Made in Everett: Revolution by the Barrel
Editor’s Note: Originally published December 12, 2018. Republished January 28, 2021.
Revolution by the Barrel has pivoted and adapted to the pandemic and is offering virtual bartending classes and cocktail and mocktail togo kits. 🍸
“Fair prices and a good drink.”
That’s the simple philosophy behind Revolution by the Barrel, the Everett-based catered craft cocktail company.
The man behind the bar and bottles is Nigel Lindsey, Everett resident and wunderkind mixologist.
Revolution by the Barrel
If you hire Lindsey for your event he won’t serve blasé Jack and Cokes or high fructose corn syrup from Cash & Carry bottles. He’ll make classic cocktails that your elegant grandpa would recognize and appreciate, gin and whiskey-based drinks that are good for your body—with simple handcrafted syrups, fresh herbs, and dried fruit.
He’s a perfectionist in the best way.
When you collaborate with Lindsey to do a job, he will show up on point—all of his homemade liquors and bottles mixed and ready to pour, a cooler of chipped ice in tow.
Sometimes he will even bring his own “pop up” bar.
Lindsey pours muddled juice and ice into a cut glass chalice for a “Fitzgerald” cocktail, named after jazz chanteuse Ella Fitzgerald // Richard Porter
”I noticed that when you go to concerts there aren’t many good drink options,” Lindsey said, an avid local music fan. “I’ve been to shows where a cocktail is $12. I started thinking about the cost margin needed to make that...” His sentence trails off and he laughs.
Lindsey brings his formal charm to private events like weddings and private parties, but his main beat is pouring craft cocktails around town at art events and music shows.
You may have seen him pre-pandemic at Black Lab Gallery concerts, Fisherman’s Village Music Festival 2019, monthly Everett Art Walk, or pouring drinks for the Bayside Rhythm Society DJ sets.
Indeed, the first time I met Lindsey, he was pouring drinks at a summer backyard house show. He had prepared a cinnamon and anise-infused spiced Asian pear simple syrup and was mixing gimlets. The quality of his work seemed disproportionate to what he was charging. I was impressed by his craftsmanship and his price point.
Revolution by the Barrel catering an event for Everett’s own Whiskey Knits and Skumbag Co. at Narrative Coffee // Narrative Coffee
“Art makes me feel comfortable,” he says of Everett’s downtown creative scene. For Lindsey, pouring a brown sugar old fashioned or a barrel-aged negroni in a live music venue is a reciprocal relationship of inspiration.
Crafted beverages in the context of an art venue. That's a great combo for bartender, hosts, and patrons alike.
I’ll drink to that.
Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.