New Mexico Cocktails and Culture 2015

I first met Natalie Bovis, aka “The Liquid Muse” a few years ago at Secreto Lounge, where I’d photographed Santa Fe’s resident mixologist extraordinaire, Chris Milligan, and had staged a shoot for Santa Fe’s own contribution to all things cocktails, Bill York’s “Bitter End Bitters“. Natalie was a vibrant member of this tribe. Her third book, “Edible Cocktails: From Garden to Glass” was just about to be published.

New Mexico Cocktails and Culture © Gabriella Marks

I was intrigued – I’d been photographing food, literally from farms to tables for years by then, but had yet to hear that perspective directly applied to libations. It makes such perfect sense: for Natalie, “mixology” is the liquid element of the culinary arts. “It’s all about flavor, it’s all about understanding the ingredients, it’s all about layering flavors on top of each other and putting things together that belong together, and following classic recipes.” Like any formal discipline, it begins with the fundamentals of the core recipes, and then exploring those with a personal flavor perspective.

Nathalie’s induction into the alchemy of the cocktail arts happened in Washington DC, where she was working as a restaurant publicist, overseeing Kimpton hotel restaurants and bars. The bartenders there were using fresh herbs and ingredients to make classic cocktails dating back from the 1800’s. Although she had been a bartender previously, she hadn’t yet been exposed to the flourishing phenomenon of “mixology”.

Natalie Bovis © Gabriella Marks

In 2006, as an outlet for returning to her first love of writing, and to share her growing knowledge of and enthusiasm for mixology, she started The Liquid Muse”. What began as a personal blog waxing poetic on cocktails blossomed into a full-blown career, with Bovis writing on the topic for national magazines, and then as a national spokesperson for brands, demonstrating cocktail concepts on the national morning show tv circuit and teaching cocktail classes. Her mission: to make mixology fun and accessible for the everyday person who likes to entertain, throw parties and mix an unusually good drink.

Her travel itinerary often included attending city “cocktail weeks” – from London, to Sydney, Portland to LA, these events combine community and tourism in celebration of mixology. The pinnacle of these is New Orlean’s “Tales of the Cocktail” which now draws over 20,000 people annually. After years traveling nationally and internationally, writing and teaching about cocktails and mixology, Bovis decided it was time to bring it on home, back to her native Santa Fe.

Flaming the orange twist garnish for a classic Negroni

New Mexico Cocktails and Culture started as “a small idea to support and excite the local bartending community.” With Santa Fe’s own “Cocktail weekend”, Bovis hopes to “raise the bar” for regional libations.

This year marks the first of what we hope will be an annual Santa Fe event. New Mexico Cocktails and Culture is a convergence of all things cocktails and culture, intended to be both an entertaining and educational event for the casual cocktail lover, and a source of inspiration and professional development for the local bartender community.

Preperations for a Lavender Sour © Gabriella Marks

May 30 – June 1: Mix one part education, two parts inspiration and shake it up with seven seminars, three cocktail parties, a film premiere, concerts and interactive tastings. See the website for a full schedule of events and to purchase tickets.

New Mexico Cocktails and Culture © Gabriella Marks