We met with Evgeny Shashin, head bartender of Korobka, and talked about stereotypes, reasonable consumption, fermentation fashion, favorite restaurants and plans for the near future.

About the bar "Korobok"

Firstly, we are already recognized by the pshikalka - this is a success! Just kidding, of course, but the other day I was in a bar where something like this happened:

Oh, and you're from The Box.
- How did you know?
- According to your pshikalka!

The Box is an experimental cocktail bar disguised as an old laboratory. Most of the utensils for him were collected in Paris at a huge flea market, so almost everything here is old and even a little mystical. They bought, perhaps, all the strangest things to make the interior in the spirit of an old pharmacy.

The chandeliers above the bar are a constant delight among the guests, although if you look closely, you can find something interesting all over the hall. Closet, for example, as in a pharmacy: jars, bottles.

In general, the “bar-pharmacy” analogy seems very logical to me. People come to us, we prescribe “drugs” for them. And next time they ask for something else: that, they say, did not help, let's try a new recipe! We wanted to make simple, even ascetic servings, without unnecessary decorations and side dishes.

About stereotypes

We work with different alcohols: the most important thing is its taste and aroma. Although in Russia the guests still have a lot of stereotypes in their heads. For some reason, cocktails based on vodka or tequila are less respected than on gin. And gin is essentially vodka with juniper. But what a difference in perception: it seems to everyone that vodka is cheap, but gin is no longer there. Tequila was once called for to drink in shots, so its reputation in the eyes of the public was also tarnished.

Another stereotype: drinking during the day is indecent. In the evening - yes, but a glass of wine with dinner is still considered something strange. And if you drink it alone, then this is almost a crime in general. Therefore, people steadfastly hold on all day, but then come off to the fullest. There is a fear of alcohol, and the culture of the aperitif is also not yet very clear. Although, in fact, an aperitif is not about drinking, but about the atmosphere: meeting friends, talking about abstract topics and forgetting about work for a while. Very useful for the psyche.

About new cocktails

We have already made a new cocktail list and are slowly introducing drinks from it. The main idea is floral aromas. At the same time, we removed all aged drinks and slightly lowered the degree: we added lighter, berry ones.

For example, we use osmanthus liqueur to make our own bellini: there are no peaches in it anymore, but the osmanthus flower is very similar in aroma to a peach. There is a new cocktail a la syringe - with grapefruit and Peixo: easy and unobtrusive. “Ryazhenka and Elderberry” is another novelty: a fantastic cocktail in terms of combination, I think, one of the most successful.

We also plan to work with baristas, exchange experiences and create several drinks together. We have a lot to learn from them: coffee has more than a thousand flavors and aromas, which are strongly influenced by roasting, but they still pair well with each other. Plus, the accuracy of those who work with coffee captivates: they have everything by weight, everything by seconds.

In June, the World Class final will be held, many interesting bartenders will come. Another import is the guys from the Scout bar in London. We no longer participate in competitions, but we go on tour. We were in Riga, Prague, Finland, we plan to continue next year. We are more interested, of course, in the northern countries - with their originality, a special look.

About trends

1. Eco-friendly

Now we are seeing a huge hype around the protection of the environment. All plastic straws have been removed from the bars and in general they are trying to use less plastic. Buy tissue instead of paper napkins. Sometimes, however, bartenders, in their pursuit of zero-waste production, go too far and recycle still good products.

What I like the most about this trend looping menu idea. The kitchen and the bar exchange products so that nothing is wasted. This is quite difficult, since you need to adjust the sales and the entire menu to such a scheme. Yes, and perhaps this is only in some small cafe or restaurant. Moscow is probably not ready for this yet.

2. Reasonable consumption

In the West, they began to drink more cocktails without sugar, with less alcohol added. For example, they also drink vodka (and, by the way, very actively - in the same America), but with soda.

3. Locality

All over the world, both chefs and bartenders are guided by local products and seasonality. For example, recently there was a time for young spruce shoots, they were used in White Rabbit. Bird cherry blossomed: we picked it, made a cocktail with this aroma. The lilac is about to bloom: we also use it.

It is possible to make such blanks only in small quantities, otherwise whole gardens would have to be planted on an industrial scale, and this is not the same! The main thing is that local products evoke special associations among guests. A person lives in a city where lilac or bird cherry blossoms, he knows these smells from childhood and recognizes them on a subconscious level. He drinks a cocktail and involuntarily remembers summer at his grandmother's or spring in Moscow. Cool!

4. Fermentation

This global trend comes from gastronomy: chefs are always ahead of us. For example, a conditionally domestic product is very popular - kombucha, kombucha. True, in my opinion, it will hardly be able to take root with us: Russian guests do not understand such vinegar tastes well. In our culture, after all, there is more salting, and in Western culture - pickling, so they perceive acid more easily. In London, for example, everyone squeaks from kombucha!

Trends need to be taken lightly

It seems to me that one should not get so carried away with kombucha and fermentation in general: not everyone, after all, knows how to do the latter. First you need to make sure that it was tasty for you, and then to convey your ideas to the guests. It is a mistake to think that if something seems tasteless, but is considered fashionable, then it should be so. And then we drink and choke: “Ugh, what an abomination, but this is the trend.” Before you blink an eye, everyone will turn to fermented nasty things, and in response to a request to make a negroni, you will also be given it fermented.

About speakeasy bars

In Russia, it so happened that the place where they make cocktails is called speakeasy. In reality, in the rest of the world, this format generally faded away at the time when it first got to us. If you see that a speakeasy has appeared in some country, it means that it is going through a certain stage of development. In London, these bars are no longer open: now they focus on mono-concepts and short menus to present the minimum number of drinks, but in the best possible way.

About restaurants

My team and I often go to restaurants. We like Selfie at 15 Kitchen + Bar - there's a new chef there now and we've tried almost all of his menu. Very good!

For most people, the profession of a bartender is reduced to serving people who want to get drunk on a Friday night. There is nothing entertaining in mixing whiskey with cola or listening to another bunch of thoughts of not very sober representatives of the fair sex. Boring, uninteresting, and most importantly, unhealthy: loud music, a terrible flow of people and alcohol. This is how a large proportion of the population of our country thinks about the craft of a bartender. Until a certain day, I thought so too.

Our communication with Evgeny Shashin, the winner of the most prestigious and significant competition among bartenders - the All-Russian National Final of the World Cocktail Championship, began to be late for the Moscow guest. I had to spend a whole hour at the counter, watching the work, albeit not so well-known, of the bartenders of our city. “For us, the arrival of Yevgeny is a big event, we have been waiting for him for a very long time,” the bartender Roman reports to me with a smile, adding that I will never understand the significance of bartending. I do not argue with this idea: all my knowledge about this profession is reduced to a minimum: a bartender is a person who prepares drinks. That's all.

My limited idea of ​​the bartender's activity collapsed with a bang when I saw Yevgeny Shashin at work. In a couple of minutes, he prepared a cocktail that I had never tasted tastier before.

“One cocktail recipe can take from a couple of minutes to a lifetime,” says Eugene, and I look at him in surprise and ask: “Wait, so you were improvising while preparing this?”. “Well, yes,” the bartender replies modestly.

After such a statement, one becomes very ashamed of his primitive thoughts about bartender work. Although, is it possible to call it work? This creativity is comparable to the activities of artists, writers, photographers - all those who are somehow connected with inspiration and the creation of a small author's masterpiece.

“I don’t think this profession is about money. This is a craft: something that you can create with your own hands; something that can't be taken away from you. The pleasure that you get when you create a new drink, prepare a cocktail for a guest, and he admires your work - this is inexpressible, ”says Evgeny.

He has been working in the bartending industry for 7 years now. By education - a programmer, he also studied as a lawyer, but routine work did not attract his attention much, unlike the activities of a bartender, in which Eugene was from the age of 18.

“I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to develop in this business. I did not treat this activity as a part-time job. From the very beginning it was a real job for me. I took it seriously and in no way did I think that it was unworthy work.

Such work is not suitable for everyone: constant noise, loud music, people with their own conversations. Everyone wants you to be certainly cheerful, sociable, and at the same time manage to prepare the most delicious cocktails in the world. The bartender is an actor who constantly has to play the role of a smiling guy. Not everyone can handle this.

“When I was a child, my mother told me that you couldn’t lock me up at home. I am a very sociable person, so for a long time I could not decide where this could be directed. I don’t get tired of daily communication, because there is an exchange of energy, you are always charged from people, and you have strength. Our work is connected with constant tension, the same loud music, lack of sleep - it all unsettles. But in any case, after a couple of hours of sleep, you find the strength in yourself and go to work.

Sociability is one of the important features in bartender activity. Although, at the beginning of our interview, Eugene did not seem like that to me: a shyly smiling guy - he rather modestly answered my questions, afraid to say something superfluous. Quite different Eugene was at the bar. Favorite workplace opened and showed it from a new interesting side.

“In general, as a child, I dreamed of becoming president. I still hope that I can fulfill my dream.”

While Evgeny prepares another delicious masterpiece, sometimes mixing incompatible ingredients (for example, he added chocolate, coffee and beer foam to one of the cocktails), I wonder if people want to try such exotic drinks. It turns out they want, and how. Of course, big doubts arise when you look at how Evgeny mixes everything into your drink. True, then you try it all and die of pleasure. It turns out that the risk of a lover of everything traditional was justified.

“Now it’s winter and the “winter cocktail” is gaining special popularity among the guests. A winter cocktail is a certain orientation of the ingredients: some spices, warm shades. It can be both hot and colder, because cold drinks can also be warming, after all, the effect of alcohol makes itself felt. It can be stronger, more concentrated, unlike the summer one.

Over the past few years, bartending culture in our country has reached a certain level. People's preferences are changing, and the activities of bartenders are changing under them, most of which come into this profession not to earn extra money, but to develop. Such greedy people as Yevgeny Shashin, with their cocktails made from unusual ingredients, a kind smile and a subtle sense of desire for a guest, are simply worth their weight in gold.

1. What is a cocktail for you, how is it born, and where do you get ideas for making it?

A cocktail is first and foremost a concept, and a concept can contain various accents. When creating a drink, I try to think about what idea I want to convey to the guest.

2. How did “fikhuli” start, how did this word appear, and how did you start doing it?

"Fihuli" is a hashtag. And I didn't invent it. Just go to Instagram and look at the first hashtag post.

I started with flaring, I did it for about 5 years. Thanks to Sergey Bulakhtin for explaining the importance of awareness of actions and understanding of who is in front of you. Subsequently, working in a busy bar, the time was solely for the preparation of a drink. In such conditions, I began to invent small chips that do not affect the preparation time of the drink. In fact - a working flairing, but its shortened version. Therefore, "fihuly" is a hashtag that can be used to find such tricks, and not a new invention.

3. If you had the opportunity to travel back in time to the past, at the time of the heyday of the bar industry, what years, country and bars would you like to travel to?

It seems that I was a witness to the flourishing of the bar industry in Moscow. I wouldn't travel back in time. As you know, this leads to unexpected consequences. I like the way things are now.

4. Once on a desert island with water, fire and a knife, you could take with you any three things related to the bar. Which ones would you choose and why?

Ice maker - escape from the heat. Refreshing drinks on a desert island are strong. And other accessories can be carved from wood with a knife. There is nothing special to do on the island. Otherwise, with a handmade glass filled with coconut juice, I would write a book about what to do if you are alone and have nothing to do.

5. Top three cocktail meccas and the best bars in the world for you personally.

So far I haven't had a chance to go to the Drink Factory, but it's definitely a cocktail mecca.

The best bar for me is the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel, and it's not about the drinks at all. For me, this is a perfect example of the work of a bar and a bartender.

The new training center of Roman Toroshchin will soon become the mecca of bar craft in Russia.

6. Have there been periods in your professional career when you thought: “That's it, I've had enough, but should I do something else”? What?

To say that it wasn't is to lie. Have you thought about changing jobs? Yes. Do I want to change my profession? No. To achieve something in a certain area, you need to dedicate your life to it. But diversification is also very important. Hobbies can help.

7. Three dreams of your childhood.

Become president, big house for the whole family, big red car.

8. Which bar industry leaders would you like to work with? Not with anyone, but with whom to be at the bar.

It is difficult to imagine a joint shift with a guru. The shift with Marat Sadarov would be one of the most memorable and fun for me.

9. Do you agree that people who have been involved in any kind of sport are more disciplined and responsible, and this is reflected in their work? Did you play sports as a child? If yes, then how?

Sport really disciplines. I have never been professionally involved in sports, maybe that's why I lack discipline. In our profession, it is very important to monitor your health, so I recommend doing at least exercises.

10. Weather forecast for the bar industry. Your opinion. What do you think the hospitality industry, bar industry and cocktail trends will be like in Russia in 10 years, what trends will be relevant in the world? What will bartenders come up with during this time to surprise guests?

The environment will only get stronger. Already, many bars and even large companies (Diageo, Pernod Ricard) refuse to use plastic straws. The trend for fermented foods is gaining momentum.

I think in the next 10 years bartenders will be making their own drinks. Not mixed, but new categories, sub-categories of alcoholic beverages. Bartenders will not surprise their guests, but will create a full-fledged ritual, like a tea ceremony. Well, where without the search for new tastes ?! Technology already now allows you to extract the finest flavors. In 5 years, everyone will master these techniques, and bottles with previously unknown aromas and tastes will appear on the shelves in bars.

Is the name “Korobok” about the spark that will ignite the flame of bar trends? Here are the lit matches drawn on the logo.

It started with the desire to give the bar a simple name, without any intellectual quests, dots after each letter and unreadable English abbreviations. After all, a bar is where you go when you're craving a drink, and the name on the sign should be simple enough for a slightly tipsy person to easily call a taxi driver. Well, the word is so ambiguous - here is the desire to "ignite", and some kind of isolation from the outside world with all its problems. Someone will remember how, as a child, he caught and planted butterflies and ladybugs in boxes. That's how we are - we catch the visitor in our "Box" and experiment on him, just kidding ...

Well, there is some truth in this joke - there is some somnambulistic music here, and bartenders in black robes, a sink with test tubes-bottles on the counter, just like in a chemical laboratory.

So we do the best we can in chemistry. Briefly and very schematically, we take the good old classics - like the Negroni, take out the "soul" from the cocktail, in other words - a bouquet of flavors using a rotary evaporator, and turn what is left into a solid fraction, marmalade, adding campari and gin. And as a result, we get "two in one": the "soul" of the cocktail in the form of a clear liquid in a glass, and the "body" - the same "Negroni" but already in the form of a jelly candy. As a result, those who drink Negroni for the hundredth time can experience new sensations from seemingly familiar ingredients.

So the rotary evaporator has now become a bartender's tool?

For me, yes, this is a full-fledged bar gadget. I am not entirely satisfied with the direction that has happened to cocktail culture lately: more and more colors, more and more ingredients, cocktails are becoming like a flower bed. I wanted the clarity and austerity that was inherent in cocktails from the 1920s. Then the cocktail was a symbol of success, as dry as possible, transparent, crystal in taste, nothing superfluous, like a bunch of currants clinging to the edge of a glass. We do not use berries, tartlets and other lush decor at all - all the taste should be inside the glass, and not outside.

Do you use a shaker often?

There is no need - everything that needs to be mixed, we combine in advance, in the right proportions. In each cocktail, we have a rather complicated preparatory stage, which takes place in the laboratory and is not taken out to the hall. And behind the counter, most of the time I just pour a cocktail from a bottle, apply a final note from a spray, and that’s it. We are generally talking about silence - quiet conversations, a minimum of noise at the counter. We have calm drinks that you should not drink, knocking over a glass in one fell swoop. We don't juggle anything, except for meanings. We don’t smoke, we don’t knock, we don’t hit the head with a bat ... Those who want to make some noise are calmly sent to neighboring friendly bars, they will definitely like it better there. We are talking about sitting, meditating, feeling the drink, forgetting about the thoughts that haunted you upstairs. Maybe something good will come to mind.

Behind the bar now they are also handing out good memories?

But how! It's not just that we donned robes like Jedi on a mission. But in fact, there are tastes and aromas that act as triggers and set the clock back. For example, the taste of a cockerel on a stick - remember, caramel made from burnt sugar? I use it as a syrup when making a bourbon cocktail - everything seems to be grown-up, but the childish "candy" taste is still involved in what impression of the mix is ​​recorded on the subcortex. Or distillate from lilac flowers. I was walking down the street somehow, and suddenly I realized that my mood had suddenly become somehow upbeat, festive. And it's just a lilac blossomed! I will definitely include this “note of happiness” in my next cocktail collection, which will presumably be called Botanical.

The cocktail card, with which the “Korobok” was opened, consists of only 7 positions, isn’t it enough? Or, if you ask, for example, "Cosmo", will it also be mixed for a regular guest?

If you want "Cosmo" - then, please, not to us. If such a thought arose, then for you a cocktail is “fuel” for warming up before a party. And we are not to accelerate, we are to sit down and calm down. Although the palette will increase in the future, it looks like branches diverging from the tastes of classic cocktails. But not much. Ten positions, hardly more.

Korobok isn't a speak-easy bar, is it? Is it possible to just come here from the street?

We do not demand recommendations from five members of the club and do not hide in the back room behind the door with the inscription "Do not enter, it will kill you!". Although we do not particularly advertise ourselves. Anyone can enter, but not everyone stays. Someone does not have enough food, someone is simply not ready to think and talk all evening about what is in his glass. But such selectivity does not bother us much: there are few seats in the Box, so “our” guest will still stay, and “not ours” will find himself somewhere else. That's really what I would not want, so it's breaking attendance records.

"Cosmo" and "Long Island" - never and under no circumstances?

You know, I somehow came up with a crazy idea to collect all the trash and make a separate series of author's cocktails based on it. For a person to try something “pink” and “green”, and shudder in surprise. But this is still hypothetical, nothing more than an idea.

I made the rule of “three drinks” for myself, the fourth is always superfluous. The rule was tested on personal experience after bar-hopping on heavy hangover mornings.

And if the guest still requires a fourth?

Let's do it. But it is better to limit yourself to three.