Meet the Mixologist: Millie - Bar Valentino
Hi I’m Millie, a bartender at Bar Valentino, and welcome to my Meet the Mixologist Q&A.
What first got you into making cocktails?
I've been making cocktails for about three years now. And what first got me into it was my older brother who was a bartender in his youth. So at my first job at a fine dining restaurant in London, I begged them to let me train behind the bar, and they said yes. They probably didn’t realise I was only 17 at the time. I was thrown in at the deep end, learning to bartend in the middle of Leicester Square, and it was terrifying.
If you could only drink one cocktail for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
If I could only drink one cocktail for the rest of my life, it would have to be a Sweet Rye Manhattan with Knob Creek 9 Year or any good rye for that matter. It's simple. It's dangerous. It's difficult to get wrong, and it is absolutely delicious.
Are there any cocktail myths or misconceptions that bother you?
Yeah, that more ice means less drink. You know the Instagram videos of people taking the ice out of their drink to show off? Or people who order a gin and tonic with no ice, and so you're just getting more tonic? Get your hands off the ice ok!
Do you have any top tips or advice for aspiring home bartenders?
This might come as a harsh truth, but stop watching Instagram reels of home bartenders for cocktail recipes. To be a good home bartender, I think you need to go out to bars and actually learn from the people who are paid to make them. Have a chat with a bartender. They're not gonna bite (I will, but not all of them). I think the knowledge is much more powerful when it's being gifted to you from someone who already knows it instead of counting on popular videos on social media that have just been created for engagement or marketing purposes. Or do your own research, and read some books. There are hundreds of helpful cocktail books online.
What's the most unique or unusual cocktail request you've ever received?
Dirty Manhattan. Yeah a Manhattan with olive brine in it. That makes me uncomfortable as I don’t really like olives anyway. I’m not gonna name who this Brighton bartender was (he’s a good friend of mine!), but it was delicious to him, not to me.
What’s your favourite cocktail bar in the world (other than Bar Valentino of course) and why?
My favourite cocktail bar in the world is the Micro Mezcal Mecca called Cantina OK! in Sydney. I got the chance to go to Sydney for a week and four out of those seven days was spent drinking tequila in this bar that fits about 20 people in it. They hand crank the ice, they hand juice limes, and only serve tequila drinks. Yeah. It is absolutely the most magical drinking experience. I mean Sydney's cocktail scene is absolutely banging anyway. So incredibly expensive, but incredibly cool at the same time.
What’s your favourite cocktail on the menu at Bar Valentino and why?
I think my favourite drink on the menu would have to be my tomato tomato. And it is essentially a riff on a garden gimlet, very tomato heavy. It's got basil olive oil on top, so it's super refreshing, and also savoury at the same time.
To find out more about Brighton’s incredible bar scene, book on a Brighton Cocktail Tour or follow @brightoncocktailtour and @barvalentino on Instagram.
