Bartenders and Mixologists

(@ Brian MacGregor, Oofty Goofty at Jardinière)

You can drink an Old Fashioned at the Experimental Cocktail Club in Paris, and a Lusitania at the Beckett's Kopf in Berlin. You can have a Moscow Mule at Rockpool in Sydney, or an Oofty Goofty at the Jardinière in San Francisco. Bottom line, you can find your drink and your place provided you are a free spirit. The only issue is to know what a bartender and what a mixologist are.

According to Colleen Graham, mixology is generally accepted as a slang term for a refined and in depth study of the art and craft of bartending. Well, it's not that simple: the same Colleen Graham comes back and asks herself, is a mixologist just a fancy, scientific-sounding name for a bartender? Technically, yes, but there is a generally accepted difference between the two job titles while the two are often used interchangeably. Still confused?

Now let me give you my two penny opinion: bartending can be an art, if you are obsessed with looking for the perfect mix of drinks. Therefore not all bartenders are also mixologists, while all mixologists are also bartenders. To say nothing about baristas (just kidding). I'll come back to this.

• The Campbell Apartment
• The History of Oofty Goofty
• High Five in Tokyo
• Connaught Bar in London: Martini Trolleys and White Gloves

(A Life in Books)