Bartender James Potter

Nomadic Beverage Co. cocktails. Photo courtesy of O & B Photo Co. @oandbphotoco, Miriam Events Co. @miriameventsco.

Editor: This is the fifth installment of a new series in which Urban Milwaukee will explore five ingredients and how to use them with Milwaukee chefs, growers and caterers.

When it comes to cocktails, you have to know your audience.

That’s long been a guiding principle for James Potter, whose hospitality career spans decades and cross-country moves—with influence from trends, eras and locales as much as the energy across the bar.

“No matter how creative I am, I still have to play by the rules and the palate of my guests or clients,” Potter said. “It’s taught me how to read people and to have a couple things in my back pocket.”

Before making a name at Milwaukee establishments including Palomino and The Bridgewater Modern Grill, Potter started as a teen at Olive Garden—preferring kitchen tasks to schoolwork. An aspiring chef, Potter spent 10 years with the Italian-inspired chain, often traveling cross-country to help launch new locations.

After leaving the world of soup, salad and breadsticks, Potter straddled the line between front- and back-of-house, attending culinary school while working as a bartender: first at a Japanese restaurant experimenting with ingredients like matcha and yuzu, then at a small eatery leading the launch of an innovative cocktail program.

“We would take celery scraps from the kitchen and put them in gin to make mules, we’d make beet-infused vodka—people loved it,” Potter said.

Potter, a classically-trained chef, once dreamed of launching a food truck—but later discovered a preference for customer-facing work. “I still need that interaction of people being excited.”

With big dreams and the momentum of an accelerating career, Potter settled in Milwaukee. But the culture and rhythm of the smaller city—further dampened by the effects of COVID-19—was an adjustment.

“You’re kind of going back in time here a little bit,” Potter said, clarifying, “Milwaukee has a great food scene, and I think people are super hungry for new places. If you can stay consistent, the community will support you.”

Still, some customers are set in their ways. So Potter turned to practicing mixology privately, eventually launching Nomadic Beverage Co. The mobile business accommodates a wide range of preferences, from signature wedding drinks to baby shower mocktails. No-frills beer and wine service is also available, but Potter never passes up an opportunity to experiment, leading to creations like tomato basil sours, homemade melon liqueur and gin drinks swirled with pistachio orgeat, to name a few.

Here’s a closer look at five of Potter’s go-to ingredients and techniques—and tips for trying them at home.

Citric Acid

Necessary for balance, acid is an essential component in nearly every cocktail. But lemons and limes can only do so much. Potter breaks out of the box with a technique called acid adjusting, mixing citric acid and fruit juice to play with flavor profiles without upsetting the drink’s harmony.

“I work with apple or grapefruit juice a lot,” Potter said. “It makes the flavor lean towards lemon or lime on your palate, but with different flavor notes.”

Clarification

This technique uses whole milk to achieve crystal-clear cocktails with a silky mouthfeel—but requires patience and trust in the process.

Clarification combines milk with a cocktail base, allowing the mixture to curdle and then straining it thoroughly. The curdled milk binds with impurities—both visual and flavor—resulting in a polished look and clean flavor.

“It’s for the aesthetic,” Potter said. “And if you balance the cocktail well enough, it just makes it so fun and easy to drink.”

Spirit Swapping

Espresso martinis are having a moment, and Potter isn’t mad about it—but would like to see more riffs on the classic vodka cocktail.

“Whenever I offer an espresso martini, I do a rum one,” Potter said. “People assume it has to0 much sweetness—and it does have sugar content to it, but you can then take the sugar component out of the martini. You’re still infusing alcohol and flavor, but it’s really smooth.”

Potter favors experimentation with all kinds of spirits, encouraging drinkers to step outside their comfort zones. Already familiar with the world of alcoholic spirits, Potter is now considering THC infusions. “I think it would be a great way to move Milwaukee forward.”

Activated Charcoal

Though it’s odorless and has no flavor, activated charcoal is a powerful coloring agent that can dye nearly any drink pitch black. That’s particularly useful around holidays like Halloween, as well as for cocktails that present a bit “blah.”

“A lot of drinks are just brown, so this is just another option,” Potter said.

Wine Syrups

Craving a drink within a drink? Wine syrups are a convenient, money-saving way to enhance cocktails using whatever’s left in the bottle.

Potter recommends reducing sauvignon blanc, champagne or prosecco to concentrate the flavor—similar to a classic wine float, only stronger and more complex.

The syrup pairs well with spritzes and punchier cocktails, acting almost like bitters, Potter said, recalling a Denver favorite, Sweater Weather, which combined beef fat-washed bourbon with champagne syrup and a misting of scotch.

For more information, or to book an event with Nomadic Beverage Co., visit the business’s Instagram page or send an email inquiry to nomadicbeverageco@gmail.com.

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