BCB Speaker Kevin Armstrong on "Roundbuilding"

© Kevin Armstrong

What exactly awaits attendees of the Roundbuilding session at BCB? Angus Winchester in conversation with Kevin Armstrong.

While everyone I meet knows (sometimes to their detriment) that I am obsessed with hospitality in our increasingly product driven industry and do what I can to champion those who work hardest at improving that. I do also still fondly remember my own bartending days and in particular the skills needed to be a technically “good” (which translated means “fast and accurate”) drinks maker. So I was excited to read the recent book “Roundbuilding” written by legendary London bartender and bar owner Kevin Armstrong (and long-serving Satan’s Whiskers bartender Daniel Waddy) and was so impressed by it we invited him to present at this years BCB. 

Angus Winchester: Why is Roundbuilding so important in today’s bartending?

Kevin Armstrong: Without wanting to be too spicy out of the blocks (and clearly failing), there are a lot of bartenders that promote their creative beverage making but they have very little grounding in the technical and practical skills required to execute (multiple) drinks at the highest level, over the course of an entire shift. Anyone can make one brilliant cocktail, but making several at the same time is a very different ball game, especially when integrating the steps needed to make sure all those drinks reach their intended guest in the best possible shape. This is a different class of bartending entirely, and one that in the most part is not taught.  

Angus: How important is Roundbuilding as a bar skill versus creativity?

Kevin: This is the great misunderstanding. As Daniel’s opening paragraph in the book implies so brilliantly, this is not an either/or scenario. One can be technically proficient and creative. The practical skills we hold dear and discuss at length in the book should in fact be an aid to creativity. Once you understand the processes at play, one can focus on more creative endeavours. No accolades are given for being a world class technical bartender, but as an industry we can’t wait to praise the creative. Yet, on a busy shift – and this is the reality for most bartenders – when the checks are stacking up, you’d rather be beside someone that can dispense cocktails quickly and to the highest level, than be next to someone that can’t.

Angus: What sort of bartender should attend this session? Can everyone participate?

Kevin: Realistically, anyone that finds themselves regularly making more than one drink at a time. Indeed, if you serve cold drinks in a warm room and only have two hands, this applies to you. Irrespective of the type of beverage your venue offers, the skills and topics that we cover are applicable to most bars to some degree and therefore should apply to both high volume and lower volume, perhaps more quality-driven venues.  

Angus: Is Roundbuilding an art or a science?

Kevin: Hot topic indeed. Neither. Bartending is a craft, but much more akin to science than art. Whilst in an instance we might create challenging, exciting, and even exceptional one-off and new recipes, or deploy new methods during beverage development, the aim thereafter is to be able to replicate this ad infinitum to the exacting standards we have set ourselves. The first attempt might be “art”, but everything thereafter is craft. Science is and should be precise, consistent, replicable, and accurate and as such, once a recipe has been agreed upon, we should endeavour to recreate the same output for our cocktails each time. These exact same traits are seen in a craft.

Angus: What will BCB visitors learn by attending your seminar?

Kevin: The ideal outcome would be for them to reassess their way of thinking about process and bartending method. At each point we explore and test our way of working to look for improvement or incremental gains in quality. We ask ourselves the question: Can we do anything better? Understanding that cocktails are perishable to varying degrees means that you can adjust your methods get the very best out of your way of working, with the overall aim of making sure your guests receive the best drinks possible.