Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118161
cocktail called "Cold Night In," generated a blitz of unexpected publicity when it was described as "extraordinary" in January 2011's New York Times Style Magazine. "The story went viral very quickly," says Soole. "In six weeks, 6,500 fans shared it on Facebook." Still, though the cocktail attracted new customers, Soole soon dropped it from the menu due to the drink's gimmicky appeal and because "it requires too much prep for a running menu." But then, Soole is a fanatic for detail. Among other specialties, the bar makes five different styles of bitters from scratch, all its own syrups and a green tea infused with Amaro. Also, "we can't get Curacao in B.C.," he says, "so when the season came about, I peeled 30 pounds of Seville organges, dried the peels, soaked them in brandy for a month, then sweetened them up. So now we have house-made Curacao, which makes a real nice Derby and nice Mai Tais and stuff like that." F or a guy so steeped in cocktail culture, it's surprising to learn that Soole had no early aspirations to become a barman. As he recalls, "I was employed as a hotel handyman, when I was asked one night to work a wedding and fell for hospitality." Within a few months, the teenager was bartending full-time – and by age 21 had won his first Australian Bartenders Guild State Title, was named one of 24 W E S T W O R L D p22-27_Profile.indd 24 >> FA L L 2 0 1 1 Ron Green 8/17/11 12:17:05 PM