#jasonpollard

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[thesipologist]

Bartender Interview: Jason Pollard

While in Portland for Portland Cocktail Week, I decided to go out a few evenings to meet some bartenders and check out the best cocktail bars. One night, I found myself wandering into Kask, a rightfully appreciated and well-respected bar near Downtown Portland. There I met Jason Pollard, and over the course of a cocktail or two, we discussed a few things about Portland, his moving back to Texas, and what he and his family are doing next. Check out the interview below and make sure to visit him at The Usual if ever near Fort Worth, Texas. 

Where are you from and what brought you to Portland? I'm from Fort Worth, Texas. My wife's company is based in Portland, and when she got the opportunity to transfer up here, we jumped at the opportunity.

What do you love most about Portland? That's tough. The first thing you notice is the scenery. It's absolutely gorgeous everywhere you look. But I think what I came to love the most was the level of professionalism within the bartending community. If you want to make a career out of bartending, Portland has your back.

What are you looking forward to most in 2015? I'm really just looking forward to continuing this adventure. I just moved back to Texas, and there are some cool things on the horizon.

What time do you usually wake up in the morning? Well, I have a three year old daughter, so she makes sure I'm up by 8:30 at the latest. Before, I would wake up between noon and 1:00. . . those days are over though. What's interesting is, on days when my wife does let me sleep in, I feel like I miss out on so much of my day that I end up getting up anyway.

Describe your bartending path that led to Kask. I started working in restaurants when I was 17, and the bartender was always the coolest person on the staff. I wanted to be that. The whole story is pretty mundane, and cliché. I did the corporate, chain restaurant bartending for a while, but it wasn't until my good friend Jack McNally took me to New Orleans (in 2006 just after the storm) and got me a proper Sazerac, that I realized there was more out there, and that I wanted to be a part of it. I started reading what I could, and spending time at The Usual in Fort Worth. Once I finally convinced the guys at The Usual to give me a shot, I turned a fill-in position into a full time gig. I like to tell people, and I'm only slightly exaggerating, that I spend $200 that first week on Amazon, just on cocktail books. I assumed moving to Portland that I would just be able to find a job at the coolest cocktail bar, and keep doing what I was doing in Fort Worth. It didn't work that way. I worked a couple places, met some really cool people, and learned a lot about the way people drink here. Kask was one of the first bars I visited as a customer, and walking in was like being home. I knew it was the bar where I wanted to work. After no less than 4 interviews, and 2 stages, I finally got my shot.

You’re moving back to Texas. What’s next for you?  I'll be back at The Usual in some capacity. I'm excited to jump back into the Texas cocktail scene, but I'm going to be laying low for a little while, and getting some things in order first.

What was your introduction to cocktails? The great Jack McNally was a bartender in New Orleans before Katrina. He evacuated back home to Fort Worth just before things got bad. In 2006, he wanted to go check things out, and I wanted to hang out in New Orleans. He showed me all his old haunts, and at one place ordered me a Sazerac. It changed my life. Sugar, Rye, Bitters, Absinthe. I'd never had anything like it.

Where do you draw your inspiration from? Any mentors along the way? I try and keep it simple, and draw inspiration from ingredients, whether it's a spirit that's new to the market, or the first pears of fall. No one so far has taught me as much as Brad Hensarling at The Usual, his thinking, his recipes, are the base of everything I know.

What is one of your favorite cocktails made by someone else? I really love the Stiff Upper Lip by Kyle Sanders (Multnomah Whiskey Library). It's Ransom's new Dry Gin, Dolin Blanc, Green Chartreuse, and Campari. It hits all the right notes. The Ransom Dry shines, but there's depth and complexity, with just a little sweetness.

What is one of your favorite cocktails made by you? I'm not super prolific when it comes to creating new cocktails, so my favorite of my own cocktails tends to be the one cocktail I'm obsessing over, and tweaking, currently. Right now, that's a drink called the Good Christian. It features this awesome Spiced Pear Gastrique I made with Bartlett Pears, Champagne Vinegar, Clove, Cardamom, and Anise. The cocktail itself is: 

1 oz. El Dorado 5 yr. .5 oz. Calvados .5 oz. Spiced Pear Gastrique .5 oz. Lemon Juice

Shaken, and topped with 1 oz. of Sparkling Wine

Where are some of your favorite places for cocktails (local or not)? I don't get to go out for cocktails much, but I love Pepe le Moko, Halle Pele, and of course Rum Club (though I’m usually there for a beer and a shot) in Portland. And before I left, Scat Jazz Lounge in Fort Worth was always a great getaway. It's in a basement in downtown Fort Worth, it's dark, there's always really great music there, and, at least before I left, you could still smoke in there. It's really a throwback to the Rat Pack days in all the right ways.

Alexander Wept: bulleit rye, cherry heering, amaro abano, laphroaig 10 year, bitters, smoked cherry bark

What is the most difficult cocktail ingredient to pronounce? I always worry that I'm not pronouncing Byrrh correctly (though I'm pretty sure I am). And, I'm never quite sure what to do with the "a" is Mezcal, in Spanish it's always short and soft, but I feel a bit like one of those newscasters that adopts a Spanish accent only for Spanish words when I say it that way. Most Americans I've run into hit it a bit harder.

If given $100 and asked to buy all spirits/ingredients needed for a cocktail of your choosing, what would you purchase? Is a $100 bottle of whiskey a cop-out? As far as what I'd actually keep at my house, I'd probably buy a good bag of demerrara sugar, Angostura and Peychaud's bitters, and a bottle of Angels Envy Rye, and just make a mean old fashioned and call it a night. Being home has gotten me back into Rum too, so a bottle of El Dorado or Ron Zacapa might be in order. It's also about 30 degrees in North Texas today, if you ask me in July, it'd probably be completely different.