#UNM BARTENDER CLASS HOW TO#

“I always tell people if you don’t know what you want, describe it to me in adjectives.” “Making drinks, it’s where art meets science,” he says. Simons currently tends bar at Tonic in downtown Santa Fe three nights a week. Simons recently placed in the top 15 bartenders in the country. I also did the cocktail program at La Casa Sena.” Weston Simons works at Tonic in downtown Santa Fe three nights a week. “My wife grew up in Santa Fe and we lived there for over a year, where I worked at Santa Fe Spirits Distillery. “Then I went to Copper Lounge as it was reopening,” he says. He was also part of the team that helped open the bar at Hotel Chaco in Old Town. He would have stints at Ibiza inside Hotel Andaluz, as well as Q Bar in Hotel Albuquerque. Simons would follow Mathews to Borracho’s Craft Booze and Brews in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he would train new bartenders. She started training me before I could tend bar.” “I started working with Sara Mathews,” he says. He began getting serious about it while he was working at Apothecary Lounge at Hotel Parq Central. Simons has been a soda jerk and a barista. “It was there I would try to put together different flavors to add to the lemonade,” he says. Years later, his family had a lemonade stand, which they would take to various community events and markets. I remember my mind being stimulated by the creation process.”

“(My parents) gave me a recipe and I was making mocktails for everyone. “The first time, it was for a New Year’s party my parents were having,” he recalls. Simons began making drinks at the age of 8, while growing up in Bosque Farms. “I’ve got to step up my game,” he says with a laugh. Another competitor made root beer-infused brandy cherries. One woman created an iron brand and seared the outside of a coconut.

#UNM BARTENDER CLASS HOW TO#

Simons was so impressed with some of his competitors, he was taking notes on how to stand out. The connections that I made have been phenomenal.” It was great to be in a room of fabulous competitors. It’s a confidence builder and I tried my best. “I really enjoyed the aspect of getting feedback after each of the rounds. When Simons first applied for the competition, he never imagined he would make it as far as he did.Īfter being selected, he decided to let everything fall where it may and see what the end result tastes like. His hard work paid off as he was named one of the best in the country. This competition forced me to think about myself and my history.” New Mexico native Weston Simons has always had a love for creating mixed drinks. When you start off in a small market like New Mexico, you compare it to New York and Los Angeles and look outward. “One of the big things I learned is how to value myself and my experience in a bigger way. “I didn’t win, but I learned a lot along the way,” he says. Simons says the final 15 then competed in June at the national finals in Nashville, Tennessee. The final three were joined by competitors from four other regionals from across the country. The regional finals were held in April in Tucson, Arizona. Simons made the first cut to the Top 100 with an essay he wrote about tackling the culinary evolution of New Mexico through a cocktail. The bartending competition is put on but the USBC and sponsored by DIAGEO. Bartenders’ Guild World Class to a top 15 finish. That talent has garnered him national attention as the New Mexican was named one of the top 15 bartenders in the country.īeginning with 10,000 applicants, Simons navigated his way through the 2022 U.S. Weston Simons has always had a mind for mixing.

Unm bartender class