Caitlin Laman has been in Chicago full time for less than a month, but she’s getting ready for her cocktail debut.
Taking the reins at Logan Square’s beloved Mezcaleria Las Flores, the beverage director has set her sights on keeping Chicago fueled on mezcal. While her new menu won’t be available for a few weeks, here’s what you need to know about the mixology scene’s latest arrival:
She’s one of the most acclaimed mixologists in the country.
Before moving to Chicago, the Portland, Ore., native managed Trick Dog in San Francisco, a bar with almost too many accolades to mention. Laman was part of Food & Wine’s inaugural best new mixologist class in 2014 and that same year took home the national prize at Speed Rack, an industry competition. Last year, she also spent four months in Mexico City consulting at Licoreria Limantour, a contender for one of the world’s best bars.
She loves sherry …
“Who knows, maybe I’ll turn MLF into a secret sherry bar,” says Laman. Joking aside, she is a fan of the crazy-diverse fortified wine from Jerez, Spain. Case in point: Since 2013, she’s helped execute Sherry Fest, a touring celebration of the wine and, in 2015, became a partner. “Sherry is a big part of my life. It’s an industry that needs some love, but there’s a great community behind it.”
On sherry and mezcal playing well in cocktails, Laman says, “it can be difficult. I get really romantic ideas in my head about sherry in cocktails, and they don’t often do (well), but when it does: Wow. They’re some of my favorite cocktails. With mezcal and sherry, it’s finding the exact balance where they meet — I can’t wait to introduce them on the menu in a few weeks.”
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… but she knows her mezcal.
“At Trick Dog, I was really lucky, because we had a lot of the first bottles as mezcal became popular,” says Laman. “I saw it blow up, but when I traveled, it never seemed like other places had stuff that we had, but Chicago’s mezcal market is incredible.” Having first visited mezcaleros in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2012, she punctuated her duties at Licorería Limantour with frequent trips to Mexican states that produced mezcal and many of its cousins. “The best bottles, I’ve realized, are the ones I can never have again.”
“Chicago is a great place for mezcal, and I’m seeing a lot of bottles you can’t get anywhere else,” she says. “We’re getting weirder and weirder stuff, which is exciting, but the industry has to be careful and mindful about keeping things sustainable.”
She’s digging Chicago’s dive bars and drinking scene.
“People here drink a lot!” Laman has been stretching her legs since getting to town, getting the lay of the drinking landscape.
“You guys have dive bars on lock. I’ve been to a lot, but there are dozens more I want to check out. They’re so authentic — it’s hard to make a new bar authentic, so dive bars just feel really natural, like some guy has been sitting on that same stool for 40 years. There’s something really good-hearted about Chicago’s dive bars.”
She’s got room to play.
When Laman first landed, she was frustrated with sourcing seasonal, local ingredients she could readily get in San Franscisco. “You live in California long enough, it makes you soft.” That frustration, though, has all but dissipated, as now Laman gets excited by a whole new set of produce and products to tinker with.
“I’m excited to learn about the cool stuff that makes it to market here. The fruits and vegetables are going to be different. I’ve been learning about wild herbs you can’t find on the West Coast. Making cocktails is one thing, but creating drinks from new stuff is going to be really fun.”
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