Episode #29 - Amanda Schuster, Forbes, SevenFifty Daily and more

Hanna (01:46): Hi, Amanda. Thanks for joining us today. 

Michael (01:48): So great to see you.

Amanda (01:50): Thanks for having me. 

Michael (01:52): So you've had a fascinating career getting your start on the wine side of the beverage scene. Uh, you were a sommelier and buyer for Astor Wines & Spirits and Morell. So how did you transition to become an accomplished cocktail and spirits writer and an author?

Amanda (02:09): It's interesting because that happened, um, during the last major crisis in our lives, the big financial crisis, when I was working for Morell, I actually physically saw everyone at Lehman Brothers getting fired in their cafeteria from our office window. And I knew that something big was about to happen, obviously with everybody hugging and crying and that, and that, that was going to mean you know, a big change in the way we did business in the wine and spirits community, and it was, and, um, but that effectively ended my career on the retail side.

Um, which is fine because I was ready. I, you know, I was getting older and it was, it was a lot of, it was a lot of hard work that I wasn't physically able to do anymore. So, and I'd always been a writer and I'd been sort of discovered a little bit from the, from the shelf talkers that I wrote for Astor. Um, believe it or not, that actually started. First, my first published article in Whisky Magazine. And it just kind of, I crawled my way up from there.

It was a very hard struggle because that was a time when, you know, just as, as people who had been, um, successful lawyers or successful accountants or, or, um, people working in finance were changing what they wanted to do or just deciding that life wasn't worth that kind of job. And they wanted to do something that was a lot more enjoyable to them and started like craft distilleries or, or, or, you know, opened restaurants and bars and that sort of thing. Um, you saw the start of all of these wine blogs and all of these spirits blogs, right? I mean, that's really like 2009, 2010 is when that happened so I kind of got up, you know, got into that slipstream. 

Hanna (03:59): And actually I remember meeting you at the Tales of the Cocktail at a tasting room. And since then we developed our friendship and it's so wonderful to get to know you and I, so, you know, seeing you, um, you know, becoming such a great writer in our industry and as a writer, um, what has been most challenging for you, um, during this pandemic? 

Amanda (04:23): Deciding a good tone, really. Setting a good tone. And do people, are people tired of, you know, really serious articles about being shown what's the decay of the industry? Or do they need something a little fluffier? Do they need to be transported to a different place? Is it okay not to write about something if it's too hard? Um, and just general writer's block. I mean, these, these are all things that, that those of us in my position are really dealing with is, is, you know, what stance do we take? And, and, and do we have to take a stance? Can we, can we keep on doing what we were doing? Is it, is it relevant anymore? 

Hanna (05:05): But then despite the challenges, you've been writing a lot for Forbes. And as a fan of the Gibson cocktail, I was so delighted to see your story on, “Do it Yourself Cocktail Onions.” 

Michael (05:20): I’m really excited to try making those for Hanna and I, because we're, we're, we're both Gibson and fans and we love our cocktail onions. So you've covered a really wide range of stories and topics, uh, especially for Forbes most recently. How do you come up with these ideas that really wide ranging and how far in advance do you work? 

Amanda (05:40): Right now I'm thinking about, okay, if I'm stuck in lockdown I, you know, really feel like I need to learn something, you know, what do I, what do I want to read? What would I want to read if I didn't know about it? And so I'm, I'm actually right now trying to shine a light on fun little products. Like I just recently wrote about sloe gin. And because there really isn't a whole lot of information about sloe gin or people don't really understand what it is or, or why it's good and why it can be good.

Um, especially here in the States. I mean, obviously it's a really huge product in the UK, but here it's not so much, but there are sloe gins. So why are there sloe gins and why should we taste them? Um, You know, and I like writing about wine and, and talking about, you know, little indigenous grapes that, that nobody really gets into that much or, or, um, I don’t know, just the stuff that interests me and I feel like reading and writing about, cause I haven't yet, or I want to, I want to revisit it. That's that's the main thing. 

Hanna (06:41): Yeah your stories are always educational, but also entertaining. So, in the coming months, what kinds of stories will you be working on so that our listener can potentially pitch you? 

Amanda (06:52): I'm actually writing something very interesting about Greenbar Distillery in Los Angeles, and they not only decided facing the struggles that so many small distilleries have been facing, not only to start producing their own, ready to drink, um, line of beverages that using the spirits that they make in house, but they actually invested in an entire canning facility so that they could. Yeah, so that they, I mean, so they'll be making a serious profit from this instead of, instead of just coasting along and surviving. And it got me really interested in these other distilleries who are making RTDs out of, out of, um, things that they already make, you know, like St Agrestis here in Brooklyn, you know, they have their own amaro but what's really flown off the shelves is their amaro in their ready to drink Negroni's and spritzes and other products. 

Michael (7:52): Yeah. Convenience is definitely a priority during the pandemic. 

Amanda (07:55): Convenience but it should taste good. I mean, I think the problem with a lot of these RTDs is that they're just okay. And they can be better than okay. 

Hanna (08:05): Other than RTD, um, are there any other topics that you'd be interested in writing about.

Amanda (08:11): I mean, history is always interesting. Right? And especially since, since right now, history is there, there's so many things that we can learn from history to inform the way we're living now. Um, recipes, you know, things like the cocktail onions, you know, just recipes that are useful to us. Information that's useful to us is really what I'm interested in. 

Hanna (08:36): When someone is pitching you. I know you get a lot of emails every single day, probably hundreds and hundreds of them. So what are the three most important things that you want to see in the pitch letter?

Amanda (08:47): Know what you're talking about  is number one. I mean, I can't tell you how many pitches I get, where somebody states something as fact in it, it definitely isn’t fact. In fact, I got one yesterday from somebody and I'm not going to say who it was very surprising, but they said, they said that their place made up this cocktail. I was like, okay an article just published today saying that that cocktail is over 20 years old.

So no. And the other thing is I want, I just want concise information and I want all of the assets in that first email, show me a link to pictures that isn't going to expire because it's probably going to be a couple of weeks or maybe than a couple of months until I got to it. Um, how much is it going to cost? You know, so I can't tell you how many pitches I get, where they don't tell me how much, you know, what the SRP is. Why is that not in the, in the email? So those are the three things for me is know it, show it and having people get it. 

Michael (09:49): Very good advice. So I know, you know, so many people like us who have a wonderful relationship with you, but for those of our listeners that perhaps don't have this personal connection, what's the best way to cultivate one in order to pitch you?

Amanda (10:06): I mean, it's gotten to the point now where I know I'm, I'm being fluffed up. So how to, how to cultivate a relationship with me? I mean, okay so I'll tell you a story, so I'll try to make it, I'll try to make it brief. But I transitioned as you know, from one gig to another very suddenly and, and November into December. And I kept my old email open saying, if you really want to keep pitching me, here's how to reach me because I wasn't able to send out a whole thing to everybody just explaining what was going on. And, uh, I received an email from a person that I'd never really worked with before, and we had a story going that, unfortunately, I was not able to deliver because of that situation.

And, um, instead of, you know, instead of, um, being really aggressive in going after me, this person said, “Hey, are you okay? This must be really hard on you. Is there, is there anything I can do?” And she said, let's have a call. And I thought, oh God, the call is going to be the steam rolling into writing about this product that I'm just not really prepared to do. And then all the call was, was to just say, “Hey, here's, here's what I do. Here are the services that I can provide now. How can I, how can I tell people to contact you or, or to get in touch with you to see if you can find some decent work right now?” And that was amazing. And so, yeah, that's that I'm always going to remember that person and think of her when I'm writing something. 

Michael (11:45): I definitely agree. The pandemic has brought out the best in people and well, sometimes not always the best.

Amanda (11:50): Yeah. 

Michael (11:51): But, but one of the silver linings that we're seeing a lot of, uh, you know, especially in challenging times, like these is innovation, especially in our hospitality industry and beyond cocktails to go, what kinds of innovations are you seeing that you think are most promising that you think will, will survive into the coming years?

Amanda (12:10): I mean, I'm wearing one of them. This t-shirt fights cancer for Chris Patino. I mean, I think having merchandise for people to buy. It's amazing, it's amazing how many people really do want that bar t-shirt or that tote or that coaster or whatever it is. I mean, and so it's not that expensive to make those things and you can actually make a profit from them. So that's, that's a great innovation that I don't know why, you know, more bars weren't doing earlier. It's really funny dive bars that were doing it. I have a bunch of dive bar t-shirts from way before this ever happened, but, but regular cocktail bar t-shirts no. Um, it's tough. I mean, but I think the, to go thing is the biggest to make yourself and to make it scalable. I mean a lot of us are living alone. I don't want to buy a $75 cocktail when all I need is one drink. 

Hanna (13:03): That's great. Now, thinking back to the, you know, merchandising items that you pointed out. I think a lot of people would wanna support their favorite local bars and their tenders. So, you know, I'm sure everybody has plenty of t-shirts at home, but I think it's more than a good gesture, you know, they want to support the bars and try to help them. 

Amanda (13:25): Yeah. And I love like Katana Kitten’s, you know, limited edition glassware during the holidays and things like that. That's always a good idea.

Hanna (13:33): Right? Bartenders and bar owners are getting very creative and they are looking for additional revenue source and, you know, merchandising their brand in a t-shirts, hats and glassware. That is a great way to connect with customers, but also, you know, bring extra revenue. 

Amanda (13:49): Definitely. 

Hanna (13:50): So now we are moving onto…books. So you are always an accomplished author and we enjoyed interviewing you for our agency’s Ask the Author series on your book, New York Cocktails. So tell us, what was your inspiration for the book? 

Amanda (14:09): The inspiration for the book was that was that the publisher called me and said, you have six weeks to write this book. Do you want to do it?

Hanna (14:15): Six weeks!?

Michael (14:17): That’s very ambitious.

Hanna (14:20): Wow. 

Amanda (14:21): Um and it was quite a whirlwind, but the reason I would have said no, because I was busy, but really I thought about it. And I was like, well, this is a terrible thing to ask of an author because, you know, normally, we would like a little time to research, right? We would, we would like some time to, to acquire the right information and get it right. And, and to, um, and to make it something that people want to read. But then I thought, you know what? I've spent my whole career writing new work cocktails. I can do this. I can, I can just call in some favors to these bars and say, hey, I can't come right now, but you know, I was there two weeks ago. Can we come, can I just get the recipe for this cocktail now? And, and we'll, and we'll talk about it later. That's kind of how it works.

Hanna (15:04): And we love the book. And we've been recommending the books to some of our friends who’re coming to New York City or for those who are looking for gifting. And then also we heard a rumor that you have a new book coming out in 2022. So can you give us a scoop? 

Amanda (15:22): Yeah. Well, this is interesting. So we wouldn't have been able to have this interview this time last year, because this time last year I was very busy visiting something like 15 bars a week, doing research for this book that I thought again, it was going to have a very, not six weeks,

this time I had a bit more of a lead time, but, um a book about drinking and locals and it was meant to be sort of a travel guide, a bar travel guide that looked a bit like the J Peterman catalog from the 1990s. It's illustrated. And it was, it was really just supposed to be about, you know, if you go to this neighborhood, here are the bars that you should visit or, or some of the bars next to them and focusing on one particular bar and a little blurb about it. And it was really fun to work on, but I felt that as an ambassador to New York City, I should really get out there and explore neighborhoods I don't necessarily know because that's where locals live. Right?

So I went out to The Bronx and I, you know, I had planned to go even farther out in The Bronx and unfortunately, um, the pandemic curtailed that. But, um, yeah, so it was, I mean, I don't know what this book is going to look like now. Um, it was my decision, not the publisher's decision to put it on pause last year for obvious reasons. And it's still on pause. So yes, it's happening, but is this going to be a history book? We don't know what it's going to be yet. We haven't really decided, but the original, unfortunately the original intent is not happening. 

Hanna (16:54): So what is the title of the book? 

Amanda (16:57): Drink Like A Local. 

Hanna (16:57): Love it. 

Michael (16:49): We definitely see a theme here of the Big Apple and cocktails. So obviously you were born and raised in the city. Do you see yourself branching out to other areas of interest or are you going to stick to Gotham?

Amanda (17:12): No, I would love to branch out to other areas of interest. I mean, there are so many of them right? There are a lot of, there are a lot of things to write about and I've even, I mean, I actually have three quarters of a fiction book written that I've never done anything with that I need to revisit. 

Hanna (17:28): Oh fiction.

Amanda (17:29): So that's something too and not necessarily about New York.

Hanna (17:31): Ok well as you know, there's a lot of bartenders and bar owners and chefs who want to write a book and you know, some of them, they have a book in them, you know? So as an accomplished writer and author, what advice would you give to our listeners who want to write a book?

Amanda (17:50): What have you not seen yet? And why do you think that would be interesting to us and, and to, you know, when I was writing my book, the best advice I got was when I interviewed David Wondrich never forget this. We were having boilermakers at the Brooklyn Inn on a very cold night. And he was excited that I was finally getting to write a book. And, his advice was to find your own voice, don't try to mimic somebody else's and that was the best advice I could get. Just, just write what's in your heart and say it the way you would say it as if you were speaking to somebody. 

Michael (18:26): Excellent advice. 

Hanna (18:28): Dave always gives the best advice. Um, we call our podcast Hospitality Forward because we believe in the future of our industry. And I think, you know, all of us are very, very resilient people and we know that our industry will come back stronger than ever. So in your opinion, is there anyone or any organization that is doing really great work and is moving hospitality forward? 

Amanda (18:57): Well, um, I'm actually writing I'm the editor of a newsletter for an organization called Thirst.

And, um, and what Thirst is trying to do is to work with government legislators, so that closed businesses can finally collect on the insurance that they've paid into for years and years and years, the business interruption insurance. And there are all of these like very tricky little loopholes that have, um, that have given insurance companies, what they think is an excuse not to pay out on these insurances when in fact they probably should and could. Um, so that's, that's really a big one is I think is really to change the laws. I mean, a lot of our laws are so arcane or they're, they were set up deliberately to put a roadblock into the very situation that we're living in now. 

Hanna (19:54): That's great.

Amanda (19:55): Yeah. 

Michael (18:56): And now for the listeners segment question of our show, we have a question from Deke Dunn, our supervisor at Allegory at the Eaton Hotel in Washington, DC. He thinks DC has an amazing cocktail community, but it's definitely a small market. Deek would like to know if you have any suggestions for bartenders and bars from smaller markets to garner the attention of larger publications?

Amanda (20:21): I mean, one of the ways is, you know, there are so many great groups right now on social media. Maybe like Thirsty, for example, not Thirst which is what, what I just described, but Thirsty, um, the Facebook group that is pretty easy to join, you know, a lot of, journalists, you know, if they're writing a cocktail roundup are like, hey, give me your recipes for the sour cocktail or for a toddy or something. And that's, and that's a great way to get into a publication. Um, you know, just, just by contributing, you know, a recipe and a unique recipe. I love getting pitches about places that I've never heard of and something that they're doing. And so, you know, just.

I think a lot of the problem with bartenders is they're bartenders and they're great bartenders and they make great drinks, but they're not so great at promotion because that's never had to be a part of the job. And so maybe they don't feel comfortable, you know, getting something out there into into, you know, whatever you're calling this fear that we're talking into the drink sphere, just because they don't have the confidence to do it. Um, which is a shame. So I think, I think just my suggestion is to if you think you've made something really great, tell someone. 

Hanna (21:38): Love it. And I think that's one of the reasons that we started this podcast because there's a lot of people that have a great story in them, but they don't know how to get to someone like you. So we wanted to interview, you know, top journalists and so that they can share the insights and tips and then, you know, hopefully they will inspire and encourage our industry people to be able to say, I think I can pitch Amanda with my story. Okay. I can do this. You know, so we just want to encourage them to, to tell your story. 

Michael (22:11): I would also think on the media side, there's more of an interest in sources from smaller markets than has ever been before. I mean, it used to be very concentrated in the big cities, but I think there's a recognition that there's a lot of interesting stuff going on across the country in the cocktail sphere. So, you know, it's great that the spotlight is getting shined in a lot of different places. 

Amanda (22:35): Yeah. 

Michael (22:36): So before we go, what's the best way for our listeners to contact you, to pitch their ideas? 

Amanda (22:40): Twitter or Instagram, I guess. Um, slide into my DMs. I think this is the first time I've ever said that out loud. 

Hanna (23:09): Great, Amanda. It has been so great speaking with you and we wish we can speak more, but hopefully we will meet in person and, and share a cocktail or two. And I know we've been talking about this for months, but let's make it happen. We want to come and see you. Thanks so much for the time, Amanda. 

Amanda (23:27): Thank you. Thank you for having me. 

Michael (23:28): Thank you. Buh-bye.