There’s a new face in town in the cocktail industry, and it’s none other than Joe Schofield. Hailing from England, the 26 year old bartender may be young and soft spoken, but don’t let his gentle demeanor fool you. Schofield boasts 10 years of experience behind the bar, a place in the top five of Bombay Sapphire World’s Most Imaginative Bartender as well as among the global finalists for the Beefeater Mix London, and has also been on the panel of judges for the Bacardi Legacy regional finals back in the United Kingdom. With this formidable portfolio, he seems well-equipped to take on the position of Head Bartender at Tippling Club and Group Bar Manager overseeing the bar programmes for Ding Dong, Open Door Policy and Open Farm Community. We had a quick chat with Schofield over a couple of cocktails and his growing collection of adorable $2 timers to find out a little more about him and his plans for the bar.
Tell us how you became a bartender.
Well it sort of happened by accident. When I was 16 I took a part-time job in a local pub which was 10 minutes away from my house. I used to go to school till 3.45, have a nap, get changed and then be at work at 4 o’clock. I did that for a couple of years, and then when I was 18 I went to university in Leeds to study contemporary art. While I was there I started working at the cocktail bars there, and that’s when I fell in love with the cocktail world. After working around the north of England for a few years, I went back to London about three years ago. That’s when I was really privileged to work with people like Tony Conigliaro at The Zetter Townhouse.
Why cocktail bartending?
To be honest I always took an interest in it, and when I got to university and started interacting more with people at the bar, I started to see it as a creative event, one where you get to work in a fun environment with great people.
What do you love best about your job?
I find a real perk of the job to be creating something that somebody likes, and being able to see that person enjoy it. That’s not something that you get with many professions. In the kitchen, chefs don’t really get to see people enjoying their food. I don’t want to say it’s the same as making a piece of art, because I would sound like an idiot, but I guess it’s simply creating something and being able to see somebody appreciate it.
How do you find inspiration for your drinks?
There’s a few sort of routes I go down. Sometimes it’s more about an idea, like the drink that I made for the Bombay Sapphire World’s Most Imaginative Bartender competition, which was meant to smell and taste like a rainy day in London. Also, I work quite closely with the chefs in the kitchen. In fact one of the deciding factors that brought me here to Tippling Club was the opportunity to work with such uninhibited chefs. I’m always speaking to Chef Ryan Clift to see what he thinks and what direction the team are heading toward. They’ve got a huge library of books upstairs from different acclaimed restaurants from all around the world, and we’re constantly flicking through those as well, and working on concepts like cocktail pairings. The books are more for an exploration of unique flavours or techniques that chefs have been doing, some of which are still very new to the bartending world.
Do you have a favourite drink?
Negroni, both to make and to drink. I think there’s someone who once said, “If you’re tired of negronis you’re tired of life.” I also love sours. It’s a really sort of great way to get flavour into a drink, with egg white taking off the harshness of the spirits, which you might not enjoy especially if you’re not used to drinking them.
How did you come across this opportunity at Tippling Club?
Well my girlfriend and I had been talking about moving to Asia. We talked about Tokyo and went for a visit before coming to Singapore. While here I started getting jobs and started sending a few CVs, and before I knew it, here I am.
Are there any challenges that you foresee?
On top of leading the bar team at Tippling Club, I’m also in charge of the bar programmes at Ding Dong, Open Door Policy and Open Farm Community — that’s quite a hefty portfolio, which I’m adapting to. Each outlet has their own distinct cuisine and style and one of the challenges is to create a complementary bar programme that can also stand strongly on its own. That’s a lot of drinks to create! I’m relishing the opportunity to work across so many outlets, though, and I’m constantly working with the chefs to thoroughly understand the amazing flavours and ingredients that are available here.
What are your plans for the cocktail programme for Tippling Club?
We have a new menu which is we’re planning to launch in August, and we’ve been speaking to people all around the world to try and pull this off together, and both Ryan and I are very excited about this. We’ve both never seen something like it, and it’s going to be the first of it’s kind, so we’re trying to keep it hush hush. Some of our colleagues don’t even know about it yet, so it’s pretty much just Ryan and me working on it. It’s going to blur the lines between kitchen and bar a little bit more, in terms of not just flavour but technique as well.
What are you enjoying about Singapore best thus far?
I get mad cravings for Xiao Long Bao. It’s like Din Tai Fung calls out to me every Sunday. Won ton noodle soup I love as well… So I really love the food, and I think the people here have been amazing, everybody’s been so friendly and so nice.
RELATED ARTICLES
