Press
“ The runner-up prize was awarded to American bartender Jena Ellenwood from Dear Irving, New York, with her 15 years of experience showcasing an entertaining presentation using a unique selection of ingredients including Vegemite.”
“The winner of the Marie Brizard “Toast to HerStory” cocktail competition, Jena Lane Ellenwood, who we discuss on this week’s show. We share the specs on her award-winning cocktail, “The Songbird of Manzanar.””
How a New York bartender went from making $250 per shift to $250 an hour
By taking some of her activities online ― like teaching cocktail classes ― and figuring out new avenues to earn money, she’s turned her drink-making skills into a sustainable, one-woman business. “I just kind of ramped up out of fear and necessity and creativity,” she says. “I never stopped figuring out how to move forward.”
10 Reasons To Drink Mezcal
“The concept of terroir gets brought up a lot with wine, but oftentimes is neglected in the spirit world,” says Jena Ellenwood, New York-based bartender, writer, and cocktail educator. “In mezcal you can taste the terroir—you can experience the wild yeasts, the nuances of the other plants growing around the agave, you can smell the memory of the roasting process, feel the texture of the water used to cut it and bring it down to proof, have a moment with the earth that created everything that went into that bottle.”
Cognac Connection
“Meet the ten bartenders who brilliantly showcased why cognac is a perfect cocktail base and won the Cognac Connection Challenge”
Jena Ellenwood Still Life With Fruit
“When did that eureka moment happen when you realized your mission is to be a bartender?”
“My parents gave me the Barbie Soda Shop when I was 4…we all should have seen this coming.”
@ForkReporter - Jena Ellenwood - Cocktails and Spirits
“Jena has been busy creating a cocktail show “Cocktails with Jena” on YouTube and IG @Jena.Lane All music is provided by coworkers who can no longer tour or play shows and YouTube editing is done by Emily Coffin. Jena also teaches virtual cocktail classes for Raines and Dear Irving.”
PUNCH
“While chefs and restaurants have spun the superfood into pasta, salad and broths, the ingredient’s potential behind the bar is just beginning to be explored in equally myriad modes. “There are so many ways to incorporate it,” says bartender Jena Ellenwood. “Infused, dehydrated, pickled, frozen in ice: I’m constantly thinking of new ways it can be used.”
The ingredient, which she explains “helps pop flavors,” grows along rocky shorelines in coastal areas with cold water. “
Timeout NY-
Bartender Tales
Jena Ellenwood of Proof + Gage
Have you noticed any trends in the industry recently?
Teams that are woman-based. It’s not just dudes in suspenders. There have been a lot of female-led teams in the past, but in the last year, I feel like there’s been a lot of press and attention around it, which is exciting.”
Edible brooklyn / NYC honey week returns to crown the next queen bee at cocktail classic
Edible Brooklyn: Why is honey such a great cocktail ingredient?
Jena Ellenwood: Honey is such an awesome and versatile cocktail ingredient because the nuances vary depending on where it’s sourced. Honey doesn’t just add sweetness; it can add weight and roundness, grassy notes or floral ones. Honey is soothing—we use it when we’re sick to help calm our throats (Hot Toddy, anyone?). For me, honey invokes memories of tea with my grandma; it’s a familiar flavor linked to sense memories. The honey that we use in our Queens Courage New York Old Tom Gin comes from apiaries upstate, as well as the Brooklyn Grange rooftop hives. The honey gives the gin weight and sweetness, and I think makes it a very cocktail-friendly spirit.
paper / cocktail of the week: the smokey buffalo manhattan at sparrow tavern
While at this summer's Tales of the Cocktail, the annual hedonistic booze convention in New Orleans, Jena Ellenwood attended a tasting of George Dickel Tennessee whiskey. "They were pouring cocktails through smoked wood chips--delicious but impractical--serving them on one giant rock," recalls the bar mistress of Sparrow Tavern, Astoria's pre-eminent tippling joint.
Liquor.com: Split Your Vermouth to Make the Best Cocktails. Here’s Why.
“New York City bartender and writer Jena Ellenwood acknowledges the potential of this particular definition of perfect. “I love a Perfect Manhattan––the dry vermouth really cuts through the weight of the whisk(e)y,” she says. “I think using both can achieve a really lovely balance, something we are always looking for in our cocktails.” In her 50/50 Birthday cocktail, too, she splits the vermouths in a 50-50 Martini between dry and the sweeter blanc style.”