A Cocktail Artist Who Thinks Outside the Box and Colours Outside the Lines

By Shavaughn Moss

• Photographs Courtesy Of L. Roscoe Dames II

Creativity is key for mixologist Derrick Blackmon. He loves thinking outside the box and venturing outside the lines. It’s this way of thinking that he brings to his artistry, ensuring that every drink he crafts is a visual feast for the eyes first, then the taste buds.

“It is like painting a picture. You have a canvas and colour palate … you start your lines, and if something’s not working, you erase them and start over. When you have your lines just the way you want it, you start putting paint on the canvas,” said Blackmon, a mixologist at The Crew House Bar and Lounge.

Blackmon may sound like an artist, but he failed art as a student.

At the end of the day, cocktail artistry for him is about getting into the environment of colours, coordination, working with peers and other mixologists, travelling the world, taking in everything, being more open and developing a mind to be even more crafty.

A 22-year industry veteran, Blackmon has seen his mindset shift completely from the days he started out as a bartender to one of a true mixologist.

He takes pride in his passion for his craft. And he strives to always put his best foot forward.

“The door of opportunity has opened for me, and the glass ceiling is there for me to break through,” he said. He experiments with everything. “Not just food can be food. You can have it in a cocktail. I am experimenting with culinary.”

Blackmon, a multi-competition-winning mixologist, looks at everything and everyone as a network. And the network he has amassed through his travels have pushed him to be who he is today.

He is continually researching, studying, and practicing. Blackmon realizes he does not know it all and that he always needs to remain abreast of flavour profiles, how a rum is made and whether the profile allows for it to be mixed with fruit or vegetables, or a collaboration, to make a great cocktail.

In celebration of The Bahamas’ 50th Golden Jubilee Anniversary, The Crew House Bar and Lounge, which Blackmon helms, turned the mojito on its head to bring to the public a beverage in Bahamian flag colours good enough to represent the aquamarine, gold and black which respectively symbolize the sea, glorious sunshine and vigour and force of a united people.

The result was the brilliant “Hidden Gem” in aquamarine and gold, a sumptuous twist on the mojito cocktail – white rum, but with the addition of tart-sweet passionfruit and instead of club soda, made extra special with Prosecco or Champagne and offered up beautifully layered in the flag colours, except for the black.

It is an eye-catching cocktail, to say the least, presenting a sumptuous visual that cannot be resisted.

The Crew House of New Providence at Nassau Yacht Haven Marina, on East Bay Street, is where they recreate the Family Island experience for visitors and locals alike to share in the heart of the capital. It is the place where the breeze, drinks, food, and views take you to that slower place. UA