On April 2 and 3, the second Chicago Cocktail Summit returns to the Logan Theatre for two full days of seminars, panel discussions, and interactive workshops with local bartenders and a few guests from out of town, most notably author and historian David Wondrich. The first day is aimed at “consumers and home enthusiasts,” the second at industry professionals, though both are open to anyone who wants to pony up the $50 per day or $15 per session. The Whistler‘s Billy Helmkamp, who founded the event with event producer Erik Westra, recently talked with the Reader about the goings-on at this year’s summit, including seminars on beer cocktails and how to run a beverage program.
What we wanted to do is reach out to people from all these bars across town, figuring out, what are they known for, what’s their niche? Last year Danny Shapiro [of Scofflaw] did something on gin. Charlie Schott from Parson’s did a real hands-on workshop on how to work with slushy machines. That was on our industry day. We also brought in a handful of people from out of town: Paul Clarke, Robert Simonson, Camper English. We’re taking the same approach this year.
Is there a tasting element to the presentations? We include a sample-size tasting component in each seminar, really as a means of illustrating a point that’s being made. A good example of that is David Wondrich’s seminar “Chicago Cocktails and Bars of Old.” There’s a little-known drink called the Cohasset Punch that was unique to Chicago, and we’ll be serving small samples of that drink to attendees. Part of what he wants to do is take you back to that time and place, and the tasting element helps do that.
