Las Vegas Weekly

June 8, 2009 · 3:30 PM

Hot to [globe] trot: Social Mixology goes intercontinental

By Xania Woodman

Our host, Tobin Ellis, with fiance Kristen Schaefer, BarMagic of Las Vegas.

Photo: Xania Woodman

Just when I got comfortable posting up each Tuesday at whichever mixology bar BarMagic’s Tobin Ellis and John Hogan have brought their Social Mixology Tour to this month, drinking whichever amazing handcrafted cocktail they hand me from their all-fresh program made with the featured monthly spirit the inevitable happens.

It catches on.

The Social Mixology Summer World Tour kicks off this month, bringing BarMagic’s cocktail culture events to cities around the globe including Manhattan, Aspen, Johannesburg, London and beyond.

“We've seen a lot of interest in the program outside Vegas,” says Ellis, “and it just so happens we had a few clients book us for things out of town, and decided rather than just pause the whole program, we would see if we could take it on the road.”

For the London and Johannesburg parties, BarMagic will oversee affairs remotely, leaving the sister parties in the hands of trusted friends, “colleagues,” says Ellis, “who ‘get it.’”

“We are hoping this will not only add value to the program in general, but also help spread cocktail culture with its "Vegas spin" so that by the time I'm 90 the world will be back where it was 100 years ago—with just good, plain ol’ bartenders making killer cocktails and people having fun while drinking them,” Ellis explains. Alternatively, he adds, most people are faces with two choices: “have lousy drinks in a fun environment, or have great cocktails in a boring, stuffy environment.”

But never fear, ye cocktailians! The Social Mixology Tour will return to Vegas in July or shortly thereafter and “bigger, badder, and better than ever,” he adds. “We hope our loyal devotees in Vegas understand that by taking this on tour around the world, it will just be that much better and more coveted of an experience when we return.”

That Tobin, always such a tease.

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