When the owners of Shady Lady Saloon decided Sacramento needed in on the newest bar craze, Prohibition-era drinks with people who are passionate about their craft, they lit up the Sacramento nightlife in a way that was just whispering through before.

An artisan like Matt Nurge, an incumbent craftsmen at Shady Lady Saloon, makes the third bartender showcased in my All-Star Bartender series.

The first time I met Nurge he was loaded down with drink orders and making it look like a snap. I don't like to burden bartenders with making labor-intensive drinks when they’re "in the weeds," but we waited a couple of minutes, and he was excited about the idea of making something new, not tired or daunted about the idea of some high-maintenance diva.

My friend next to me was of the bad gin and tonic persuasion, so I wanted to show her how wonderful drinks can be if you put yourself into the hands of an artist.

Those drinks include egg nog-style cocktails with dark rum, a fruit punch loveliness with a cayenne sugar rim and a new obsession of mine all to be blamed on Nurge: The Kentucky Buck.

"When ginger ale or beer is mixed with citrus in a drink, it is - or more accurately, was - known as a buck. Early cocktail books list recipes for the gin buck or London buck cocktail, and variations of rum bucks were called the Shanghai buck, Jamaica buck or Barbados buck, depending on the type of rum used. If you squeeze your lime garnish into a Dark 'n' Stormy, you've got a rum buck."
- Camper English

Nurge makes his Kentucky Buck with whatever fresh fruit they have available at Shady. I'm quite fond of the blackberry, and then he adds a sharp ginger beer, bourbon and all the other "special ingredients" that make it wonderful.

It was a revelation for fruit with whiskey, which I was always a bit wary of, till now. The following answers the questions to how he became so creative in the first place.

The Sacramento Press: How did you get your start in bartending?

Matt Nurge: I spent my youth at a Sacramento bar called Joe Marty’s El Chico on Broadway. My mom worked there on and off for almost 20 years. I would sit at the bar and watch cartoons before school every day. I met a lot of nice red-nosed old drunks.

My first bar gig was a the Hard Rock Cafe. One would think it would have been a clean, safe, family-friendly environment. It was not. Located in what I refer to as the "Shit-bird Triangle," it was nestled between the Amtrak station, the Greyhound station, resident motels and the county jail. There were more 5150s, sex offenders, freshly released convicts and other undesirables coming through this bar than any other in town.

SP: What’s your favorite drink/cocktail?

MN: Wine is always my go-to at home. My favorite cocktail of the day is called a Big Black Buck, which consists of bourbon, fresh lime juice, bitters, fresh blackberries and sage over crushed ice topped with ginger beer

SP: To you, what's the difference between a mixologist and a bartender?

MN: Patrick Gavin Duffy, a great barman, wrote in his 1934 book, "The Official Mixer’s Manual," that, "The idea of calling a bartender a professor or a mixologist is nonsense." I agree.

SP: What is the next big thing to watch for in drinking/cocktails/mixed drinks?

MN: Craft cocktail bars going mainstream. Corporate restaurant/bars ditching pre-made processed ingredients for fresh, local, seasonal, house-made ones.

SP: What's your signature recipe cocktail?

MN: One of my favorite go-to cocktails would be the Chappelle cocktail.

3/4 ounces gin

3/4 ounces sweet vermouth

3/4 ounces fresh lime juice

1/2 ounce falernum

3 1-inch cubes of fresh pineapple

shake and strain in cocktail glass

garnish with freshly grated nutmeg

SP: What's the best way to get a bartender’s attention?

MN: Patiently and silently keep eyes toward him/her with your order and your payment ready.

SP: Where do you drink?

MN: Mostly at home. Also at Shady Lady. But really wherever I please.

SP: Well said.

Up Next: Joe Anthony Savala