If one thing became apparent to me throughout the American Distilling Institute’s Brandy Conference, it’s that the bartender is the gateway to consumer taste. Panelists and craft distillers continually referred to bartenders as the arbiters of preference, the gatekeepers of public awareness, and the biggest gun in their marketing arsenal. A bar – a good bar – is a church, and the bartender, your confessor. You confess your base desires to the man or woman in formal black behind the pulpit and place your trust into their hands. And, in that trust, and what they choose to serve you, is where craft distillers’ prayers are answered.

So, in the spirit of James Garner, Destry, and Cleavon Little, approach and support your local and regional bartenders properly and your product will find its way into the hands of customers who will then start requesting it from liquor stores and from you. Here are some general guidelines:

• Give the bartender the respect and professional courtesy of making an appointment, and keeping it,

Getting facetime and building a relationship with bartenders requires that you be businesslike. For the bartenders that are best going to show off your product and give it traction, bartending is a career choice and profession, not merely a job, and they want it respected as such. And, with that in mind, be sensible about your arrival. Showing up at 7:00pm on a Friday night as they’re pushing drinks through the service bar at a clip or are just starting to pick up at the bar is no time to try and impress on them the quality of your product or ask them to try it. Want to know what time is best for them? Ask. And keep the appointment.

• Give him/her your personal contact information and invite them to use it (nothing impresses their guests more than calling the distiller on-the-spot about a product and, possibly, putting them on the phone),

Transparency and accessibility builds much more value in your product. As Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager at Clyde Common in Portland, OR, notes, “What I’m looking for in a company to support is the people. I use craft spirits because I like supporting independent producers, and all I ask in turn is a passion for quality, honest information about the product, and some sort of connection to the people who produce my spirit. If I need marketing hype and press releases in my cocktails I’ll turn to one of the major brands.” This connection to the people who produce the spirit can’t be undervalued. The best advocate for your product is you, the person that made the product. And having that connection helps the bartender be more confident in answering questions customers may have and allows them a resource to contact and, perhaps in contacting, impress a customer and emphasize their own value as well.

• Show up with the product, tell your story, and get out-of-the-way (They want to get to know it, not have you cram a bunch of half-baked recipes at them),

As a cocktail writer, I assure you, bartenders don’t need any more marketing material from you. If there’s a question they have about the product or there’s a quality that intrigues them, they’ll ask. And that’s where you cease to be a salesman and enter the realm of craftsman. As Craig Hermann, bartender at Thatch in Portland, OR, put it this way, “A guy came in and bragged about how awesome and superior his moderately acceptable product was, and how it was the name that pushed the product. Like we’re also salesmen for the product. The best relationship is the one where I don’t know you’re playing me and you can hold up your end of the conversation.” So, know your product, know how and why they should use it, and, for the love of Pete, don’t show up with “chain-restaurant quality “cocktail” lists.”

• Try and slow them down in using your product in some way to avoid them cracking it open, pouring, and putting it back on the shelf, and

Honestly, this one is dicey. Large wax seals around your cap? Lovely, but also a potential hand injury or cursing of your name as they’re trying to open it, are buried 10-tickets deep and start balefully glowering at the label as they continue the struggle. They’ll remember your brand alright, but no in the way you’d hoped. Razor-sharp, and high, edge to your foil after the cap is removed? Welcome to Band-Aid city. Be very careful in approaching your packaging; bottles that are difficult to work with, cause injury, or are a challenge to open may lead to your bartender talking about your product, for sure, but not what’s in the bottle. If you want them to slow down, get them to know your story, and be able to tell it.

• Get them to your distillery and teach them about your distillation process and show interest in their feedback (once they taste your product coming out of the still, it becomes theirs)

And on this last point, one finds that it’s about people. Morgenthaler says this, “The guys at House Spirits here in Portland should be a model for craft distilling. Even when I was in Eugene, they made a point of coming down to the bar, trying out my drinks – no matter what spirit – and occasionally pushing me to come up with drinks and experiment with their product. They’re super accessible and always invite me to stop by the distillery to see what they’re up to, have a drink, try something new, etc. When I’m reaching for a bottle, I often think about supporting them because they’re part of our little family here, and I often grab one of their products.”

These are only a few of the ways bartenders and craft distillers can have the sort of symbiotic and productive relationship. Bartenders, what are your peeves and what brings you joy?

And, distillers, what has worked best for you and what do bartenders need to know to better work with you?