Meet the Mixologist: Jason Holmes from @jason_._holmes

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you first get into mixology? Who/what/where taught you what you know?

I am a pharmacist by trade, and started experimenting with home mixology in late 2015. I had long enjoyed a cocktail while eating out, but was daunted by the prospect of attempting to craft drinks myself. That is until I came across The 12 Bottle Bar by David and Lesley Jacobs Solmonson; of their twelve recommended bottles, I began with approximately seven. I was immediately hooked and slowly began increasing my skills and palate (PLENTY of trial and error along the way), voraciously devouring every resource I could get my hands on: books, magazines, websites, and picking the brain of bartenders and social media personalities alike. In August 2019, I had the pleasure of competing in Remy Martin‘s Equal Parts cocktail competition semi-final in Chicago.

Tell is about a recent experiment!

I am all for experimenting and trying something new with cocktails. I am drawn to drinks with seemingly unusual ingredients, combinations or alterations. I also very much enjoy creating clarified milk punches (though, I wish the process could be expedited!). With this in mind, at the end of May I stole a number from Christina Tosi’s playbook, and experimented with ‘cereal milk’ in a clarified milk punch. I utilized oven-toasted corn flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which were ‘infused’ into whole milk for 10 minutes. This milk was then put to use as the clarifying agent in the bourbon-based milk punch. The end result was subtle, but enjoyable, with the toasted cereal notes most evident on the finish.