What Does Ryan Holt From Naked And Afraid Tattoo On His Ribs Say

Cocktails and confessions with Las Vegas' ambassadors of booze

Kate Flanagan (Jameson), Gaston Martinez (Milagro), Kris Brown (Stoli elit), J.R. Starkus (St-Germain) and Kristen Schaefer (Absolut) are a handful of the brand ambassadors living in Vegas and representing some of the premium spirits we relish in our cocktails. They also happen to be real friends, thrown together past a lifestyle that's equal parts hard play and hard work. Well, maybe non equal. In the lush, exotic condolement of the Artisan lounge, they shared their stories with u.s.a..

Photograph: Beverly Poppe

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And then a brand ambassador walks into a bar fastened to a brothel in the centre of nowhere. Her car is overheated. Her phone is useless. She's out of water, but she does accept a trunk full of triple-distilled whiskey. The truckers bellied upwards within Nevada Joe'southward stare as the Irish stranger sweeps through the door. They're talking about Crown Purple, and despite the solar day she'southward had, despite the likelihood these men are hoping she'due south a hooker, Kate Flanagan tin can't resist.

"You boys drink whiskey?" she asks. Moments later she's pouring eighteen-year-old Jameson Limited Reserve and telling tales about the founding family battling pirates. Everybody drinks. Everybody bonds. "There are more truckers coming in," Kate says, "and they're all eying me upwards and the boys are like, 'No! She'due south with Jameson.'"

Laughter echoes off the Artisan's glossy black ceiling, where a mosaic of vanity mirrors reflects Kate, Kris Brown, J.R. Starkus, Kristen Schaefer and Gaston Martinez, aka Jameson, Stoli elit, St-Germain, Absolut and Milagro. They are brand ambassadors, official faces and voices of these premium spirits in Las Vegas. Given a constabulary lineup, I'grand convinced I could match each one to the right canteen.

Kris is a peachy big homo rocking a well-baked black suit and constant grin. His cheerful refinement fits the classic Russian vodka's development, filtered extra cold for maximum purity.

J.R. could double for Gregory Peck in a motion-picture show poster from the '40s, making eggshell pants and a pop of lavender look easy. Just as costless spirited, his liqueur is made from elderflowers handpicked in the French Alps by farmers on bicycles.

Kristen direct up smolders. In a peek-a-boo dress with a vintage cut and heaven-high magenta heels, she seems built-in to sip a Cosmopolitan, the cocktail that helped make her Swedish vodka ubiquitous.

Gaston exudes the side of tequila you don't see on jump break—smooth, relaxed, contemplative. Jeans and jacket to manicured scruff, his vibe mirrors his Mexican spirit's contemporary feel and precise foundation.

And Kate, with her green eyes and musical accent, is a poster child for the Emerald Island and its favorite whiskey. John Jameson probably never wore head-to-toe leather, but his legendary spunk and good humor come across.

To the other patrons in the Artisan's corrupt antique warehouse of a lounge, they must wait like a bunch of friends meeting for drinks. They are. But when you're a brand ambassador in America's party capital, playtime is difficult work. Gaston says, "It's a lifestyle. ... We're on 24 hours a solar day."

Yous ARE WHAT Yous DRINK

Anytime they're in the public eye, from a nightclub floor to a mail service on Facebook, these ambassadors are representing. That means drinking their brands, buying rounds and occasionally giving bottles to lonely truckers who've only made a vivid memory.

Kris calls such retention weaving "selling a story," which requires a lot more than noesis and savvy than merely selling an paradigm in the style of your average glory endorser. Ambassadors look the part, but they're also experts on brand history, method, market share, flavor profiles and recipes. They host massive parties and intimate tasting events. They travel the land for seminars and festivals. They build accounts. It'due south a heavy load, which is why only i of these five kept his "24-hour interval chore."

J.R., an honour-winning mixologist, is still lead barman at RM Seafood. Gaston and Kristen accept like cred and backgrounds, as he developed the drinkable programme at Nora'southward Cuisine over xiv years and she was instrumental in launching Tacos & Tequila, Rhumbar and the Cosmopolitan. Kris has worked for several big alcohol distributors. Kate came to the table completely green. Geek know-how is a plus, merely personality is crucial. It's a make in itself.

"Information technology'south not but something y'all take off and exit. It's yous," Kris says of the job, nodding at Gaston. "People run into him, they see Milagro. Plain and elementary."

Recognition is the goal. But in one case your identity becomes a public commodity, it'due south hard to draw lines. And keeping the buzz going involves a lot of moving and shaking. On the extreme end of the spectrum, Gaston travels every bit many as 280 days a year. In a single day he might appear in Seattle, San Francisco, LA and New York.

"It's living out of the suitcase, and almost of the time you can't open your suitcase," he says. Every mean solar day is Sat when you're a brand ambassador, but the reality isn't ever glamorous. Kate says she's seen a lot of hotels, as opposed to actual places. But she wouldn't merchandise the suitcase if it meant missing 1 diehard fan flashing a Jameson tattoo.

"I live for information technology. My mates often joke that we'll go out and I disappear … off in the corner chatting whiskey," she says. "I get such a kick out of it when someone who hasn't tried the product turns around and says they love information technology."

Kris adds that the drain is no match for the fun, and that the perks are worth taking on the serious social responsibleness of making sure nobody overdoes it. But when I ask how the task affects their love lives, at that place are a few groans. Working in the nightlife industry in full general makes relationships challenging, peculiarly in Vegas. The hours are long and belatedly, and there are endless throngs of hot, unmarried drunks. J.R., who just celebrated 10 years with his married woman, says she has only 1 rule: Be home before sunrise. Kristen calls him the lucky one.

"I think nosotros're all adequately lucky," Kris says. "You're talking about romance? No one cares about that. I adopt vodka over love whatsoever day of the calendar week."

SH*T Make AMBASSADORS SAY

Love is big in this room. Possibly information technology's the booze: Jameson and ginger ale, elit on the rocks, Absolut Standard mandarin and soda, and special creations by the Artisan's Shannon Holt—Naked (St-Germain, champagne, pineapple juice) and Sundown (Milagro, cinnamon puree, orange juice). Or maybe it's the battle scars and inside jokes.

They tell me I should watch a video that was shown at this yr's Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans called "Sh*t Brand Ambassadors Say." It pokes fun at some of the job's pretentious concepts ("the roses—they're plucked at six in the morning by gypsy men in Islamic republic of iran") and universal catchphrases ("Shots!" "Did I leave my wallet here concluding night?").

Even at such a huge festival, they say the community feels—and is—very pocket-sized. And so everyone supports each other. I look at Kris and Kristen. Aren't they vodka enemies?

"Stoli's Russian; I'm Swedish. Nosotros're two completely different categories. … People minimalize vodkas then often," Kristen says, "but there are and then many different flavour profiles to information technology that it'south astounding."

"That's why their task is important," J.R. adds, "educational activity people that vodka isn't simply vodka." That means emphasizing your strengths rather than trash-talking—considering information technology's just good class, because even trash talk gives your competitors "airtime," because you never know what benefactor might own your brand tomorrow, and generally because people like what they like.

"I can sit down hither and say Milagro is the best tequila in the world. To who? ... The spirit that's better is the one that you like the best," Gaston says. He means average drinkers. The bartenders among us concord that a great number don't know what they want and are too agape to explore or ask questions—hence the importance of formal tastings (and gratis drinks). Merely Gaston says if you reach 1 bartender you reach 1,000 drinkers.

"The bartenders are the most of import part of our business concern because they're the ones that pick upwardly the bottle and decide what to cascade. … When you brand them autumn in love with you and your brand, you take the earth in your hands," Kristen says. "They'll sell it for you lot."

Aside from creating arts and crafts cocktails that speak elegantly and deliciously for his brand, J.R. enjoys this attribute of the ambassador task most. He doesn't approach meetings with potential accounts as a sales pitch. He approaches them as teachable moments.

"I like a challenge," he says. "I want to know that I went into an account and they'd never heard of St-Germain, they had no thought that St-Germain wasn't a beer, and that after they were done talking to me they were enlightened most the product and how many uses it has, and they were similar, 'Wow, he taught me a lot. I really want that on this bar.' That's a victory to me."

A few rounds into my teachable moment, the cocktails taste different. It'southward non but booze anymore, information technology'due south Kris describing his grandma'due south sweet Contrivance Sprint Swinger and Kristen laughing about finessing her favorite geek into liking flavored vodka. I feel a connection to the spirits because I feel a connexion to these people, and that's the thought.

"As much equally nosotros are brands, nosotros are people," Gaston says. "And the brands hire us because of who we are.

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  Kris Dark-brown, elit by Stolichnaya

  Potable this: Because elit is common cold-filtered to be as free of imperfections as possible, information technology's the kind of vodka that deserves to be tried without much embellishment. Effort a splash of society soda or a simple wheel of lime. Hit your hangover with: "2 B-complex, two spectacles of h2o, go to sleep. I wake up—I'm fine. But I'm besides not drinking trash."

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  J.R. Starkus, St-Germain

  Drinkable this: The signature St-Germain Cocktail combines the liqueur'due south chameleon-like elderflower flavor—passion fruit, pear, citrus—with dry brut champagne and lodge soda, on the rocks with a lemon twist. Hitting your hangover with: "I drink a Gatorade and accept a multivitamin earlier I get to bed."

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  Kristen Schaefer, Absolut

  Drink this: There are two stories about the origin of the game-irresolute Cosmopolitan cocktail, and both involve Absolut Citron. Add Cointreau orange liqueur and the fresh juices of cranberry and lime to the smooth vodka's lemon boot. Hit your hangover with: "H2o subsequently every drink and Pedialyte and more Pedialyte."

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  Kate Flanagan, Jameson

  Drink this: A shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey and a shot of pickle juice. The Pickle Back is magic. Hit your hangover with: "I am a firm believer that a hangover is a frame of mind. ... If that doesn't piece of work, a Jameson Irish gaelic Java ever sets me correct."

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  Gaston Martinez, Milagro

  Drink this: Try the silver tequila on ice with a slapped mint leafage to enhance the vanilla notation. Attempt the reposado neat with a pinch of Mexican cinnamon to boot up the innate spice. And complement the añejo's butterscotch backbone with grated extra dark chocolate, letting the chocolate sit for v minutes so the oils break down and glaze the top of the tequila. Hit your hangover with: "As far as hangover cure, there is no such thing. Only prevention. Lots of water while drinking!"

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  Beverly Poppe

  An Artisan Spin

  Artisan bartender Shannon Holt designed a special menu of cocktails inspired by the brands featured in this story. Just like the lounge where Holt works her beverage magic, they're unique, refreshing and "a little bit of something for everyone." Mood, $16 Stoli elit and muddled blueberries topped with ginger ale. Naked, $12 St-Germain, pineapple juice and a splash of Wycliff champagne. Afterward Hours, $12 Absolut, Absolut Citron, "Seattle muddle" of fresh raspberries and blueberries crushed into ice with a splash of simple syrup. The Artisan, $15 Jameson and Godiva chocolate liqueur with slow-melting milk chocolate and raspberry purees laced on the martini glass. Sundown, $13 Milagro and cinnamon puree with a splash of orange juice.

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  Behind the bar with Shannon Holt

  What is one of your first memories of alcohol? I grew up in Kentucky, which is Bourbon country. I worked at several distilleries in my own town. You lot don't realize what's involved in the recipes. There's then much behind the scenes that we don't see. Do you adopt bourbon? I absolutely have appreciation for every alcohol out at that place. I don't stick to one. I never accept. I tend to prefer my cocktails stronger vs. sweeter. How long accept you worked at the Artisan? I started nigh 3 months ago. … I've learned a tremendous amount at the Artisan. Even with our bar staff every bit a whole, we all come up from different walks of life, some have nightclub experience and some come from local bars. I've worked with so many bartenders in Vegas, and every bartender in Vegas has something to offer and there'due south always something to learn. Can you estimate a beverage order but based on someone'south vibe? Especially in a city every bit vast in its diversity as Vegas, it's impossible to stereotype. People will shock you lot. Practice you call up the city's nightlife in full general gets stereotyped? I recall Vegas has a very definitive stereotype. I think the Artisan is i of the few places in Vegas that really has something for anybody. … If y'all're into art history, information technology's going to fascinate you. It's 1 of just 2 or three places in the city that offers an afterwards hours nightclub. Artisan doesn't really get started till 3 or 4 in the morn. We have guest DJs, a late-dark menu. … We get eclectic crowds, and nosotros're ready to party as long as they are.

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Source: https://lasvegasweekly.com/nightlife/2012/aug/30/cocktails-and-confessions-las-vegas-ambassadors-bo/

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