Confessions Beyond the Food
Confessions Beyond the Food is a podcast about working in the Food Industry. People who work in the Food Industry have grit and lots of stories to tell. W3 Sales, a sales & marketing company, will host this podcast with their confessions on how they have a new, fresh approach and invite guests to confess their secrets to their sauce.
Confessions Beyond the Food
Mixology Masterclass with Rebecca Dowda
Join our host, Nancy Ridlen, as she sits down with Rebecca Dowda, CEO of More Than Mixology and iSi ambassador. Rebecca shares her inspiring journey as an entrepreneur in the world of handcrafted cocktails. She reveals her passion for fresh ingredients, expert mixology technique, and training the next generation of cocktail creators.
Whether you’re looking to elevate your cocktail game or just starting out, this episode is packed with tips and insights that will inspire your next creation. Perfect for both seasoned mixologists and beginners alike.
Welcome to Confessions Beyond the Food. I'm your host, nancy Ridland. Let's dig in and get inspired. Hi, welcome back to Confessions Beyond the Food. My name is Nancy Ridland, with W3 Sales, and today I'm joined by Rebecca. She is the CEO of More Than Mixology, so so excited to have you. I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Yeah, we just did this really fun event. She created the most beautiful drinks.
Speaker 2:I wanted to drink all of them.
Speaker 1:Which one was your favorite? The grapefruit. Which one was that called the French Blonde? The French Blonde, yes, taylor Swift's favorite cocktail. Yes, you know what? I'm not a big Taylor Swift fan, but, oh, come back. No, I do like her music. I did upload her um her latest album and I've been listening to it cause I have my niece in my car and wanted to be, you know, the cool aunt. Yes, so, but you're a big Swifty, I am a big Swifty.
Speaker 2:I wasn't always and my sister kind of forced me into liking her. Um, so at first I was like just kind of doing it to appease my sister, and then I got into it and we've seen her three times now and it's just, it's a lot of fun. It's a cool community. It was cool. It was cool at Taylor Swift's concerts and at Beyonce's concerts, cause everyone is being so nice to each other. It's like the whole world should go to one of these concerts, just so they can see how to treat other people. So it's not just the music and the costumes and the drama and all that stuff, it's just, it's a it's a cool community.
Speaker 2:That's interesting because I sound psychotic.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, because everybody that has gone to one of their concerts gets out of there and they're like I wasn't a fan and I'm in love with her. Yeah, I mean tracy is one of them. Macy on our team, tracy and macy, they I mean they were like you need to go to a concert. You don't understand it until you know she's a really great performer beyonce too.
Speaker 2:I think I levitated at the Beyonce concert. I was just. I was just one of the. I too Love her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, anyways, so that's awesome. So you're from. You're from Texas. Yes, are you from here?
Speaker 2:I was born in Galveston, my family's from Galveston, and then I grew up in Texas City, which is about. It's a little refinery town right outside of Galveston.
Speaker 1:Nice, I've heard Galveston. Nice, I've heard of Texas City. It was a good place to grow up.
Speaker 2:It's a smaller town. My dad owned a lumber yard and you know just small town stuff. I got in trouble a lot. My mom ran the museum in Texas City so that was a lot of fun. We would do like the window, like set up the windows and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:that's really cool yeah and you wouldn't think there would be a museum, but it's home to the largest industrial disaster in the history of the United States, april 16th and 17 1947 no there's like a lot of like information about that, the disaster, and how they were built, and then, like industry I don't know why I'm telling you this but no, that's amazing, We'll have to go to Texas. Yeah, it was, you know it's a small town, like I said, but it was fun. I was a cheerleader, my sister was on the drill team and, you know, just Friday night lights, like we lived it pretty much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so after high school. So how did you did you start? You know how did you get involved in this world?
Speaker 2:So I started goodness I started. I mean, I started working in restaurants. I'm trying to think of what my first job was. There's a place in Galveston called Mooney Gardens and I was a cashier at the restaurant there and it's got like a. It has a rainforest and an aquarium and a like a beach and it was the cashier at the restaurant and then I worked at like Joe's Crab Shack and I just always came back to the restaurant industry.
Speaker 2:So when I graduated from high school I started at University of Houston and when I moved downtown or when I moved to Houston, I started working at a restaurant downtown called Liberty Noodle. There was one here in Dallas and it was just the coolest vibe. It was kind of like and I was 19, I guess, and so it was like that kind of time where I was impressionable and everyone that worked there had a really different background and it was just a melting pot of different people and I loved it. I loved working downtown and that's when I started bartending and I would bartend at as many restaurants and clubs as I could and I went to school for a lot of things, but mostly broadcasting. I actually worked for Telemundo for a little while and I just always went back to the industry. I mean, I worked in nightclubs, I worked in restaurants, I worked in honky-tonk bars, and then I really, really fell in love with hotels and so I started working at the Hilton in downtown, at their lobby bar.
Speaker 1:And that's when I really learned about mixology.
Speaker 2:Tony Abagino wrote a book called the Modern Mixologist and so I was like I had my little. What is that movie Julie and Julia, where she like makes all of Julia Child's recipes? I went through his book and I was like I'm going to make every recipe in this book and Hilton was great. They were like tell us what you need and I just I really fell in love with you know, handcrafted cocktails and fresh ingredients and the techniques and everything behind it. And so I left Hilton and the techniques and everything behind it. And so I left Hilton. I worked at a bar downtown called Breezer 101, which is a just fabulous cocktail bar. They've got like 150 different whiskeys they did at the time. They probably have more now. And then I went to Hotel Icon and I started doing their cocktail program there. I worked with some really great chefs just really great people. Program there. I worked with some really great chefs just really great people. And then I worked at an agency for 12 years as their director of mixology.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. So what have you seen like in the industry change, like as far as like cocktails go, and I mean just the need for innovation and and basically that mixology is a thing. It's not just a thing. It's not just something.
Speaker 2:It's not right, a hobby or anything like that, not a hobby.
Speaker 2:It's interesting I think there's gosh so much has changed. I think that there's a lot more respect for the industry from from from a public or public perspective now. Um, and it's not kind of this thing where it's like I'm bartending to get through college or I'm bartending to it can be a means to an end, um, and I think that people in the industry have a lot more respect for each other and that's really important. Um, as far as the cocktails and things like that, I mean so much changes. It changes all the time.
Speaker 2:You know, and you see these trends that you can kind of tell when something's going to be a flop or it's not going to. You know, catch on and then you've got, you know, the Moscow mules of the world that when cocktails become their own category, it's pretty interesting to think about how those evolve. But I've done some cool beverage programs or LTOs that I thought were great and were gonna do really well and they completely bombed. And then I've made cocktails that I wouldn't drink necessarily or don't love, and they do really well for different accounts. So it's kind of hard to keep your finger on the pulse especially in national accounts.
Speaker 2:So it's it's kind of hard to keep your finger on the pulse, especially in national accounts. You know Um, but I I would say to me just the respect for the, for the industry as a whole, has has changed, um for the better, and I think that's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1:It's amazing. I mean that's the best part of, I mean that's one of the best parts of you know dining out is like. What cocktail am I going to start out with? I mean you know, what's your go-to? I love a Paloma, which is probably why I like the French one.
Speaker 2:What is?
Speaker 1:your favorite or your go-to?
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know. I love a dirty martini, I love a Negroni, I love an old-fashioned, I love margaritas. There's not much I won't drink, yeah there's not much, I won't drink, I'll try anything.
Speaker 1:So do you drink wine too?
Speaker 2:Yes, or beer like out of the three, which is your favorite? Okay, well, so I, I taste a lot of cocktails Like that's what I do all day, and so I don't drink a lot of cocktails. I drink like if I, when I'm done with work, like if I go meet my husband for a drink, I'll get like a Mikkel Vulture and a shot of Espelon. That's kind of like. There you have it, nicole, that's awesome, I'm a bartender at heart.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean, like I, just a cold beer and a shot of tequila, but um, yeah, I love wine, I love, I love white wine like anything crisp and refreshing. I love IPAs, um, but I'll, you know, I'll try anything. I'll get weird cocktails.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, so, um, so how did you start up your, um your company? So?
Speaker 2:I was a mixology director and what I did for this agency. It's a very well-known and well-respected agency in Houston. I worked with national accounts and I helped them with their beverage program so more specifically, their menus and so we would do site visits and there's so much more that goes into it than me just saying this is what I like and this is what I think tastes good, so you should put it on your menu. You look at, you know the regionality and who they work with and the skill, the skill set of their bartenders, and um, so I worked, I worked there for a while and just it became something that I just knew that I could do for myself.
Speaker 2:Um, and so you know, one day I just I kind of had a shitty day at work and I came home and my husband and I were talking and I was like I just I don't know what to do next. You know, I don't know if I do. I want to like try to be a supplier, cause I left the agency for a little while and, um, and worked for a distributor and it did not go well. It was a nine month, just not, it was not my cup of tea and I was like I wish I could just do what I'm doing now but do it for myself. And he was like you can and it.
Speaker 2:It was kind of weird because I mean, while we were having this conversation, a friend of mine who had also lived at the same place and started her own company in events and you know she does like promotional materials she texted me and she said do you ever do side gigs? I'd love to hire you to do some cocktails for a wedding for me, and I'm so glad she did because it was like here it is, Like this is your sign, Like you can do this on your own.
Speaker 2:So I started MTM. That was in August. I started MTM in January the following year and it's been a wild ride. Owning your own company is pretty stressful. Just a little bit, I get it. I've learned a lot. I call my dad probably once a week and ask him.
Speaker 2:I think my husband's terrified that I'm going to go to prison for, like, tax evasion or something. So I call my dad, freaking out all the time, but it's been super rewarding and I've worked with people that I wouldn't expect to. I mean, the gig I have with EC has been one of my favorite parts of this, but I've done a lot of like speaking gigs that I normally wouldn't have.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, and it's just, it's fun to to push myself and prove to myself that I can do it. I love your approach about how you go in and you get to. I mean, there's so much more, like you said, there's so much more than just you know here's some really cool cocktails that work, that are you know, that are surefire to get you know people, but you go in and understand it and the talent level and because the experience and talent level can really affect you know the cocktail.
Speaker 2:Right, and I think it's. You know, it's a little unfair sometimes too, because places will come up with these you know these mandate lists and their pantry lists and these are the people that we want to work with and they put together these great cocktails and then they just kind of go, like this, to the bartenders and it's like okay, execute this, and you better do it properly, you better do it right, and they don't always want to invest the time and the training that you need. And you really have to speak to people, you know, like they're human beings for a start, but especially with bartenders, you can't just go in and say, okay, this is three ounces, this is one ounce, this is what you shake it and you strain. You have to tell them why. You know, and I think for a while, a lot of mixologists kind of were were gatekeeping recipes and techniques and things like that, and it's not so much like that anymore.
Speaker 2:Um, so the training is. The training is so important. You know, and and follow-up training, and you can't execute a beverage menu and then just have it there for 10 years. Things are going to change, flavors are going to change and trends, um. So I love the, I love the training side of it. Um, I love doing events. Events are a lot of fun because you don't have any like handcuffs. You can, you know, do whatever you want, pretty much. But yeah, I really like to do more than just here's a cocktail recipe.
Speaker 1:Go for it peace out out, Right, yeah, so, um, like when do you like you're just at home and you're like that would be fun to put those flavors together. Do you like, I mean, try it out at your house? Do you? I mean like, tell me about, like, how you like create a cocktail?
Speaker 2:So what's up about it? It depends. So sometimes it's I honestly, honestly, one of my favorite cocktails that I've done in the past couple of years. I was at a dispensary in Aspen and they sold these really great candles um, I go to dispensaries for candles, I'm just kidding. So I got this candle. It's called the Ridge and it smelled like leather and tobacco and black cherry and vanilla and it was just the best.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm a huge scent person. I think if I hadn't gone onto the beverage side of things, I would have somehow found my way into either music or something to do with scents, because I can be in the room with someone and just be like I know exactly what perfume they're wearing, I know exactly what cologne he's wearing. Anyway, this candle smelled great and I was like I want to figure out how to make a cocktail that tastes the way that this candle smells. And so we infused wild turkey with leather, we used tobacco bitter and it took a lot of trial and error to figure it out. We used tomorrow and black cherry bitters and a little bit of vanilla extract and all these things. So that kind of came together because I wanted it to.
Speaker 2:And then there are times that somebody comes to me. A really good friend of mine just came out with a line of vodkas and one of them is it's all for, like, sports clubs and sporting venues and things like that. So there's like a hot dog flavored vodka, there's a popcorn, there's dulcical, there's cotton candy and you know, sometimes it's things like that that you have to figure out, like every if everything has its place.
Speaker 2:Then what is the place of this hot dog vodka? And, honestly, with that one it was like what the hell am I going to do with it? And then you start playing with it and it's fun. You don't have to take it so seriously, you know, dip it in some relish and throw some tahini on it and like, have fun shots. So I think it's like the. The challenge can come from being the most creative person that you can be, that that makes you know these really delicious cocktails and then also taking something that's not some you know, an ingredient that you would necessarily say you know, one day I want to make hot dog flavored martinis, but then figuring out a way to make it work and, and you know, ultimately have a guest enjoy that cocktail as well.
Speaker 1:So you're so gifted, that's amazing. I mean to infuse leather people, that is that's. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:I mean, I love doing infusions, I really like infusions. My poor husband, he'll come home and look and he's like what is in our refrigerator, like what is in these cabinets, and I'm like just give it, you know, three weeks and so, and then sometimes I forget about it too, but it's fun to play around with flavors.
Speaker 1:I have.
Speaker 2:This is kind of cliche, but flavor Bible and I just will look this. You know this combo looks good together. This looks different. Or you know, this is an ingredient that's not listed. That I think should be, so I'm just trying to figure out that's so fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is fun. So you were just on bar, are you're part of bar rescue? Tell me a little bit about that, y'all. This girl, rebecca, is famous okay.
Speaker 2:Not quite. I think I said three complete sentences. The first episode I did. I don't know, I'm pretty mellow. I think I'm kind of I'm mellow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're not like spazzing out like I am.
Speaker 2:I'm like I don't know. I think I'm mellow, I'm kind of hyper and I'm also like anal retentive and high strung but I think mostly I'm mellow and I'm not like the type to be like you're doing this wrong or anything like that.
Speaker 2:And so I think that when I first I was super excited when they asked me to do bar rescue. And then we got there and I was like like I'm not going to yell at anybody, you know. And so I was like kind of just taking it all in. And they were like would you mind just talking, like can you say anything? Um? And so that that first episode was definitely experience. I've done one since, and then I'm I'm shooting another one in a few weeks, so it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:I tell you what those people work so hard.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's a huge crew. They are super nice, it's just, they're the nicest people, it's a lot of work but it's super fun.
Speaker 2:So and you're going into bars and kind of giving, helping them, rescuing them, like finding out what the problem is, or yeah, I mean you get to, you watch, you know they do the recon part, and that's when you're sitting and you're watching the bartenders working and you kind of get a look behind the scenes and a lot of the times you can predict mistakes that bartenders are going to make. For some reason, guy bartenders, every time they pick up an ice scoop they put their thumb in it. 95% of the time their thumb is inside the ice scoop.
Speaker 2:So you kind of know what to look for Poor counts or not shaking a drink. I mean, a lot of bartenders just barely shake the drink and then they wonder why the dilution's off, and so, yeah, you just kind of identify what those problems are and come up with solutions and then shoot that part of it.
Speaker 1:I love it today. You said I wish my alarm clock was the sound, of sound of shaking.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would get out of bed a lot earlier.
Speaker 1:It could either be that or it could be just a champagne cork, it's just like those are things that and that's one thing I train about too like shake the drink so people can hear you shaking the drink.
Speaker 2:When people walk into the door of a restaurant or a bar, they should hear that you're making cocktails and making them correct, like who doesn't like that sound? It means we're making cocktails, we're having a good time, even if you're at a funeral. If somebody starts shaking a cocktail, people's ears are gonna perk up.
Speaker 1:So every good thing happens around the bar right, I mean dancing happens on the bar, like I mean shaking, like lots of fun things, like people having a good time, and I think that you're so right. I know that, like on the culinary side, the chefs you know what happens behind in the kitchen is so fascinating, but you guys are on display like all the time and just to watch, like all the ingredients and what you know, these, what is going into these cocktails today, is just fascinating to me to watch.
Speaker 2:Well, you want people to have I mean people feed off your energy. I used to work at this bar in Houston called Blizzard's Pub. I started there when I was 19 probably. I loved it. Then I was there for a while and then I just didn't love it. It wasn't anything to do with the bar or the people there, I was just always in a bad mood working when it was like quit go do something else like figure out what you want to do, but don't stand back here and like harsh somebody else's mellow cuz you're not liking what you're doing, you know.
Speaker 2:And so I just I saved up as much as I could for like two months and I quit my job and I work for six months, just so I could figure out, like, is this what I want to do, you know? And it helped me appreciate the the industry more. And when I came back, that's when I went to the Hilton and my my perspective was changed so much that just it really put me on a different path yeah, yeah, loving what you do makes a complete, you know, difference in your day to day.
Speaker 1:And even though, like the restaurant industry, I mean this industry is tough and owning your own business is really challenging but when you love like and you're passionate about it and you care about that and result and you're having fun like and you work around really great people, that's so important, like working with working around cool people is great, and that's one thing about MTM.
Speaker 2:that's been a lot of fun. This is going to sound kind of bitchy, but like I don't know if I should say this, this is going to sound really bitchy, but it is something that I thought about.
Speaker 2:I want to be I want to be able to be a little more selective about who I'm working with, and I work with really really great suppliers and I work with some of my best friends. You know I really do and it makes it more fun, obviously, but it makes me work harder. Like one of my best friends is a national account manager for Campari and and they've got such a freaking killer portfolio to begin with. But when I, when I work on projects with her, I I want her to be impressed, you know, because we go to happy hour together, we work out together, we make playlists for each other, like I. It makes me more motivated and more determined to like I want to blow her away with this. That's who I did the the leather cocktail for, so that's awesome. Yeah, that's. It's important to like what you do, but also like you're doing it with.
Speaker 1:Yeah, cause we spend most of our lives working and traveling.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean, like being on a road trip with someone that you don't like sucks, it's awkward, it's the worst. Yeah, so yeah. We spend so much time working, we spend so much time on the road together. It's good to bike here with yeah.
Speaker 1:So one thing you said today that I thought was really was funny. You said the theater, what did you call it? The theater, dinner theater was really was funny. You said the theater. What did you call it? The theater, dinner theater? Yes, can you tell us a little bit?
Speaker 2:I know it's your favorite thing, um, I don't know if y'all are sensing my sarcasm, but it is a thing, it's important, but I think that like so I feel like this all kind of really took on a new, a new world like, like like post COVID, when people started going back out again they wanted to be like dazzled you know, and and that's cool, I mean it's got its place.
Speaker 2:But, like, not every cocktail needs to be smoked, and one thing that I found is that when people are smoking cocktails, a lot of the times it's going to smoke out the entire dining room and people are like. You know, I'm I'm trying to eat this soup and it smells like the inside of a barbecue pit in here. So I don't. I don't love drink theater and dinner theater. I think that there's a way to show that what you're doing is is good without having to like tap dance on top of a table. So I think you know some of it is cool. I think that's another cool thing about like working with EC is like you can do all this table side stuff. But you know I don't necessarily want to. I'm trying to think of an example that won't bite me in the ass. Like flavor blasters are so cool that the the gun and it makes the bubble that sits on top of the cocktail when I first started working with, I couldn't get it to work and it was like oh, it's like.
Speaker 2:You know, how are we gonna? How are we gonna suggest this to, you know, a restaurant, if, if I can't even do it not that I can do everything, but I just couldn't get it to him. So they came up with a solution for it and and like so stuff like that is cool, but it doesn't necessarily have to be like it. Just it feels inauthentic to me. It doesn't feel genuine to be like okay, here's a drink that's fine, and we use this juice that's got a ton of preservatives and we used, you know shit, vodka and all this stuff.
Speaker 2:But we're going to put it in a box and the box is going to light up and then there's glitter in it, so you should pay us $25 for it. It's not a great cocktail. You're paying for the Instagram ability of it and I don't love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there are definitely those Instagram restaurants and scenes out there where they'll have this really crazy shaped glass, but the drink is like really right.
Speaker 2:Here's this glass that looks like an octopus, but it's hand wash. Only you can't stack it.
Speaker 1:You're going to use it twice and it's going to break like okay and I got two sips and I'm done, and so, um, but yeah, like it doesn't have to be. Yeah, just I think that's the word inauthentic, like when you're trying too hard.
Speaker 2:I went. I went to London in March and every cocktail that I tried was so on point, was so delicious and there was none of this hokey shit. It was a really great cocktail that was made impeccably with really good ingredients and I didn't need you know the dance for grandma.
Speaker 1:I just here's your drink okay, if I get to go to London, I'm gonna have to get those places. I will. I I'll forward you my my guide. Yay, I can't wait. I mean that's what, that's how my husband and I travel. We're like okay, where are we gonna eat? Because that's what, that's what we do too my husband and and I travel, we're like okay, where are we going to eat?
Speaker 2:Cause that's what. That's what we do too. My husband and I both travel a ton for work, and so when we're going out to dinner we'll send the website, like we'll text each other the website, and then we it's really dorky and then we look at the menu and I'm like I would have, I would get this, and he would tell him you would get.
Speaker 1:We do the same thing Like, and we look at the drink menus and. I mean, yeah, it's all about the food and the drinks for me when I travel. It's not about like all these activities, it's same same. Just want to chill, eat and drink.
Speaker 2:I love going out to eat.
Speaker 1:Me too. I don't know if that's like. I mean, I heard that, especially Dallas people, and I'm sure I don't know if it's the same for Houston, because you guys have a lot more, I guess, things to do with the ocean or the gulf. You know, close by, kind of. But you know, like Dallas people, like all we do, like what are your hobbies? I'm like eating and drinking. I mean like going out and that's just.
Speaker 2:I love going out yeah, I love like girlfriends, family, my head, I love going out it's an experience and it's fun, and that's why I'm broke, because I love going out.
Speaker 1:It's an experience and it's fun and that's why I'm broke, because I love going out to games, me too, and my kids are going to break me too, because they are. I mean, they have a really good palate. So I'm like kids. I was excited to get McDonald's you know, back in the day, so but anyways. But yeah, things are definitely changing and evolving and everything but I'm so glad we got to talk today and um. So do you have a confession, or did I steal it?
Speaker 2:earlier. I don't, I, I mean what. What is every time? Every time you say, do you have a confession? I get that usher song stuck in my head. Um, I mean, I, I guess my confession would be that I, I don't. I don't drink a lot of cocktails. Um, I do taste them, but I don't drink a lot of them.
Speaker 1:You don't complete them, like just a little sip.
Speaker 2:And if they're, I mean, yeah, it's kind of lame.
Speaker 1:That's not lame, that's a good confession.
Speaker 2:I love them. I make good ones, taste good ones, but I just if it's, if it's up to me and I'm like ready to just like kick back and have a drink, just something simple yeah, well, um, I can attest that her drinks are incredible and, um, if you're ever at NRA, um Easy has a great booth and Rebecca's there.
Speaker 1:She also lives in Houston, so you'll have to check her out and look her up and if you need any tips on mixology, you should definitely reach out to her. But thank you so much for coming on today.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me, it was fun.
Speaker 1:I'd love to have you again.
Speaker 2:Any more recommendations on where to eat and drink in Dallas.
Speaker 1:Oh, we can help you with that. So, anyways, well, thanks for joining us today, guys, and we'll see you next time. For more inspiration, follow our social media at W3Sales. Please like, comment and subscribe. You know all the things we would love to connect with you.