Meet Our New NorCal Spirits Buyer: Josh Gelfand

Any spirits lover can attest that our spirits selection runs as deep and as wonkish as you any out there. We’re thrilled to bring on a second Spirits Buyer, Josh Gelfand, who can help build on the wonderful work David Othenin-Girard has been doing. Josh is based in Northern California, so he’ll be a great counterpoint to David in SoCal. We’ve seen so much enthusiasm from our customers and growth in this category, and it’s extremely exciting to watch how it will continue to grow in the years to come.

Without further ado, meet Josh!

Tell us about your journey with spirits... How did you get into them? Was there an a-ha moment? How did you get to K&L?

My journey with spirits may have begun when my parents would rub Chivas on my gums during teething, but that probably just primed me for what was to come. I started bartending right after college when I was a ski bum in Tahoe, and while I was trying to make it as a musician. I later left pursuing music and the bar professionally, and it took a little while and a few other career paths to come back. I was working in sustainability and environmental business and moved to San Francisco to pursue an MBA in Sustainable Management. After a stint in corporate PR, I started doing sales for a line of fair trade certified organic spirits, which engulfed me into the burgeoning craft cocktail scene here. Shortly thereafter I started doing some part-time work for The Glenlivet, which is really where my passion was ignited, as I was training with the brand ambassador and discovered I was able to taste every flavor he mentioned, and then some. I had to learn everything I could about this liquid I'd casually enjoyed for so long. It wasn't long before he left for another opportunity, and I stepped into the role of brand ambassador for The Glenlivet, and later Master of Scotch for the full Pernod Ricard portfolio, which includes Aberlour, Scapa, Longmorn, along with Chivas Regal and Royal Salute. After about five years I found my way back behind the bar, and also became the Spirits Director at Wingtip in San Francisco, a private club with more than 700 spirits on the shelf, including around 450 whiskies at the time. That lasted until the pandemic, when I shifted gears to virtual spirits education, leading cocktail classes and spirits tastings for upwards of 1200 people at a time, or as intimate as three-to-four folks. When the world reopened I got back into the brand world, working with some smaller independent brands and an importer of wonderful and quirky esoteric spirits from around the world, eventually finding my way to K&L, where I couldn't be more excited to continue my spirits journey. 

Spirits is such a broad category—what are you into/passionate about?

I think it's the breadth of the category that excites me the most. Whisk(e)y remains my first love and probably my strongest category knowledge-wise, but I love agave, gin, rum, brandy, and liqueurs so much as well! I love the vast variety of flavors that can be created through the science and art of fermentation, distillation, maturation, maceration, infusion, blending, and all of the other processes required to create spirits. And as much as I love the process, I love the stories even more: the history behind categories and brands, the people that bring them to glass, the journey the liquid has taken over centuries, and more. I love new discoveries, I love to be surprised, I love the familiar, and I love sharing my passion with others and helping them begin or continue their own journeys of discovery. 

I heard you were into cocktails… tell me more. What do you like to drink? What’s your favorite thing in your home bar?

As much as I enjoy spirits on their own, I also certainly enjoy a well-crafted cocktail, and I've created a few pretty good ones over my years behind the bar. Durinng the pandemic I enjoyed leading many virtual "Cocktail 101" classes, teaching folks the history and fundamentals of cocktail creation, so especially while they were stuck at home they didn't need to drink lousy cocktails. Generally speaking I don't have a favorite cocktail, but I do end up falling back on wet gin martinis, negronis, and traditional daquiris than anything else. Although, more often than not wen I'm in a bar I'm sipping on a spirit of the moment with a pilsner or lager at its side. 

What’s your approach to buying for K&L’s shelves? Anything you’re looking forward to here?

My approach to buying is about creating the balance between providing what our customers have traditionally purchased and expanding our selection in ways that educates them, expands their knowledge, enlivens their senses, and inspires curiosity. It's a joy to be able to select and provide so many limited and exclusive offerings, and I couldn't be more excited that my first barrel selection trip will be to Japan in October, a place that's been #1 on my list of desired visits. 

If you could put one bottle into customers’ hands, what would it be?

If I could put one bottle into a customer's hands, it would be the one that changes their mind about a spirit. People often say they can't drink or even smell a certain spirit because of one bad night years or even decades ago. I often mention that aroma is tied to memory more than any other sense, so oftentimes you're just triggering that memory and not really smelling or tasting the spirit itself. Getting them to try something that changes their mind is joyful because they now get to explore a whole new category they once ignored. 

What do you like to do outside of work?

As busy as work is, outside of work I 'm busy as well. I play piano and sing regularly in bars around San Francisco, mostly solo but occasionally with bands. I'm involved with a few music festivals as well, from beverage coordination to MCing. I'm also a lifelong skier, so when the summer festival season ends I'll spend any time I can get in the mountains. And if I'm not playing music, I'm seeing as much as it live as possible.