting artisanal brandy is bottled on the property and vintage-dated, much like a domaine Burgundy. Cognac, on the other hand, evolved from large holdings, vast vineyards and marketing power of industrial distillers like (brand names like Hennessy, Martell and Remy Martin) who buy grapes or young wines and produce brandy in a double-distillation process using an enormous onion-dome/swan’s-neck aparatus.
Good armagnac is amazingly complex, varies from one vintage to another, and can be quite pricey. When you buy Cognac, on the other hand, you pay for marketing as much as anything.
In town from Texas this past weekend, I switched around my plans both Friday and Saturday nights to experience a double-header taste bud enlightenment at Tavern Law.
Thanks to the delicate layering of flavors, textures and aromas, Miles has forever changed my opinion of the standard “cocktail” and elevated my expectations far beyond that which any ordinary bartender can (or will) satisfy.
For a sophisticated soiree in your mouth try his signature Scrappalicious, Orange You Lovely, or my all time favorite, the Lavender Gin Fizz.