John Shope Email & Phone Number

Virginia And North Carolina

Supplier, Representative and Consultant position for CCDCVA in Virginia. Create, build and maintain relationships in ABC stores and On Premise accounts for the company. Specializing in Rye, American Single Malts, Gin, White Dog and Brandies with focus on being listed and being visible behind restaurant bars, cocktail lists and host special events including dinners, pourings, staff training and further education for all things Catoctin Creek Distillery. Maintained a social media presence as @JohnnyCCDC with weekly posts/promotions, live streams, virtual tasting events and CCDC themed sketches and shows.

Purcellville, Virginia

Free lance word of mouth sells throughout the Virginia and DC area.Walked through the distilling process in both classroom and physical settings with the owners and assistants at the distillery.Learned how and physically bottled, sealed and labeled the products both in public and private settings using manual and semi automatic techniques.Worked in the tasting room where I showcased, sold and educated customers on the brand portfolio both in straight flights and cocktail formats.Helped forge small business relationships by increasing in house sells of products in the tasting room as well as word of mouth promotions.Gave in detail and timed tours of the distillery walking through the history of the building, the company, whisky and its process as well as answering questions that guests to the distillery may have had.

Lorton, Va

Maintain, build and create relationships in the Alexandria area of Virginia. Focus is retail and restaurants supplying them with some of the most sold and highly recognized products in the country.

Travel to different venues in the DMV area to promote products for WG&S.Acquired passion-driven knowledge of Balvenie and Glenfiddich Scotches.Set up and conducted tastings following guidelines set by WG&S.Participated in the Glenfiddich: Cask of Dreams event at the National Geographic Society in Washington DCHave hosted tastings in locations such as the Hilton and restaurants like Againn and Policy.

In preparation for writing a real book one day, I decided to test my waters in blogging. It was while reading a particularly interestinng blog that my wife started up that inspired me to create "The Next Rounds on Me".A dossier about drinks and drinking. Nicknamed Johnny Cocktail, all cocktails I create and anything else home made regarding drinks will be found here. I do reviews about all things I come across, ranging from beer and wines, home made whiskies, to liquors made from snakes. I document memoirs from events revolving around drinking. I do interviews whenever possible and post ideas and other activities. If I tour your winery, visit your brewery or come to your distillery, chances are, you will surface here the next day!Cheers!

Front of House Manager:Managed small team of servers, hosts, runners and bartenders.Responsible for purchase, budget and inventory control for beer, wine & spirits.Utilize Microsoft Excel to create budget and inventory sheets regarding alcohol and FOH cash drawers and tip outs.Executed opening and closing duties including balancing bank drawers, supply inventories, orders, scheduling, menu and event planning for off site, café, bar and private dining rooms.Mixologist: Created and prepped monthly homemade cocktails for the restaurant to sell.Write seasonal cocktail menu for restaurant and create specials for eventsHosted several tasting events in private dining room including tastings for Bourbons and Irish Whiskies.Hosted a spirits portfolio and cocktails tasting with Catoctin Creek Distillery Master’s Scott & Becky Harris.Won the 2011 cocktail section of the George Washington Birthday Cherry Challenge against several other well known restaurants in the Old Town area with my Sweet Cherry Rye Cocktail.Bartender:Open and close restaurant’s main café, private dining room and bar.Execute daily operations and restaurant promotion and growth.Specialize in fun, fast, friendly and familiar service developing strong relationships.Communicate and sell daily specials, services and help book events.Help set up and design organized events for restaurant and community wide festivals.Participated in offsite catering, serving and bartending events.

Held multiple management positions within the restaurant from start of employment. Part of a team of managers, with a staff of 26 in a fine dining restaurant attached to the Hilton Hotel in Springfield, VA. Moved very rapidly through the company and was designated service trainer for FOH staff, teaching new staffers in a classroom setting through all elements of being in the service industry including health codes, local laws, restaurant standards, food and drinks.