Professor Spotlight: Brian Petro
You’ll learn a lot from this Q & A with one of our resident booze historians
It’s a true pleasure to be the Editor-in-Chief of Alcohol Professor, now in its 7th year. I couldn’t be in this position without the help of our talented roster of Alcohol Professors. We recently profiled Maggie Kimberl, who has been reporting all things American Whiskey (and a bit of Canadian too!) from her base in Louisville, Kentucky. Now it’s time to get to know Dayton, Ohio’s very own Brian Petro!
Brian has been one of our resident historians, who has researched and reported on a wide range of subjects, including the history of ice in cocktails, bar tools, the straw, and cocktails such as the Whiskey Sour, Daiquiri, the Bloody Mary, and he even painstakingly figured out how to kosherize his non-kosher kitchen to create a special cocktail for Hanukkah!
What drives him to go to such great lengths, all in the name of booze? As always with him, I’ve learned a lot. Read on. [Note: Q & A took place before lockdown.]
Amanda Schuster: Please tell us your "origin story": how did you get interested in cocktails and start writing about them?
Brian Petro: I was a mild-mannered retail and graphic designer before I was exposed to the unemployment line after a freak economic crash in 2002. I ended up as a server in a local comedy club, doing their marketing and MySpace page during the day. This was a few years ago.
I wanted to become a bartender because it seemed interesting, so I studied it on my own, tasting what we sold and asking questions. There was not much around, but I found a few books and online articles. I became friends with the club’s owner, Lisa Grigsby. In about 2009, she was helping run a new online magazine for the Dayton region, Dayton Most Metro. I was approached to see if I would be interested in writing an article about the history of absinthe for National Absinthe Day. I was hooked. I have always loved food and drink, but to be able to research and write about it? That was amazing. That opened a whole new world to me, and I jumped in with both feet.
AS: What are some of your favorite drinks to make and why?
BP: I enjoy making cocktails that have easily found ingredients and interesting flavor combinations. Especially when I get to play with spirits that the person I’m making the cocktail for has written off. The Aviation is one of my favorites. The variety of interesting flavors that come together with the gin and crème de Violette, as well as the unique color, make it fun for me to shake up. And you can educate people about gin cocktails.
Another favorite is a Sidecar. Brandy is so underrated, and this classic is too good to ignore. No need for anything fancy; even without the sugared rim, this is a treat.
One ingredient I love to use is fresh melon. I was introduced to it when I made the Bala de Canon during a 100 days of Cocktails challenge. I still think about how amazing the first experience with that cocktail was, and try to pass that experience on to other people.
AS: I have this rule that I don't order dishes in a restaurant that I can easily make at home. Do you feel that way about cocktails? What do you like to sip when you go out?
BP: Unless I see something that really catches my eye, I do not order many cocktails while I am out eating. As you said, when I know I can make something similar at home, I pass it right over. With all of the research and experimenting that I do, there is a lot I can make at home. But if it has an ingredient that I have not heard of before, or a unique combination of ingredients, I have to try it.
I gravitate towards cocktails with big or unique flavors. A good after-dinner drink will get me as well. I am not a huge fan of sweet desserts, but a coffee-based drink to end a meal is a delight.
AS: You've covered topics as diverse as the history of the Whiskey Sour, the Evolution of bar tools and the history of ice. Has there been anything you've learned in your research that's really surprised you?
While I was conducting research for the article I did for this publication about sherry, what I discovered floored me. I was relatively new to it and was not expecting the diversity of styles that sherry offered. Or the unique method and conditions where sherry was created. The topic inspired so many different directions for me to explore in my writing and exposed me to how creative people can be with food. It also showed me how important culture and circumstance were to the way people drank.
There have been plenty of other surprises along the journey. Learning about how to make utensils usable for kosher recipes, my views on straws and plastics being challenged, and how much all of the stories connect at some point have been the biggest shake ups to my ideas.
AS: Who living, fictional or from the past would you want to see on your dream cocktail panel and why?
BP: Jeffrey Morgenthaler would be the top person on my list. I love his approach to cocktails and the industry in general. He does amazing work and his writing is educational and fun to read. The wisdom of Gary Regan would be very welcome, especially with his breadth of knowledge on the history of cocktails and all he did for modern bartenders. I really need George Washington [see one of Brian’s Presidents Day roundups here] on this panel as well. I want to hear his thoughts on the punches and spirits that were consumed in the colonial era and about his distilling business. The way people in those days enjoyed alcohol, and their relationship with it, is so much different than our own.
AS: You're from Cleveland. Please tell readers something about your home town that might surprise people who aren't from there.
BP: People like to think of the Cleveland from the 1970s and 80s, and that city has evolved so much since then. There are world-class attractions like the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Clinic is on the leading edge of medicine, and the Cuyahoga River, the one best known for catching fire, has been cleaned up considerably. And, of course, The Christmas Story house is a great place to visit while you are in town. There is so much exciting growth in the city right now, and that is not counting all the amazing restaurants and bars that are cropping up all over.
I would also add that in my current home, Dayton, there are plenty of gems as well. It is home to The Century, one of the best bourbon bars in the country, the downtown core is being revitalized, and all of the technological history in the area, including the Wright Brothers original bike shop.
AS: Who living, fictional or past would you want to share a cocktail with, and where?
BP: There are so many good choices. Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt are on the shortlist, but the winner would have to be Neil Gaiman in a place he created, The Dreaming. There are so many good storytellers out there, but his voice and the way he writes resonates with me. He is one of the few fiction writers I still read on a consistent basis. The Dreaming can be where we want it and how we want it to look. There are so many possibilities there, including a library full of books, of which everyone has ever dreamed, and wines and spirits that are no longer available, or never were.