MSA_Pure_Spirits_2019_Q2 - 37

HEN DETROIT'S COCKTAIL scene began
to heat up, Nick Britsky noticed. Michael

Symon's Roast was helping to revitalize downtown,
and The Sugar House was serving up craft cocktails
backed by an extensive spirits list.

"I wanted to chart some of that," Britsky recalls, "so
I started the Nick Drinks blog. It was kind of my quest
through learning about craft cocktails and visiting the
local spaces that were doing it on a higher level."
Since his first blog post in 2012, Britsky has added
a wealth of information: cocktail recommendations,
bartending tools, booze news and events, beer styles,
local distilleries and breweries, reviews and interviews.
In the intervening years, both the cocktail scene
and Nick Drinks have evolved.
"Initially, when craft cocktails were taking off in
metro Detroit, there was this kind of pretentiousness
at some of the bars. I wanted to make it more accessible," Britsky says. "Part of that pretentiousness was on
purpose ... getting people to rethink cocktails. You'll
now notice that the Sugar Houses and The Oaklands
of metro Detroit have become much more open ...
They've seen that that time has passed, people get it."
Since his first blog post, Britsky has expanded his
approach, his knowledge and his media outlets.
"When I first started, I was going to educate bartenders and consumers ... Now I've really focused on
the consumer standpoint."
To better educate consumers, Britsky better educated himself, earning level one accreditation from
the United States Bartender Guild, Cicerone Certified Beer Server, and BarSmarts. He got hands-on
training at Go Comedy and The Oakland in Ferndale.
And he's currently working toward Sommelier level 1.
Besides the blog, Britsky participates in "Heard," a
food, beverage and hospitality podcast featuring interviews with industry professionals. The podcast is

a partnership with local food blog The Hungry Dudes
and the Detroit Optimist Society, parent company of
The Sugar House, Wright & Company, The Peterboro,
Bad Luck Bar, and Honest John's restaurants.
Last year, Britsky added another outlet to his
outreach: he connected with CMN TV, a community
access cable network, and kicked off "Nick Drinks at
Night" in August 2018. Season 1, broadcast live on air
and to Facebook Live, featured interviews with a variety of people on a host of topics. One early show featured an interview with actor Nick Offerman. Another highlighted product and cocktails from Iron Fish
Distillery from western Michigan (samples of which
made both hosts and audience happy). Of the oppor-

SPRING/SUMMER 2019 37

MSA_Pure_Spirits_2019_Q2

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