A Jigger of Blog

Obviously I’m less in the craft cocktail scene than I once was, but this still is pretty hilarious.

For those that don’t know, most liquor brands hire brand ambassadors to help sell their spirit to bars, restaurants, bartenders, and the public. The brand ambassadors do things like consult on cocktail recipes that include their brand’s spirit, teach bartenders how to effectively use their product, and travel around doing events promoting it. It’s become a common move for established craft bartenders to go from working behind the stick to traveling the world as a brand ambassador. The New York Times had a piece on this a couple years ago.

As far as it goes, I think it’s great that talented bartenders are able to make the move to jobs that traditionally pay more than bartending. As the video above pokes fun, it’s clear that a brand ambassador is both an amazing job (travel the world, drink on an expense account, go to top bars with top bartenders) that has real drawbacks (always going, always drinking, pressure to get results in a highly competitive market). Still, the fundamental ability for a talented bartender to have an option to move upwards beyond simply opening their own bar is a good thing in my book. As a consumer, though, I’ve had quite a few great bartenders make the jump to brand ambassador, resulting in them spending less or even no time bartending any more. That certainly sucks for me, but it’s hard to root against the people who think are talented finding greater levels of professional success.