Jeff is the co-owner, catering manager and mixologist at The Clever Barkeep, a national mixology catering and consulting company and co-founder of Drink Atlantic, a cocktail festival in Halifax. He is dedicated to elevating cocktail, spirit and beverage culture in Nova Scotia.
Get to know Jeff
What's your favourite type of spirit for mixing cocktails?
In general, gin. That’s the spirit that got me into mixology. The flavours and botanicals that are in the spirit works well with cocktails. There’s a huge range from stirred to martini, to shaken refreshing herbal cocktails.
Try a festival gin cocktail, The Golden Ring.
When hosting, do you have a favourite dish?
Oysters, for sure. That’s the best way to offer a local product to friends and family, and it really does pair well with everything.
Do you have a go-to winter cocktail?
Home-made eggnog. Making eggnog is something that you can keep in your fridge, if people come over you can pull from fridge for them. Huge fan of simplicity for cocktail executions.
Learn how to make home-made egg nog.
What’s a simple way to dress up an ordinary cocktail?
Take your classic recipes for cocktails and sub in some seasonal ingredients instead. Maybe it’s an orange liqueur instead of a simple syrup. Adding a bit of cognac or brandy to cocktail that you would have In the summer to give it that warm rich flavour profile.
What’s your best holiday hosting tip?
Be prepared. Not just holiday hosting, but also bartending 101. Prepare to deal with it so you can enjoy also. Limit your options so that it guides people to what you’re preparing, and also think about what kind of drinks that you like, but also what your guests like.
Here’s how to build a cocktail bar for holiday entertaining.
What’s the best cocktail you’ve ever had, and where did you have it?
Manhattan in Manhattan, for some reason it tastes better there.
What’s the Manhattan for Nova Scotia?
The dark and stormy, for sure. It’s so popular in NS, and fits with our identity and history as a rum loving port inspired province.