Anthony Caporale is becoming an internet superstar thanks to his awesome video podcast Art of the Drink. Art of the Drink is most popular bartending podcast thanks to Anthony’s killer drink demonstrations (and his keen eye for casting beautiful women to assist). We decided to pick Anthony’s brain about bartending, podcasting and the fine art of making Long Island Teas.

A bartending podcast is a brilliant idea. What led you to start up Art of the Drink?

All credit for the video podcast goes to my videographer, editor, and all-around co-creative guy, Dave McCoy. I’d released the “Art of the Drink, Volume 1: Bar Essentials” DVD, and Dave approached me with the idea of following it with a weekly podcast to help build awareness of the product and set up the upcoming DVD volumes. I didn’t know much about podcasting and thought it just sounded like a lot of work (which it is!), but we knocked around several different format ideas and eventually he convinced me we should give it a try.

What kind of response have you had to the podcast? To me it seems like the #1 bartending related podcast out there.

Quite honestly, the response has been overwhelming — our viewers now number in the hundreds of thousands, which blows my mind. Lulu.TV named AOTD the Best Instructional Vlog of 2006, which made the New York Times Online, and Taste TV just selected us for a Tivo test release that will go out to 3 million subscribers. One of the things we checked early on was whether or not there was anyone else out there doing a bartending podcast, and the only thing we found was Tiki Bar TV which is really a comedy cast. We wanted to focus on drink-building techniques, history, and product knowledge, which is what I really love and where the DVD comes from.

Backing up a little bit… why did you decide to get into bartending?

I grew up in a family that didn’t drink, so bars always seemed like dark, mysterious places to me. When I was old enough to start going to bars — correction, when I got my first fake ID, I was always uncomfortable and felt like an outsider. I decided I would learn everything I could about the scene and make it mine. So in college, when my friends and I formed a group called the Cocktail Club that threw Happy hour parties every Friday afternoon, I was always the bartender. It was actually one of the toughest gigs I’ve ever worked.

How did you go about getting your first bartending gig? Was it tough to land your first one?

This is probably a story I share with thousands of other bartenders. I’d just graduated from college with an engineering degree that I wasn’t too thrilled about using right away. I’d always been much more of a performing arts person, but figured engineering would pay the bills. So, I got a job serving at our local Darryl’s concept chain restaurant and loved it. There’s a reason all actors wait tables: you’re on stage all night, and bartending even more so. The bar manager had a huge crush on the service manager, who I got along with great, so she put in a word for me and in less than 6 weeks I was training behind the bar. Dumb luck. I did eventually end up using that engineering degree for a while, but I’ve never stopped tending bar or loving it.

What is your favorite drink to make?

In high-volume bars when I’m working point, I like making Long Island Teas because they look really complicated next to all those rum-and-cokes you’ve been making, and if you can bang them out in a few seconds it really impresses people. Plus, I’m from Long Island, and pride myself on my LIT’s — if you make it fast and you make it right, guests go nuts.

What is your least favorite drink to make?

Red Corona. If you need sugar syrup to drink a barely-hopped pilsner, just hang it up.

What is your bartender pet peeve?

I can’t stand other bartenders that are three-deep and lazing around the bar chatting or flirting and not even breaking a sweat to clear the line. Standing around behind the bar in general is a big problem for me. I’ve always said bartenders should have only two gears: overdrive and out drinking.

What’s the most interesting/scandalous thing that’s happened to you on the job?

I’m gonna lay low on this one, but let’s just say you wouldn’t have been able to see it if you were sitting at my bar at the time.

What’s the best line somebody has used to get a free drink from you?

You’re the best bartender I’ve ever seen! That’s really the only one that works.

What’s the most memorable pickup line you’ve heard?

Girl (leaning forward with cigarette): Do you have a light?
Guy: Sorry, I don’t smoke.
Girl (throwing cigarette over her shoulder): Me either.

Who would YOU want to have a drink with and why?

Alton Brown. He teaches cooking the way I’d like to teach bartending. Which, by the way, needs to be broken up the same way “cook” and “chef” have been: some people just like to go to work and make drinks, which is totally fine, but some of us like to create new drinks, develop menus, and push the envelope. Right now, both of those things are referred to as “bartending” even though they’re as different as being a line cook versus being a chef. “Barchefing” sounds awful — any better ideas?

Tell us one thing about tending bar that we might not know.

I think people need to be much more aware of alcohol’s historical context and critical role in allowing us to climb out of the trees and caves and build the world we live in today. If it weren’t for alcohol’s ability to preserve drinks, we probably wouldn’t have been able to get past the hunter-gatherer stage and start storing supplies, building villages, and eventually filming Art of the Drink. People need to relax and realize that alcohol isn’t evil, and the luxury of looking down on it from a moral high horse wasn’t even possible until the very recent advent of things like clean municipal drinking water supplies and Coca-cola.

Other than Art of the Drink, what are you up to now?

I’m currently designing the bar in the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport on Long Island, NY, and will continue on as Director of Beverage Operations once we open on June 16th. We’ll be producing year-round, Broadway-quality theater with professional NY actors. Unlike most theaters that just offer wine and beer during intermission, we’ll have a full-service, high-level bar that will be open before and after the shows, probably 6:00P to 2:00A, so you can hang out and talk about what you just saw, listen to some live music, enjoy some awesome new drinks, and basically make a whole night of it. Plus, that’s where we’ll be producing Art of the Drink. Come see me there!

For more information, check out Anthony’s Myspace profile or visit Art of the Drink.

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