Kali Irwin, Mixologist
On a recent evening, Kali Irwin tested her newest creation on the patrons of 67 Orange Street, a recently opened Harlem speakeasy where she serves as general manager and chief mixologist. She described as simply a “kind of a mulled wine,” before delivering its lengthy listing of ingredients: “red wine with chipotle, lemon juice, rum, a little simple syrup, and some all spice liqueur. We made quite a few of those.” Irwin considers this her culinary creative outlet. “I don’t really cook, so this [mixology] is my way of expressing myself through food and drink.”
The Washington Heights-born Irwin, 36, joined the nightlife industry full-time last year after working as a legal assistant and only occasionally dabbling in bartending. But proprietor Karl Williams, who brought her to 67 Orange, recognized her sense of innovation. Williams, owner of nearby Society Café, opened the bar in December 2008 in hopes of bringing downtown nightlife to northern Manhattan.
“I liked what he was trying to do,” says Irwin, “bringing a unique cocktail experience to Harlem that has been lacking here. I think he saw in me somebody who was innovative and was willing to take risks. We found it to be a good match.”
67 Orange was named the bar after the address of Almack’s Dance Hall, one of the city’s first successful black-owned bars (it was open in the Five Points section of Manhattan in the 1840s), so Irwin looked back in time for inspiration to create the menu, focusing on old-style cocktails and new ideas inspired by old New York and black history. She says she discovered an interesting historical fact that led her to the name for one of 67 Orange’s signatures, the Emancipation (a cucumber vodka-based cocktail). “Cucumber was something that slaves would actually sell to their masters. It was a very hot commodity in those days.”
New York Magazine has called Irwin “trailblazing” in her industry, but Irwin wonders if that comment speaks less to her abilities and more to her race and gender. “While you do definitely see female bartenders, it is a male-driven industry, [and] to be a black woman is even rarer,” she acknowledges. “[But] I’m glad to take that role on and hope that it does open doors for other people, other women, other black women in the industry.”