BOTTOMS UP: GOLDEN STATE OF COCKTAILS TAKES OVER LA

Booze. Booze. Booze. And plenty of it. Where at? This year’s first ever Golden State of Cocktails. Intrigued? We were too. It was hard, but we managed to tear ourselves away from our desks to do the very tough job of downing pop rocks-topped jello shots, bottle our own cocktails and learn how to blend our own whiskey at last week’s cocktail celebration, all in the name of experiential learning and celebrating California’s cocktail culture. We were impressed with the breadth of GSOC’s offerings and can’t wait to do it all over again the next time it happens! Read our interview below with co-founder Allison Levine, who gives us the scoop on why California’s cocktail community is worth being hyped and what the event was all about.

How would you define California’s cocktail scene and identity?
GSOC was founded because we have a cocktail scene worth recognition. Three years ago, The Varnish won best bar in America. It was the first time LA got its due recognition. What we wanted to do was bring the whole state of California together and do something that embodied all of that and the talent. We have a lot of spirits coming out of California, a lot of talent behind the bars and a lot of extraordinary people creating and opening them. We’re really proud of it. California speaks to a mixture of classic cocktails but taking advantage of all fresh ingredients California has to offer. Combining the two to brings something unique to the table that we wanted to share. GSOC is also about education; our goal is to offer interactive experiential learning. We respect all the cocktail weeks out there but we wanted to do something in our own backyard. The way we are more unique is that we’re doing all hands-on, interactive learning in small group settings. We’re talking 20 to 40 person labs. It hits all levels of industry.

You got a really awesome group of people together to promote this and a stellar advisory board. Typically, in this industry, is there a competitive spirit and was it a challenge to bring it together?
One of the things we can be really proud of here in Los Angeles is that we have a really supportive community. It’s seen at other cocktail weeks, there’s always a large group of Angelenos hanging out together. I was at an event the other night where I met a bartender who moved here from NYC. She noticed how friendly and supportive everyone is. To the point where sometimes it’s hard as a new person to get a job here because everyone is always looking out for everyone here. It’s not like that in other cities, from what I’ve heard. I think it’s something that makes us really proud. We’re a difficult city in the sense that we’re really spread out.  We have to drive everywhere. But we have bar owners, enthusiasts, brand marketing people, everyone affiliated with the business in some way—and they all come together. They support each other, they drink in each other’s establishments.

Photos from @goldenstatecktl

At what point did you decide, “We’re going to do this for LA” and what pushed you guys to actually make it happen?
There were a lot of people who wanted to do this and we wanted to do this in our backyard. It takes a lot of work to bring that idea to the table. I’ve been talking about this for about four years with someone else, and there were other groups of bartenders who were talking about it for about the same amount of time. I really think when The Varnish won best bar in America, it really was that push to say ‘finally, the first time an LA bar had been recognized with that honor.’ That was a milestone for [co-founder] Skyler and I which pushed us to really sit down, gather an advisory board, join forces, and bring the idea to life.

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We’ll welcome Golden State of Cocktails back with open arms… in exchange for whiskey, of course.