Q & A with Albert Trummer

Just when you thought you’d seen everything, Apotheke came along.  It’s not easy to find.   Tucked away on Chinatown’s Doyers Street — a spot with a long history of bloody Chinese gang fights and shady opium dens — Apotheke is part cocktail bar, part pharmacy, and part alchemy.   It’s the brainchild of “Bar chef” Albert Trummer and partners Heather & Chris Tierney.   

Whatever you do, don’t order a gin & tonic or cosmo.  You’d be missing the point at this apothecary, serving meticulously created cocktails made with house-infused spirits, Asian herbs, and obscure South American leaves.  Trummer even fashions his own brand of absinthe.  Inspired by the pharmacies of his native Vienna, Trummer divides his offerings up to help you decide from the 250 plus cocktails served.   The menu offers “Stress Relievers”, “Aphrodisiacs,” and “Health & Beauty” elixirs.

Trummer’s been perfecting his remedies since high school.  He started out hosting parties in a secret cellar in his family’s restaurant at age 16, and has worked for David Bouley at Danube and at the Chambers Hotel.  Along the way, he developed a fondness for tinctures, absinthe, and exotic spirits, which he now uses to craft his drinks.  No matter what ails you, chances are Trummer can cure it Apothéke.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be like David Copperfield creating magical cocktails.

How did you become so fascinated with tinctures, absinthe and spirits at such a young age in Austria?
In my dad’s restaurant we had a secret club where we entertained people after business hours and at an early age I was watching musicians and artists drink together. I was fascinated how at different hours people get into different moods by consuming different spirits.  
 
What was your first job in the restaurant industry? What did you learn?
Cleaning ash trays, lighting candles and filling up the gin fizzes with the soda gun. I learned that you should treat customers as if they are guests at a party in your private house.

What compelled your move from your native country to America?
Since I was traveling at an early age to Hong Kong, the Philippines and Thailand, I embraced the smells and tastes of different countries and cultures.  I learned a lot about the hospitality industry in Asia, which I think is number one worldwide. They are so welcoming.  I wanted to bring that quality service to America and I came to New York because, historically, it’s the number one cocktail capital in the world.

Many bartenders nowadays are labeling themselves as “mixologists.”  What’s your preference?
 I created the term “bar chef” because I felt that title was benefitting to the kitchen related techniques and cuisine I worked with. That was a title that satisfied me.

Why start with a tiny bar out in the North Fork of Long Island instead of New York?
I opened in Long Island first because that location provided me the ability to maintain quality as well as ownership but stay within my budget.
 
What about Trummer Home in Greenpoint, NY? How has your style undergone a transformation since then?
When I came here in 1999, I already had my style of making drinks and it landed me jobs with David Bouley and the Chambers Hotel and I continued that style in Greenport and it’s stayed with me. I haven’t changed.

You were doing fresh-squeezed juices and house-infused spirits before it was fashionable.  How do you continue to stay ahead of the trends and what inspired you to be the first to experiment back then?
You have to reinvent yourself as a creative person. It’s almost like the fashion business where you have different clothing lines for different seasons…you create cocktail for seasons and based on the influence of the liquor industry.

Quality was always one of my main priorities and I wasn’t afraid to put the most expensive cognac or tequila into my cocktails as well as herbs or botanicals that weren’t even developed in the United States.
 
What was your experience making cocktails at Danube? How has it shaped you as a bartender?
A big influence at Danube was the mentoring of David Bouley. He believed in me and helped me know what mixers and elixirs I needed to make a cocktail. Also his state of the art equipment that he used in the kitchen made making quality cocktails more inspiring.

What are some bar tools you just can’t live without?
A juicer.

How exactly do you make your own absinthe?
On one of my trips to Southern France I found a supplier who provides herbs and botanicals for the perfume industry and I researched those special herbs to infuse in my own house absinthe.

We noticed there are nine categories of elixirs on your menu. What do you recommend for someone who, let’s say, went through a terrible breakup?
I would say I have a special elixir with lavender, house bitters and some leaves from Guatemala…they have a Latin name that I don’t want to mention. I would blend them with a Caribbean rum liquor base.

What inspired you to create a bar that is reminiscent of an apothecary?
I found that the different herbs and botanicals I use in the cocktails make you feel better…like medicine. So I wanted to model the bar after a royal Austrian apothecary.

What was the impetus for the transition of “bar chef” to “apotheker”?
I’m always trying to raise the bar in the cocktail industry and this time I wanted to go a step higher after working with all the different chefs in the industry and work with medicinal herbs (like an apotheker in a pharmacy).

Tell us about some of the herbs in your cocktails. We hear many are relatively unknown to American palates.
Some of the herbs are coming from Asia and South America and we’re working with a pharmacist (a real one) to make sure everything is safe and legal for the cocktails.

What is your favorite cocktail on the list?…

The 5 Points

What is your least favorite (and yes, you must pick one)?
Some of the sake infusions don’t appeal to me.

Are there any culinary trends you embrace?
The bar chef trend…using kitchen techniques when making cocktails.  
 
What’s your least favorite trend?
Molecular mixology…when you put a lollipop or a gumball into a cocktail. 

Where in New York do you like to go for a great cocktail (other than Apotheke of course)?
Smith and Mills

Any new projects on the horizon? Spill the beans…
I’ve had some international offers I’m considering.

Apotheke
Address: 9 Doyers Street, near Pell Street
Phone: (212)406-0400