About Ted Wilson,
The Classic Mixer

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I might not be able to call myself a bartender in the fullest sense of that fine profession.  Despite all my fussing with ingredients, I’m not so convinced that I can call myself a mixologist.  I’m damn sure I’m not even close to a bar chef. 

But I do mix drinks for a living. And I like to research and mix classic drinks.   I love to mess around with classic recipes by adding a contemporary nudge or two to them. 

So, when I really think about it, I’m a mixer. Thus, The Classic Mixer.

My resume - sort of ...

  • I have spent a lifetime collecting product knowledge.
  • Back in aught three, I took that product knowledge to school by taking a professional bartending class at a local community college.
  • A little over five years ago, I set about starting a consulting business.  Just to have a little cash flow, I put the bartending class to work by tending a bar or two here and there. 
  • I spent more time researching potential drinks than researching potential clients so I chucked the consultancy and declared  bartending as my true calling.
  • Not feeling totally up to snuff, I signed up for all sorts of online newsletters the most important one being bartender extraordinaire and cocktail guru Gaz Regan’s Ardent Spirits newsletters. 
  • The more I read – books, magazines, blogs, and email newsletters – the more I didn’t know so I attended the 2009 New York Bar Show.  I went to as many of the seminars as possible, most of which were led by world-class barkeeps, mixologists, and various cocktail gurus.  This was a major eye-opener:  I still had a lot of snuff to get up to.
  • That August, 2009, I signed up for BarSmarts Wired.  After four weeks of the most intense and challenging training or educational experiences I’ve ever gone through, I passed and got my suitable-for-framing certificate and a bunch of really cool bar tools of my very own.  It got me up to snuff.
  • I continue to continue my own continuing education.
  • I “liked” Liquor.com and Imbibe Magazine on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  It’s pretty boring right now, but you can follow me on Twitter - @classicmixer.
  • I have a subscription to Imbibe Magazine, for Pete’s sake.
  • Among other oddities, I own bottles of Fernet Branca, Green Chartreuse, Benedictine, Luxardo Maraschino, and John Taylor’s Velvet Falernum and I’m not afraid to use them. 
  • I am now up to snuff and perhaps a pinch above.  I can do this.