In Episode 267 of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Jess Long, bartender at the acclaimed Atwater Cocktail Club in Montreal, to trace her journey from hostessing at a busy Toronto restaurant, to pulling shots at Starbucks, to bartending her way through Australia and Southeast Asia — and ultimately landing in one of Canada's most celebrated cocktail scenes.

Jess opens up about how Starbucks secretly made her a better bartender, why tiki bars are the ultimate creative training ground, and how a zero-waste philosophy at Le Mal Necessaire completely changed the way she builds cocktails. She also talks mentorship, the pre- and post-COVID shift in bar culture, her cocktail-to-go business during the pandemic, and the moment a milk-punch Mai Tai that looked like a glass of water earned her first menu placement.

Whether you're behind the bar or dreaming about it, this episode is packed with insight, laughs, and more than a few surprising twists — including a 24/7 Australian nightclub, a blue cheese vodka cocktail, and a Waldorf salad that somehow became a drink.

Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen — and if you're in Montreal, go find Jess at Atwater Cocktail Club.

@atwatercocktailclub

atwatercocktailclub.com

A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste using flavor profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more……Imbiblia - check it out!

Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling, Malivoire Winery and Terroir Wine Imports.

Links

kyppsaunders@gmail.com

@sugarrunbar

@the_industry_podcast

email us: info@theindustrypodcast.club