[MUSIC PLAYING] I think I will
have a Sonambula. IVY MIX: Sure. Do you have anything less pink? No. All right then. That's great. [MUSIC PLAYING] MIKE RUGNETTA: This
episode of Idea Channel is brought to you
by Squarespace. So for this episode
of Idea Channel we're doing something
a little bit different. We're at Leyanda, which is
a bar in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn that is co-owned and
operated by my longtime friend Ivy Mix. Thank you so much for having us. Thank you for being here. The thing that I'm
super curious about is what containers
we put cocktails in, and why we choose those
containers for certain drinks. But before we get
started, would you mind telling us a little bit
about yourself and the bar? I started bartending
like 11 years ago during Bennington, where
we both went to school. We have a spring term and a
fall term, but at Bennington we also had a winter term
where we did work in our field. And you went to Guatemala? IVY MIX: Guatemala Yeah. Yeah, so I went
there because I wanted to get out of the country. I wanted to learn
a foreign language. I wanted to save the children. All of the things that people
want to do in Latin America, and instead I walked into
a bar and really liked it. Then I racked up a
bill there so large over the subsequent
two months that I had to start bartending
to pay it off. So speaking of getting
things together in a glass, I'm sure that there is
a practical function for every different
kind of glass, and that there's also this
sort of like artistic meaning that's behind them,
what they communicate. But I want to start with what
is maybe a dumb question, and that is why isn't
every cocktail just served in the same glass? You know, I think that
frequently that would be best. Really? Yeah, because half the times--
I would say more than half. I would say 95% of
the time that people are choosing the glass for their
cocktail is just mmm that one. You know? Sometimes the
choice of glassware can be a little daunting. Is it utilitarian? Is it practical? People who make cocktails really
should but frequently don't think about how
your glassware is going to affect your cocktail. So that is something
that we I would love to talk with
you at length about. All right, let's do it. But before we do
it, how would you feel about making us some
cocktails in some glasses. IVY MIX: Let's do it. Yes. IVY MIX: Let's do it. I'm going to start off by
making a Sazerac for you. Most people now have heard of
a Sazerac, a la "Mad Men," a la everything else. The Sazerac
traditionally is made in kind of a glass like this,
right, stackable, double rocks glass, kind of all
utilitarian purpose. It's like you know, like a
quarter of an inch of liquid. It's like this high up. So this cocktail, in
my opinion, has always been made in not
the right glass. Why are you using a rocks glass? Sazerac you never
have with ice. IVY MIX: You never
have with ice, right. This is just a more
appropriate glass because it funnels your smell
right to your nose, right. So if you go like this,
it's going to be-- and as you're
smelling and sniffing, it's going to all go right here. It's just literally
you can see it. It's like I'm going this way. As opposed to this one,
which it just dissipates out. And this one is like
I'm going that way. Yeah, and this one
makes it much more appropriate for
a cocktail that's all about what you're
smelling and not necessarily what you're tasting. Because all of that absinthe,
all those lemon oils aren't really in the drink,
it's just what you're smelling. But when you smell
something and eat something, it affects the way you taste it. Yeah. I'm going to make
a drink now, which is probably the most
iconic drink, the Martini. Right now the Martini drink
kind of symbolizes the 9 ounce Martinis, this huge
Martini glasses that you literally could fit
your face into and be like yum. MIKE RUGNETTA: Stemmed
glasses, precarious. IVY MIX: Precarious at best. If you just look at it and it
goes like this, which means it's more prone to flip
out of the glass to spill, but no one should drink
that much Martini. B, it gets warm. C, as we've discussed just
now, the glass itself, it's just totally impractical
and doesn't make any sense. It's not doing anything extra. It's not bringing
any kind of like-- It is taking away completely,
100% from the drink. So this is definitely
not a Martini glass? No, this is not
a Martini glass. This is a glass called
a Nick and Nora. Nick and Nora were kind of
a popular Hollywood couple and they were
popularized in Hollywood as being socialites,
pretty much. Like a little bit more
higher class, parties, endless Martinis. You know but back in the '30s,
'40s, kind of post-war, people were drinking Martinis
out of glasses like this. It's so dainty. IVY MIX: So dainty. You think about
that time, people had like the four Martini
lunch, because they were drinking 2 ounce Martinis. They weren't drinking
9 ounce Martinis. That's really interesting. Right, so this is kind of
where we want to be going. The whole super size me
cocktail movement is not good. This is very reasonable. Very reasonable. OK, so the next drink on
the list is the Sonambula. IVY MIX: Sonambula. MIKE RUGNETTA: Which
I said correctly? IVY MIX: You did indeed. MIKE RUGNETTA: Yes. [MUSIC PLAYING] For better or for worse,
people have conversations about everything being
masculine and feminine, even the coupe, which
this glass goes in was theoretically modeled after
Marie Antoinette's breast. MIKE RUGNETTA: Really? IVY MIX: Really. MIKE RUGNETTA: All right. IVY MIX: People order a drink
and they're like, oh my god. MIKE RUGNETTA: It's like they
don't know what it's coming in and then it arrives. And they're like,
oh, it's a pink drink and a-- you know,
ah, I can't touch it. And I'm like no, I think your
masculinity can handle it. The nice thing about a
coupe is that it kind of makes it elevated, no liquid
is towards the bottom. It brings up very high. It makes it a little more fancy,
but as far as a I own a bar and I'm afraid of spending
millions of dollars on glassware, maybe not the
best coupe, but super beautiful. It looks rad. Yeah, it's super beautiful. This drink I'm going to make is
the Boulevardier, very simple, traditionally made
with equal parts, although I'm a drinker so I put
more bourbon in my Boulevardier than I do the other stuff. MIKE RUGNETTA: I'm
not going to complain. It's in that class of-- I
don't know if this is accurate but it's in a class of
like kind of tough drinks. IVY MIX: I would call
it a tough drink, yeah. I mean you've got
the bitterness. You've got bourbon, tough. Yep. And sweet vermouth. The Old Fashioned, the
Negroni, the Boulevardier are drinks that are
actually made in the glass. And traditionally, while
whereas in cocktail culture now, like we don't
do them in the glass here because I want to put it
over that sexy big ice cube. Right, sure. IVY MIX: But you can
and traditionally you have just made
them in the glass, stirred it, and made it,
which is why the rocks glass is a dual purpose vessel. Say this is like our
utilitarian example, right like this is
like a robust drink. It comes in a rocks glass. I called it a
tough drink, yeah. Right, a tough drink. Someone's manhood is not
to be threatened by this, you know it's very
like oh, I can do. Having these things
around for that reason, especially as a
bar owner, you need to make sure that you
have all these options for different people. Because the worst
thing you can do in a bar is threaten
someone's comfort, and glassware is
a really easy way to give someone a hand in
whatever they're drinking. This is amazing, so thank
you so much for making all of these cocktails. I would love to
talk more generally about some of the
stuff that we covered like people's associations
with cocktails and how they develop
those associations. IVY MIX: Oh, the cerebral stuff. You have been
standing behind the bar for no shortage of time. And I think does your shift
start in a couple hours? In a little bit, yeah. So we'll give you a
chance to sit down. Maybe we'll take
a seat at a table. All right, let's do it. [MUSIC PLAYING] Well, so first
thing's first, cheers. Salud. Cheers, salud. Mm. That really is great. I wanted to talk
about your menu, because you guys did a really
specific thing with your menu. So I was wondering if you
could explain what it is and why you did it? The thing that always
drives me the most crazy is when people can't
handle this drink. So like they get served
something that looks like that and then grimace and sulk. By they I mean men, in
particular, are like oh no. You know and they
get really sad. And they're like,
can you make this a little less pink and a
little more not like that. So we decided at Leyanda
to do this kind of-- we put the pictures of
the glass that it comes in next to the
drink, hoping that we would bypass some of that
awkward conversation that happens. They know what they're getting
themselves into, because of the associations that
they have with not just the liquor and the drink in the
liquid but what it comes in. The perceptions that people have
of these different containers, do you have a sense of
where those come from. Pop culture is
really the only way to put it down, like almost
everything else that we go through in our lives. There's something
about society that has taught us that this is the
way that these things are used and by whom. You've got to be kidding. Nobody throws a Sazerac. We talked about
this a little bit when you were making
a Martini and we were talking about the
classic Martini glass. I feel like that's
such a good case study. Correct me if I'm wrong, but
I feel like "Sex in the City" and Cosmopolitans had a
big impact on the attitude towards that glass. IVY MIX: Absolutely,
that is true. That I think is a big deal why
people don't feel comfortable going out and being like
I want that pink drink, because it connotates like five
ladies going out in the city and talking about Mr. Big. MIKE RUGNETTA: That's what
I'm saying, like I think-- Which is funny, because
that type of glass has been used for ages,
and ages, and ages. I think it was first seen
in an art deco design expo. It was kind of when the Martini
glass theoretically first had its first foray into the world. MIKE RUGNETTA: I'd buy it, yeah. But the Cosmopolitan
is 100% the drink that made cocktails cool again. Really? Absolutely. I think the person
who probably made it the most popular was Dale
DeGroff at the Rainbow Room. That's really what
sparked everything again. I'm sure that when
he was serving Cosmos it was indeed in
a Martini glass. But until "Sex in the City"
made it that social icon, no one had an issue
with it until that show. Excuse me? [MUSIC PLAYING] Class I think is
another aspect of this. And I think the Martini glass
is great at communicating that, but then so is your
favorite, the champagne flutes. I don't like champagne flutes. I think they're
kind of ridiculous. Yeah. I think about
where in media you see the champagne
flute being used and it's almost always to
indicate that someone is fancy or is having a fan-- there's
a fancy occasion of some kind. IVY MIX: It's celebratory. MIKE RUGNETTA: Yeah,
it's celebratory. My sense is that there
is a class of people or a type of person who
has become either so wealthy or important
they can afford to drink their champagne
out of a silly glass. So I think this maybe gets to
the sort of central question that we're trying
to talk about, which is does a drink taste better in
the right glass, whatever that means. [MUSIC PLAYING] In order to ever
have this conversation now is you'll have to make a
cocktail with a glass in mind. I don't think that people
have been doing that, but I think it absolutely can
be said that there are glasses that make cocktails better. Way, way, way, back, the
most skilled and thus highest paid glass blowers
were the ones who could blow things the thinnest
and the most delicately, and it could break
like, just like that. That was considered
to be the best. That's a sign of wealth. It's a sign of all
these things which-- It's disposable if it breaks. It's like, oh, it
doesn't-- oh yeah. Who needs it? But everyone's like oh my
god, don't break that thing, you know. And if you get something in
that glass it's like, yay! MIKE RUGNETTA: So I mean
to a certain degree that is it's like the drink
does taste better, but weirdly it has
nothing to do with taste. It has to do with
you feeling like I-- Totally. ---am going to have a great time
because I feel fancy holding onto this. Their perceptions are
already going into that thing, and that's what glassware
does that nothing else can do. Utilitarian, you
can make it so it's better for your
nose or whatever, but just aesthetically,
what are people seeing. And what are they bringing to-- To whatever their perceptions
bring to the table, which is why I put this right here. It's great to think about
this not as a warning patrons but as empowering
them with information. In the end the day, this
is the hospitality industry and you will never
succeed if you don't make your clientele
feel somewhat safe and OK. Right. You know, if a guy feels
uncomfortable with that pink drink, if it's going
to ruin his time here, I'm certainly not going to
make him drink that pink drink in a [INAUDIBLE]. I'll be like, don't worry man. I'll get you a
bourbon on the rocks. I got you. If I can get them the right
drink, in the right glass, in the right scenario with
the right smile or attitude then that is the
overall picture that's going to make that
drink better than just some booze in a glass. That is so great. Ivy, thank you so much-- Yeah, of course. ---and for talking
to me about this. I have learned a bunch-- Awesome. ---and now I'm excited about
to drink some cocktails. Me too. So if you guys want to follow
Ivy on Instagram or Twitter, you can find her @ivymix. And if you want
to follow Leyanda, we'll put links to their social
media in the description. All right, well thank
you so much Ivy. Thank you. Let us know what you think
about cocktails, the vessels they are served in,
and their relationship to popular culture
in the comments and I will respond
to some of them in next week's comment
response video. In this week's
comment response video we talk about your
thoughts regarding Jar Jar Binks being a sith master. If you want to watch that
one you can click right here or find a link in
the doobly doo. A small bit of news, I'm going
to be at South by Southwest this weekend in Austin,
so if you are there I will also be there. Say hey if you see me, I guess. I have a panel on Monday
morning about the intersection of marketing and fandoms. And then we're doing a PBS
Digital Studios host meet-up from 2:00 to 3:00, so all of
those things are in the South by schedule and
we'll also put links in the description
for those as well. We have a Facebook, an
IRC, and a subreddit links in the place where the links go. And the tweet of the week
comes from threeoclocktea, who points us towards an
article about the naming controversies related to
George Lucas's involvement in various "Star
Wars" properties. So we knew about Darth Icky. We knew that that was a
joke that we were making, but I did not realize
the scope of the problem. There are some-- there
were some funny names that were in the pipeline. You should check it out. It's very funny. And hey, in case
you were wondering, this episode of Idea Channel
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1920s New York socialites. [MUSIC PLAYING]
