Rum Connoisseur Interview Of The Week LEIF HUCKMAN Donna Brooklyn Owner
Rum Connoisseur
Interview of The Week:
LEIF HUCKMAN
Donna Brooklyn Owner
1. Who is Leif Huckman?
I am a bar owner and operator, as well as a consultant in Brooklyn, NY. I am grateful to be married to a talented and supportive partner named Maya Lawson, with whom I have two kids. About 16 years ago as a struggling musician, I got my first job as a busser / runner with a phony resume at a hip diner in Williamsburg. A college friend (who happened to be Al Sotack) soon after helped me to get a bar back job in Manhattan in the bar that occupied the space that Gold bar now resides in (it was called Odea). This was where I first started crossing paths with people who would go on to be leaders in the cocktail world (TJ Lynch, Tomas de los Reyes, Tim Cooper).
Over the years I went on to work with people and establishments such as Amy Sacco, The Tasting Room, Freemans Alley, Peter Lawrence, Nick Morgenstern, Andrew Tarlow, Five Leaves and a handful of nightclubs, during a true renaissance of the craft of the classic cocktail brought on by bars like Angel’s Share, Milk & Honey and Flatiron Lounge. I had the luck to be working alongside talented and generous bartenders (including but not limited to Lynnette Marrero, Yanna Wolfson, Jim Kearns, Tobey Maloney & indeed Al Sotack) who shared their ideas, techniques and company while I was building a vision for what would become my own bar, Donna Cocktail Club in Williamsburg.
Donna is an award-winning cocktail bar that focuses on sugar cane and agave distillates, and will be celebrating its 8th year anniversary in April 2020. A little over a year ago, I designed a bar in partnership with a restaurant group in Greenpoint, Brooklyn called The Hidden Pearl, a lovely “speak easy” style bar hidden behind the ramen restaurant Wanpaku that focuses on Japanese ingredients and distillates (including Japanese rums!). During the last two years I’ve consulted for The Four Horsemen in Williamsburg on their exciting new bar Nightmoves, and at a breathtaking resort on Grand Cayman Island called Palm Heights that is recently re-opened from renovation. This year, I also started a management company to oversee our own properties and more called Big Things Holding with my friends Chef Ken Addington and Jamie Webb. We are currently overseeing operations for Extra Fancy in Williamsburg, as well as a new concert venue in Manhattan called The Dance.
I am dedicated to continual education, and creating the best environment for my team members and customers alike to explore the world of quality spirits in a way that is welcoming, attentive, informed but never condescending. Fun, ya know?
2. Biggest achievement you personally feel you have accomplished for the rum industry.
I believe opening and cultivating the beverage program as well as the immense talent that has been a part of it at Donna (people like Jeremy Oertel, Matt Belanger, Selma Slabiak, Karen Fu, Amanda Elder, Fanny Chu and Patrick Gartner to name a few) is to date the biggest achievement I have accomplished for the rum industry. We opened in April of 2012, and from day 1 Donna has been a place to explore rum as a category, which I felt was being overlooked at the time in place of spirit-focused bars that were often obsessed with Whiskies and Gins.
Jeremy Oertel, my opening bar manager and now partner, had been working at Phil Ward’s Mayahuel and also introduced me (and Donna) to Mezcal and quality tequilas which expressed “terroir” in spirits that I had never really experienced before. Through rum, I’ve been able to continue to seek out not only quality products, but products that reflect the land, history and people that they come from. With our brands as partners, we provide as much education for my teams as possible, and I continue my own education daily.
3. What made you fall in love with rum and when did it happen?
I remember making classic cocktails from the bar bible at Freemans with rum that really appealed to my pallet beyond the daiquiri; like treacles and rum bucks, and this being the first moment I realized how versatile rum could be. Initially when opening Donna, the sheer variety was one of my favorite aspects of the category. Once Clairin was introduced to our market (thank you Kate Perry and Maison & Velier), it inspired me to take a much deeper dive to learn more about the history of the rums we enjoyed and to see how and why the brands we loved came to be, and also inspired us to vet the products to a higher degree than we had before we brought them into our programs.
4. What is that thing that makes you want to continue in the rum industry?
Beyond continuing my obsession with finding terroir driven spirits, I think rum is at a unique moment where our beverage industry at large is taking notice, spirit makers and distributers are responding, and the market place is shifting to a point where Bacardi and Captain Morgan may soon not be the only rums widely recognized and consumed in the USA. I want to be on the side of promoting quality product and showcasing the diversity and history that rum has to offer, not to mention how delicious it is to drink and make cocktails with!
5. Favourite Drink + Recipe
Always a daiquiri, but one I made recently that I thoroughly enjoyed is…
1oz Real McCoy 5yr
.5 Probitas
.5 Hampden Overproof
1oz Lime
.5 Cane
6. Where do you see the rum industry today and in the next 5 years?
Today, I see our niche world of cocktail bars exploding with rum and I’m having some of the most interesting conversations within the world of rum: what is allowable in rum before we consider it adulterated? How do we interact with the world of “Tiki” in a way that is respectful? Right now, rum is where it’s at, in my humble opinion. If we take these conversations seriously, and as purchasers vote with our dollars, we could see a world in 5 years where (outside of just bartenders, ahem) customers ask “What’s your house Jamaican rum?” “Can you make this with Agricole?”
7. What do you think needs to happen to grow the premium category of rum?
Mostly, I think the responsibility is on us as bar owners, managers and bartenders to ask the tough questions (and look up the answers on your own) when reps bring a fancy new bottle into our bars (don’t only follow your own pallet because much can be manipulated to get a particular effect that might not be discernible on first taste). Education is a top priority, and educating our staff and thereby our customers. Pick a slow night of the week to deep dive on a single bottle, offer specialty pricing on a pour and/or specialty cocktails so your bartenders can practice working with it.
Also, I think we need to take more care to design our spirit lists to reflect the countries each rum comes from, and by doing so open up the dialogue about what makes these rums different from one another and educate yourself on the countries that have the toughest laws regarding rum production (like Jamaica, Barbados and Martinique).
8. Which rum would you recommend a person that:
- Sipping premium rum for the 1st time: Privateer Queen’s Share – Surprisingly exquisite American rum. By sake of its quality and provenance it will open the mind of the consumer to reconsider what they thought rum was all about.
- Likes Scotch Whisky: I’m going to suggest a curve ball – Avua Balsamo – Dry and aromatic, with a presence of wood that brings out an almost menthol note with pleasant spice.
- Likes Bourbon: Real McCoy 5yr / 10yr, good juice, round flavor with the familiar presence of vanilla from oak ageing.
- Likes Gin or Vodka: For the Gin drinker, Rhum Neisson Blanc / those grassy notes have hints of botanicals that are reminiscent of some gins. For the Vodka drinker, something more neutral but still with some legit rum character like Pedro Mandinga Silver.
- Likes Cognac: Four Square Zinfindel Cask Blend if you have that. Rich, fruity, aromatic and fine. If you don’t have that, Ron Zacapa might be a more widely available option.
9. Share some (2-3) of your mentors and how they have helped you.
Lynette and Yanna both worked behind the bar at Freemans, and they were the first to really make me feel welcomed and un-afraid of asking questions when I was training without feeling stupid. I always appreciate them and think on them fondly for this.
I was an early-shift bartender at Gold Bar when it first opened, and Greg Ramirez consulted on the opening menu. He was the first person who taught me explicitly about building rounds in order of “durability” of the drink. He made me put up rounds 4 at a time with different builds and this strengthened my ability to organize my builds in real time. It wasn’t always fun, but it’s a necessary skillset in a fast-paced cocktail bar.
I worked for Peter Lawrence and Andrew Tarlow separately (though they later partnered at The Wythe Hotel). Both of these operators exemplified a healthy ownership model that I aspire(d) to. They seem to have an awareness of work-life balance in an industry that often doesn’t, took their businesses seriously but not so much that being around them was anxiety-inducing, and as supervisors both gave me the perfect balance of oversight and freedom to explore my ideas once they trusted my instincts with creating cocktails.
10. What 3-5 things do you have in your bucket list for the next 12 month?
-Spend as much time soaking in my son as a baby before he’s really a toddler (he just took his first steps!)
-Take my family to Oaxaca. I recently visited distilleries with Del Maguey and had an incredible experience and can’t wait to take them back.
-I’m desperate to visit Jamaica to see my favorite distilleries in action (such as Worthy Park, Hampden Estate, and Appleton of course).
11. Any last words?
Come visit me for a drink sometime and let’s chat more about rum!
