POUR LIKE A PRO.

Last month, Outfitters and our partners iDrinkiCan and Bar Keeper brought together some of L.A.’s sharpest bar talent for the inaugural Outfitters Cosmo Cup, a live competition at Sassafras Saloon in Hollywood built to put our “POUR LIKE A PRO” tagline to the test with the professionals who actually live it.

Inspired by the World Cup, the Cosmo Cup brought together 12 professional and home bartenders from around Los Angeles to compete head-to-head across 3 knockout rounds. A distinguished panel — including Lonnie Finley of iDrinkiCan and Steve Main of Outfitters — judged each round. Round 1 tasked bartenders with their own take on an Outfitters Gin Martini. Round 2 moved to Outfitters Rum, with advancing bartenders serving Daiquiris to judges and crowd alike. Finally, the remaining three bartenders shook up their best Cosmopolitans with Outfitters Vodka to make their final case to the judges.

When the dust settled, Rafael Barreto of Baar Baar L.A. came out on top, beating out bar leads and beverage program directors from some of the city’s most decorated rooms as well as a few talented home bartenders who earned spots in the competition. 

We sat down with Rafael to talk about how he got behind the bar in the first place, what almost derailed his confidence the night of the competition, and the tattoo that ended up inspiring his winning cocktail…

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How’d you end up behind a bar in the first place, and when did you know you weren’t leaving?

I came from a graffiti background in high school, then went to college for graphic design and spent 15 years working on major projects internationally. At some point I felt like it was time to spice things up.

A good friend of mine, Jeff Dona, was the bar manager at one of LA’s top rooftop restaurants. He suggested I try bartending. Honestly, my only experience was making Palomas for friends when my family visited our hometown in Mexico. I thought you needed to go to school to become a bartender. Turns out you just need someone willing to teach you. Jeff became my first mentor. Then I met the restaurant’s GM, Will Melgar, who liked my personality, saw potential, and gave me my first shot. He became my second.

I’ll never forget the day Will showed me how to build a cocktail on a shaker tin: measuring each ingredient with the jigger, adding the ice, giving the top a “love tap” to lock it in. I looked up at him not knowing what came next, and he just said, **”SHAKE IT BRO!”**

I brought the shaker up by my ear and started shaking, and the sound of the ice moving back and forth triggered a straight-up eureka moment. I felt it down to my soul. From that point on, I was in love with bartending.

To me, the glassware gives a cocktail its personality, the fruit gives it color and taste, and the garnish is the cherry on top. It all ties back to my graffiti roots, honestly, a cocktail is a work of art. I call it **art in a glass.**

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Any bartender, bar, or place that basically built how you work?

My third mentor: Bruce from Bar Talk and Cocktails on YouTube. Never met him in person, but I learned so much from him. I knew if I wanted to compete with my peers, I had to immerse myself fast. I’d listen to his videos on my commute, five or six a day, and I loved how he always had a story behind each cocktail.

I started doing the same thing with guests, sharing the story and origin behind what I was making them. It turns a drink into an experience, and it builds a real connection with the guest. In no time I had my own catalogue of recipes and a lot more confidence behind the bar.

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What’s the difference between someone who’s good and someone who’s a pro?

A good bartender makes you something that tastes good and stays in their comfort zone. A pro reads what you’re actually looking for and takes you somewhere memorable.

Someone will say, “Bartender, let me get a Negroni,” and I can hear in their voice they’ve had a long day and want to unwind. So I’ll say, “Have you ever tried a White Negroni?” That question alone brings curiosity and excitement. Nine times out of ten, they’re down to try it, and that’s when you get the real connection: the kind that turns someone into a regular.

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What’s a “rule” in this industry you think is total nonsense? And one you’d never break?

The rule that bothers me most is not thinking outside the box. Mixology is endless. I get inspired by new fruit I see, by the neon lights driving through Koreatown at night. That stuff gives me ideas I take straight back behind the bar.

The one I’d never break: cleanliness. Not cleaning up your tins after yourself is the Achilles heel of half the bartenders out there. Help me help you help us, you know?

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What’s a trend in cocktails right now you’re just not buying?

My girlfriend and I were literally just talking about this: industrial pre-batched cocktails versus something fresh, made with real lime and homemade syrups. I feel like pre-batching takes the guest-bartender experience out of it. When I go to a new bar, I look for the bartender who’s smiling while they shake, who’s connecting with the guest. That’s how I know the drink was made with the best ingredient there is: love.

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Break down your winning drink for us. What were you chasing, and how’d it come together?

The cocktail I spent the most time on was round one: a Gin Martini. Without winning that round, I don’t advance, so the pressure was real.

The idea was to let the Outfitters Gin shine, which meant the vermouth needed depth. I went shop to shop and kept finding the same brands, until I landed at Bar Keeper in LA (bartender heaven). I found the oldest vermouth in the world, an Extra Dry, and the aroma was incredible but it needed to be tamed.

The competition rule was that every cocktail had to be inspired by LA. I had my base but no concept, until I was brushing my teeth that night, looked in the mirror, and saw the roses tattooed on both sides of my neck. The inspiration had been on me the whole time.

The next day I went hunting for flowers. Rose felt too obvious, too overpowering. But chrysanthemums kept pulling me back. They’re native to Colombia, and depending on the color they mean different things: lavender for passion, purple-to-white bicolor for ambition and chasing your goals. That hit different, because I have “Ambition” tattooed on my serving hand and it’s basically how I live my life.

So I infused the chrysanthemums into the Extra Dry vermouth, something I’d never done to a vermouth before. Fruit, sure. Flowers into vermouth was new territory. I live by my favorite movie line: *”Life is a risk, carnal.”* I let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours, tasting as I went, and by the end the vermouth had actually shifted color, from clear to a soft pink, from the flowers.

With presentation, I wanted the judges holding something that felt as intentional as the drink tasted, so I tracked down these extravagant lava-lamp leopard-print martini glasses. And with less than 18 hours to go, and a job interview the day before the competition no less, one of my mentors pushed me to add one more unexpected element, which meant driving clear across town for it.

When I finally built the drink, gin, the infused vermouth stirred over ice, a rinse of Italian liqueur through the glass, I brought it up to smell it first, like I always do. Then I tasted it. Everything landed. It felt like an orchestra playing Beethoven at Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was magical.

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What almost went wrong during the Cosmo Cup?

Nothing went technically wrong, but walking into Sassafras Saloon and clocking my competition took a swing at my confidence. There were bar leads, beverage directors, people from some of the most decorated bars in the city. And I’m thinking, “What did I get myself into?”

What turned it around was my setup. I’d built my station to bring real vibes and ambiance, and when the photographers started flocking to it asking to shoot my glassware, I felt the room’s attention shift. One judge said, “I love these martini glasses,” and that was the confidence boost I needed. From that point I just stuck to my game plan: charm the judges, let the flavor do the talking. If you wanted to compete with me, you had to meet me at the top.

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Any other bartender’s drink or move in that room that stuck with you?

Isabel Herrman’s and Katherine Moran’s martinis, both incredible flavors. Genuinely an honor competing alongside them and everyone else in that room.

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What was going through your head when they called your name?

I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! I was so sure I’d land third that I’d already started hanging out in the back. I’d gone to bed at 4am the night before, still tweaking the flavors, so I was running on fumes when they said my name. It felt like a dream. I actually asked one of the judges to pinch me. First time in my life I understood what “surreal” really means.

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What’s next for you, behind the bar or beyond it?

I want to ride this momentum. First goal is teaming up with major brands to develop signature cocktails. Second is becoming a brand ambassador and making my mark in the mixology world. But the real goal, long-term, is inspiring young bartenders to go find their own mark in this industry, the way I’m humbly trying to find mine.

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RAFAEL BARRETO’S WINNING MARTINI:

“Chrysanthemum Infused Outfitters Gin Martini”

 

Ingredients:

• • 3oz Outfitters Gin

• • 1oz Chrysanthemums infused Bordiga extra dry vermouth

• • 2 dashes Orange bitters

• • 0.5 oz Italicus Rosolio Di Bergamotto

• • Lemon twist garnish

 

Preparation:

• • Start off by chillin martini glass by placing ice inside to the rim.

• • Place the following ingredients in a mixing glass:
    
    • • 3oz Outfitters Gin
    • • 1oz Chrysanthemums infused Bordiga extra dry vermouth
    • • 2 dashes of Orange bitters

• • Stir for 15 seconds.

• • Dump the ice from the martini glass.

• • Add 0.5 oz of Italicus Rosolio Di Bergamotto inside and the martini glass and rinse the glass with Italicus by swirling the liquid around the glass and up to the rim. After rinsing the glass, then dump the liquid.

• • Strain contents from the mixing glass onto martini glass.

• • Express the oil of a lemon twist over the rim of the martini glass. Then proceed to garnish as you like, either by dropping the lemon twist inside the cocktail or on the rim.

 

Final result: “You should get the aroma of Italicus when you bring the cocktail to your palate. Then you will get the flavor of a classic gin martini, and the addition of my original notes to the vermouth. Tasting the citrus of the lemon oil in the back-end you’ll get a lil flavor from the Italicus.”