Callie Draper knows she is blazing trails.
She is not only doing her part to put Edmonton on the map when it comes to mixology, she’s the first trans person to ever win a major global bartending competition.
She was named the winner of this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars Roku Scholarship. This means she’ll be travelling to Sydney, New York and Tokyo for guest internships at some of the planet’s coolest cocktail spots.
It’s the second major global bartending honour an Edmontonian has won over the past three years. In 2021, James Grant took the Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year title.
So, maybe it’s no surprise that Grant has been one of Draper’s mentors. And though Grant has since moved to Toronto, the two keep in touch. It all started because Draper just loved going to Little Hong Kong when Grant was tending bar there.
“He just made it feel so welcoming and inclusive,” says Draper.
For Draper, the bar is an important social space. And if a bar is welcoming to a diverse crowd, it’s more than a business decision — it’s a political and social statement. She founded the magazine, Places You Are Welcome, that focuses on queer and trans people in hospitality, and discusses the need for our social spaces to embrace diversity.
“We have to look at the bar as an invaluable tool for community building,” says Draper. “To be able to create a space that is warm and welcoming, that’s a powerful thing, and a massive responsibility.”
This is the third year in a row that Draper has entered the Roku Scholarship competition. The first time, Draper was cut early on. In year two, she got to the Top 25.
“It was try, try, try,” Draper says.
The first stage required competitors to put together a written presentation and video about their bartending philosophies. Those who survived to the next stage were asked to make a sustainable, repeatable cocktail that each showcased a “hero” ingredient that was local to the bartender.
So, Draper made drinks using the Roku gin and… canola. Yes, canola. There was cold-pressed canola oil with fresh peppermint liqueur. There was tea made from canola leaves. And Draper used honey that was single-sourced from canola flowers.
Eventually, Draper made it to the top three, and went to Madrid for the announcement.
Currently, Draper is working with Spilt, helping design recipes for Edmonton’s new non-alcoholic bar.
For Draper, it’s about embracing a new community, one that, for whatever the reasons, wants to stay sober while enjoying a night out.
“I joined their team in August, and I am really passionate about what they were doing. I just wanted to jump in on that.”
