Benjamin Earl Weathersby is not your average bartender. Old-school but not entirely traditional, Weathersby is the sort of barkeep who likes to play and perfect before putting anything on his menu. When it comes to cocktails that taste like Christmas, Weathersby has more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

“I like to stay seasonally focused in general, as far as ingredients and the feel of the cocktail,” said Weathersby. “I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to coming up with the drink, the ingredients, and the name of it. More often than not, the name of a cocktail is kind of an inside joke that only I know.”

A military brat and former service member himself, Weathersby put his wealth of experience behind bars to good use as the head “bar chef” at the Oak Leaf in Pittsboro. The term “mixologist” rings hollow for him, and “craft cocktails” seems a bit too much like a marketing label to be slapped on any libation that takes more than a minute to put together. Weathersby believes his drinks should speak for themselves.

“The guys that taught me to bartend were quite literally Sinatra-era Vegas guys,” said Weathersby. “One of them had privately bartended for Sinatra himself and the Rat Pack, he had a bunch of pictures of him with them to prove it. I got what I think was a great education … full of hard knocks. You did it wrong? Dump it out. Wrong again? Dump it out.”

“Palooka”

Working hard to keep far away from the holiday cocktail clichés that run rampant this time of year, Weathersby makes an honest effort to balance his own seasonal favorites, like cardamom and cinnamon, within the context of well-balanced drinks. According to Weathersby, the point of any cocktail should be communicated using three to five ingredients.

“When you start working with things maybe people haven’t considered before, or it seems weird to them but they’re open to it, when you’re actually behind the bar and working with those ingredients, it draws people’s attention. People want to see what you’re doing with the strange ingredients in the droppers and spray bottles.”

Weathersby takes inspiration from the unlikely founders of creating mixed drinks as a profession: travelling salesmen and apothecaries selling elixirs and tonics. What we see today as “snake oil salesmen” and con artists were also pioneers of creating often boozy concoctions that would supposedly help heal ailments. One such elixir, the “Sazerac” is still a well-known cocktail found in bars across the world. Two of the ingredients in a Sazerac, bitters and absinthe, were actually quite effective against infestations of intestinal worms. These tinctures often hurt (and addicted, in varieties using opiates and other narcotics) as much as they helped, but the practice laid the foundation for cocktails as we know them today.

“One of the really refreshing things about classic cocktail culture coming back is it getting away from 75 different ingredients and returning to the basics,” said Chef Brendan Cox, head chef and owner of the Oak Leaf.

Where “classic” cocktails are more focused on pure ratios, modern practitioners of the craft often take an additional, more creative approach. Weathersby prefers to build his drinks around a theme, especially during the holidays. A proper ratio provides a solid foundation to build on, and a well-mixed base is a fruitful creative platform.

“Sleigh Bells”

“Being a chef, behind the bar or otherwise, is constructing flavor,” said Weathersby. “They’re two very different experiences. I learn from [the kitchen staff at the Oak Leaf] in terms of constructing seamless flavor. When you’re tasting, you’re trying to deconstruct the taste into its components. Building that flavor is entirely different.”

One of this year’s holiday creations that Weathersby has been mulling over is a drink he calls “We Burnt the Pie.”

“I’m an aspiring home cook, and I often tend to leave things in the oven for too long,” said Weathersby. “I thought, there’s apples, but ‘Apple Pie’ just sounds like a shot to me. A terrible, sugary shot. My process is weird sometimes, I’ll name the drink and then work out the ingredients to make it. I spritzed smoky Scotch over it, so it evokes a sense of a just-barely-burned pie. It’s like a family gathering for the holidays, when someone smells smoke and Dad jumps up from the table and runs into the kitchen. ‘The pie is okay, don’t worry, it’s fine!’ It’s a pie that’s still perfectly good, but you might have to scrape some overly-brown bits off.”

Made with a cinnamon/nutmeg/brown sugar syrup to hit the flavors of a pie crust, Apple Brandy from Fair Game Beverage Co. (a local distillery), and a couple drops of lemon juice all stirred together in a martini glass and then spritzed with a smoky Scotch whisky, “We Burned the Pie” is an exceptional way to finish a holiday meal. Sweet and spiced, the apple and smoke pair together surprisingly well.

“I try to keep it interesting, have fun with it, kind of lean towards the kind of flavors that reflect the season without loudly saying ‘IT’S A CHRISTMAS COCKTAIL’ with what I make.”