Summary
Unsurprisingly, bartending is not typically conducive to work-life balance, especially when starting a new family. That was the challenge that Julia McLish, bartender and owner of Barkeep Supply in Oklahoma City, faced when she found out she was expecting her first child. Instead of leaving the industry she was passionate about, she started an innovative concept — selling bartending supplies in a retail store with a demonstration bar to help customers learn what they liked so they could make cocktails at home.
Now, her bar is one of the most popular haunts for industry professionals and locals alike, leading her to open a new cocktail lounge down the hall from her current location. We sat down with Julia to learn more about her drive to open a bar, crafting a unique experience, and what you need to get started when making cocktails on your own.
How Did You Get Started Working in Spirits?
I've been bartending for about 10 years now. I got my start in college at a burger joint, a beer-and-shot kind of bar in Edmond, OK, where I was going to school. And even after I graduated from college, I just never wanted to stop. So I just kept moving up the bar ladder and just kept bartending at different places until Barkeep.
Right before I decided to build Barkeep, I was bartending at a music venue. I think it was maybe five years ago now. And my husband and I found out we were going to be expecting my daughter. And so that, of course, changes my whole perspective. I'm trying to scramble and think about what I'm going to be doing for work and what my lifestyle is going to look like after she's born.
I obviously didn’t want to be at a bar working late hours anymore. I had to try to think of other ways to work. So when I went on maternity leave, I wasn't sure if I was going to go back to my same job afterward or what I was going to do. But while I was on leave, I just sat at my computer the whole time and researched this business idea. I just slowly went step by step, until before I knew it, I was basically about to open a business.
How Did That Business Plan Evolve into Barkeep Supply?
I knew that I wanted to do a retail store. I knew that I wanted to bring something new to OKC, something that I had never seen anywhere close to around here. I knew that it had to be a store with a variety of tools, bitters, and stuff like that, that I couldn't find anywhere else. So that was my number one goal.
When I was doing my research, I found out that it was legal to have a bar in conjunction with a retail store. I was just so excited about it. Because I still love bartending, I don't want to stop bartending. I was getting into making craft cocktails all the time, too. So once I found out I could do that, I was really excited to combine those two concepts. I'd never seen anything like that before.
I got excited about the prospect of having something truly unique. So from that point on, the bar was really intended to be a demonstration bar, a tasting bar. A bar where you could show people how to use the tools or how to build a drink, or how to use the bitters. But when we opened, and we were serving drinks, people wanted to just come in for drinks. So it just kind of exploded from what was supposed to be a demonstration bar. And I think that has to do with my bar manager, Brenna, and my hospitality background that just made it comfortable for people to come in and just want to drink. So now it's just a full-fledged bar instead of a demonstration bar.
I think it's really unique that consumers can come and pick out bar tools. We encourage them to look around the store and see what we have and see what we're using behind the bar. Our customers get to pick up, touch, hold, feel, and see firsthand the tools they're thinking about purchasing rather than buying them online, all while having a cocktail while you do it, which is pretty cool.
Do You Have Anything New or Exciting on the Horizon?
After seeing the success of the bar, we knew we needed more seats. Last weekend, for example, if I would have had 20 seats at the bar, they would have all been full. With just four seats at Barkeep’s bar top now, I know that people would like to have a seat at the bar where they usually can't. So we decided to build a new, hidden bar called Lunar Lounge right down the hall. We're going to open a full bar with no store. Hopefully, we will be able to get everybody a seat.
I feel like both concepts are kind of like sisters. I have a partner in Lunar Lounge, but for Barkeep, it's just me. Because of that, Lunar Lounge is going to have a different perspective than Barkeep. It will have some similarities, like the same style of modern, fun cocktails that are just super fresh and delicious. But it’s a different kind of vibe. It's going to be very dark, more like a lounge with no retail store. And, like Barkeep, it has an 80s vibe. Hopefully, it will feel a little bit the same, but it's going to be pretty different as well.
For Someone New to Your Bar, Where do You Recommend They Start?
If you’re new to our bar, I recommend you order a cocktail from our classic side of the menu. That side of the menu is a great introduction to cocktails and us because they are the tried and true cocktails that we've nailed down. And they're our most popular cocktails.
Speaking of, a really popular cocktail has been the Double Vision. It's a kind of a weird twist on a Negroni. Somebody had brought in an idea about a Negroni that had lemon juice in it one time, and I thought that was really weird. So I took the idea, and I ran with it. It’s dry gin, grenadine, both Campari and Cappelletti, pomegranate juice, and lemon juice. It’s also topped with soda water and fresh fennel, which is interesting and cool to serve.
We like to use seasonal and local fruit and produce when we can. What's kind of different about our bar is that we feature a lot of supplemental liquors. So we have only a limited selection of vodka, gin, rum, and tequila. We do have a limited variety of those spirits. But what we have most of are those cool, different, flavorful, supplemental liqueurs, which we showcase in our cocktails. I think we have more of those unique spirits more than anything else.
I really like making simple, fresh cocktails. So I love using fresh fruit and herbs, like fresh strawberries. One of my favorite things is to take a nice fresh strawberry and muddle it with gin and lemon juice. That's one of my favorite kinds of cocktails to make.
What Other Local Spots Would You Suggest and Why?
The number one spot I always recommend is R&J’s. I love R&J’s. They're our friends and our neighbors. They make solid drinks, have good food, and have a good vibe. So R&J’s is the perfect recommendation for us since they are also in Midtown OKC, especially if people are walking around our area. If people have a car or want to venture out, I would definitely say Palo Santo — they have some of the best cocktails in town.
Where Should Someone Get Started Making Cocktails at Home?
Everyone should have at least the base spirits: vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and whiskey. Just get a nice easy, not too expensive, but solid version of all of those spirits to make drinks. From there, get a bitter, an amaro and a couple of liqueurs, depending on what you like and what your goals are as far as what drinks you want to mix. Having a couple of versatile liqueurs is just kind of fun, like an orange liqueur is good, a Dry Curaçao or something like that. Chartreuse maybe, Campari and Aperol.
Supply-wise, I would say there are probably four things that you need to get started: a shaker, a strainer if you don't have one built into your shaker, a jigger, and a bar spoon. Those are the top four that you would need to get started with your own bar. For the shaker, I prefer Boston. They're just easier to open and easier to keep track of all the pieces. It's only two pieces instead of three, making them easier to clean. And then I prefer to get the Hawthorne strainer to partner with the Boston Shaker. The Hawthorne strainer is easier to stick on the top of the lid and then hold it with one hand and pour, rather than a Julep strainer, which doesn't fit on top of the shaker easily — you have to hold it differently. I love the Hawthorne for speed, basically, just for ease.
If you’re really interested in bartending, reading at least one really good book is helpful. That gives you a good starting point for knowing what to do to get going. There are so many different techniques, and everybody has a different way of making drinks and different ways they like their drinks to taste. So it's really about finding what you like and figuring out what you want to produce, and then taking it from there. But I would definitely recommend at least reading a good solid book.
The new Welcome Home book from Death and Co. was really good; I just read that one. It's really approachable, and it has a lot of basic techniques. And it has some goodies in it too. They explain why they do the things they do, which I think is pretty interesting. I think a lot of people, especially if they were to go sit at the Death and Co. bar, would be really interested in why they do the stuff that they do. And that's a really good book to guide you through that.
Any Closing Thoughts Before We Go?
Classes and events are a big aspect of what we do here. Our Cocktail 101 classes are really popular. Most of the classes are entry-level, where we teach basic cocktail techniques, like making an old fashioned. They are one-on-one style classes for around six or eight people, allowing them to be private for you and your group. We set up the class at the main table, I pull up a bar cart, and we run through how to build cocktails.
The classes pick up to two or three drinks to make — either classic drinks or drinks from our menu. And then we basically go from the ground up, teaching them how to build those drinks with the techniques needed. We teach shaking versus stirring, measuring with a jigger properly, and building the drink in the shaker or glass. And then, depending on the experience of the class, we can talk about how to start making your own unique cocktails, going over standard cocktail measurements and making syrups and stuff like that.
Hopefully, we're going to have some more event-style stuff coming up in the future, too. We randomly have different events that you can find out about on our Instagram page. For example, we recently held a martini competition for OKC bartenders, which was a really fun event. We chose six bartenders from around town, and we had them make a special martini for the competition. There were very few rules, but it had to include a gin and a vermouth, and then they took it from there. So we do fun industry-centric events like that. And in the past, we've also invited guest bartenders that we know from around town to take over the bar for a day and showcase their cocktails for the night.
We love teaching people and love sharing our passion for bartending. So come by to grab a drink the next time you are in OKC, peruse the store, and ask us any questions. We’re all super knowledgeable and can help you with whatever you want to learn!
