Home » Bartending News » BEHIND THE BAR & BEYOND: SEVA ON ASTROLOGY, ATHLETIC DISCIPLINE, AND BUILDING COMMUNITY THE COCKTAIL INDUSTRY
BEHIND THE BAR & BEYOND:
SEVA ON ASTROLOGY, ATHLETIC DISCIPLINE, AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
THE COCKTAIL INDUSTRY
By Denaya J.
Special Feature for Bartender Magazine
When Seva Galant took the win at this year’s Chocolate City’s Best Future Giants Cocktail Competition, it wasn’t just another feather in his professional cap. It was a personal statement for community, Black excellence, and intentional storytelling.
Sitting down [virtually] over a glass of the custom bourbon blend that Seva crafted during competition week, we dove into his journey, from high school track meets and powerlifting platforms to high-volume mixology, and his visionary plans to reshape work-life balance in hospitality.
DJ.: Let’s start with the basics.What is your zodiac sign? Bonus points if you know your sun, moon, and rising.
Seva: In that order, I am Virgo, Gemini, Capricorn. I’m on the Time Passages app every day like, “Am I gonna have a good day today?” My Venus sign is Libra—the balancer.
DJ: What is a motto or mantra that you live by?
Seva: These days I’ve been really rocking out with “Why not?” Especially being Black, we feel like we have to be pragmatic all the time. So sometimes you just gotta hit it out of the park. It brings me comfort to actually try harder things – especially things I’m typically uncomfortable with. It freed up a lot of space in me to just go for it.
DJ: What is your morning routine, or the first thing you reach for when you wake up?
Seva: Working in the industry, my day usually starts around 11 AM or noon. If I have a real morning routine, I eat breakfast and train. I always try to make sure I go to the gym because it gives me great emotional regulation for the rest of the day. As someone with ADHD, I reach for protein first thing— protein synthesis really keeps me from falling apart throughout the day. Paired with B12, L-theanine, and caffeine, you’re perfect to start the day.Afterwards, I hop straight into a creative domain in my music studio.
DJ: Let’s talk about the competition. Prior to the Future Giants competition in March, how many competitions had you been in?
Seva: On a national scale, about seven.VinePair (semi-finalist for Best New Bartender and Great Jones Manhattan competitions), Remy Bartender Talent Academy Cocktail Comp., Amaro Montenegro (top 25), and JSS (Japanese Sake & Soju Society), where I was a national finalist in Seattle. It’s been a wild year and a half since I started working at Judy & Harry’s.That’s where I was able to gain access to more high-level techniques.
“Every competition is really just storytelling.The math isn’t in the practicals—the magic is actually in being able to describe why you did it.” — Seva
Denaya J.: What was the biggest lesson you took away from competing on that level?
Seva: Learning how crucial the soft-spoken details are—like keeping bottle labels facing outward or executing your cocktail while seamlessly storytelling.At JSS, I got in my head, thought I lost a sous-vide bag, and ended up leaving an ingredient out! But the number one thing I’ve learned? If I don’t win by a mile, I’m not going to win.The number of tiebreakers I’ve had is a running gag among my mentors, my girlfriend, and my friends!
Denaya J.: How did your experience at Future Giants compare to previous national competitions? Seva: The scale and production put on by Chocolate City was unbelievable—they hit immersion, experience, technique, and philosophy. But what was truly unique was the camaraderie. Usually, before you go up, it’s every man for himself. Not here.The day before, during presentations, [competitor] Mike and I were locked in together reviewing slides, exchanging laptops, and helping each other refine. Everyone there wanted everyone else to win.
PART III: “VALENCIA” — A SISTERLY HOMAGE
Denaya J.: Your cocktail submission originally started with an inspiration drawn from D’Angelo, but transitioned into a tribute to your sister.Tell us about that story.
Seva: D’Angelo was about paying homage to a titular Black figure whose career was constrained by people not believing in our ability to self-articulate and self-direct. My sister shares a similar story of resilience. She is a complete savant—five times smarter than me, taking all AP classes with a 3.96 GPA at in Catholic school.When applying to colleges, her guidance counselor mixed up her file with another black student who had a much lower GPA, routing her to Quinnipiac instead of her dream Ivy League schools likeYale,Harvard,or Stanford.Because of hard cutoffs,it couldn’t be rectified.
Denaya J.: How did that experience transform into your competition drink, “Valencia”?
Seva: I wanted to center heat, passion, and Caribbean flavor while delivering orange in an unexpected way. Shoutout to Kapri, who pushed me beyond basic orange into a sofrito-inspired profile. Guided by the Flavor Bible, I took orange piths, burnt peels expressed over open fire, roasted poblanos, toasted cardamom kernels, Jamaica tea, and Oloroso sherry.
Cocktail Recipe Profile: Valencia
Denaya J.: How did your sister react to having the winning cocktail dedicated to her?
Seva: She’s an August Virgo and I’m a September Virgo, so she didn’t let me see her cry! But she and her husband watched the whole livestream.They know I have a “Time to Shine” button I press when it’s game time, and she was so happy to see the presentation resonate.
PART IV: THE “COMMUNITY DOLLAR” & INDUSTRY REFORM Denaya J.: A core element of the Future Giants competition is proposing real-world solutions for a change that you want to see in the hospitality industry.What was your proposal?
Seva: Creating an industry-facing, professional rating platform (akin to Yelp or Belly) specifically designed to audit work-life balance, equity, and management quality for hospitality workers with weighted metrics for Black women and minority professionals.That way we could actually do what [mentor] Dwayne told me is called the community dollar.
“There’s only two places where the money comes from that are really meaningful.We have the industry dollar, and we have the rich dollar. People are prioritizing the rich dollar, but the industry dollar is fully worth it, and this is the one that will not leave you. — Seva
Denaya J.: How does this concept leverage the “Community Dollar”?
Seva:Venue listings on public consumer apps would be contingent on verification from industry workers that the establishment actively supports, protects, and promotes Black talent and female professionals. Hospitality workers spend thousands supporting their peers. By directing our collective purchasing power toward healthy, non-toxic environments, we force accountability and build sustainable economic equity within our own ranks.
PART V: ATHLETIC DISCIPLINE & HIGH-VOLUME PERFECTION
Denaya J.: So you kind of touched on it earlier, but how do you balance prioritizing your physical and mental health while having a career in alcohol?
Seva: I went to Christian Brothers Academy (CBA), home to one of the top high school track programs in the nation. Coming from a culture of extreme excellence where “okay” was considered bad, I learned to demand high standards of myself. After track, I transitioned into powerlifting—squatting 400 lbs, deadlifting 500 lbs, and benching 275 lbs. Physical movement, stretching, and mobility work give me the stamina and emotional regulation required for hospitality.
Denaya J.: What is your philosophy on prep work and efficiency behind the bar?
Seva: I practice what I call “use case bartending” and 90-minute prep limits. If prep doesn’t directly streamline service or dramatically enhance flavor, it’s unnecessary labor.Working volume at weddingvenues like Park Loft taught me how to eliminate unnecessary steps without compromising quality. Good service and good hospitality aren’t the same thing—mastering both under pressure is where true skill lives.
I would say this as a hot take, because I’m decent behind the bar. If I’m burning down behind the bar, it’s a managerial issue. Managers exist to support staff and ensure proper prep, stocking, and operational structure.When management fails to support you, shift failure is systemic, not individual.
Denaya J.: That’s not a hot take. I agree with that.
PART VI: LOOKING AHEAD
Denaya J.: What was your biggest personal takeaway from the Future Giants journey?
Seva: Beyond the lifelong friendships, the takeaway that everyone should find is the ability to coordinate your own community and create your own community.The capacity to which you guys [Chocolate City’s Best] actually created your community is the takeaway and what we [all] should take away from it, you know, like it’s especially for us, and especially for the environment we exist in, you have to create your own success.You have to create your own success for everyone to be successful, because that’s the thing. You can hold a dollar, but you’re gonna have to spend it.And you want to make sure you spend it with the right spot. So we are existing in a spiritual and intellectual wealth because CCB is a thing. Like I get
to do this because CCB exists, you know.