Longtime surfer Brian Catapang is the man behind the beverage program at Magnus on Water Restaurant and Bar. He recently chatted with edible MAINE editor-in-chief Christine Burns Rudalevige about how good Maine’s water is for cocktail making, why surfing is a lot like tending bar, and how he and his partners are planning to make room for more patrons at one of the hottest culinary and craft cocktail spots on the East Coast. The conversation has been edited for length and flow.
Sparkling, spring, or tap water? What’s your preference?
Everybody loves bubbles, right? So, my preference is sparkling. But it’s fancy. If I’m being honest, I usually get tap water. When I start drinking sparkling every day, that’s when I know I have made it in life. But what’s really cool here in Maine is that the tap water is incredibly good.
In a cocktail, how do you rate the importance of the water in the mix?
Most people do not realize that water [from ice] is the most important thing in a cocktail. Dilution separates good drinks from bad ones. You change the viscosity, the weight of the drink on your palate by shaking or stirring with ice. Otherwise, it’s going to come out really hot, very boozy.
What was the first cocktail you ever tasted?
It was a Mind Eraser. I was working on Martha’s Vineyard as a barback. We drank them before our shifts started. It’s coffee liqueur topped with layers of vodka and soda water. We’d take two tiny bar straws each and race to finish them. It’s hands down the most disgusting thing you’ll ever drink at the start. But once you get to the soda water—back to bubbles—that made it OK in the end.
What was the first great cocktail you ever tasted?
I was in New York, I think on the Upper West Side. I don’t remember the restaurant. I had my first Old Fashioned. They’re super simple, right? It’s just, this shows you how important water is. It’s just sugar water, bitters, and whiskey. In that case, it was Buffalo Trace bourbon whiskey. It was a revelation. I was like, “Wow, I don’t need to drink Mind Erasers anymore!”
What’s the best cocktail recipe you’ve created?
It’s the Crowd Surfer we have on the menu at Magnus. When I go out to Fortunes Rocks Beach by Biddeford Pool to check the surf and see that the waves aren’t great, I’ll harvest some of the water. I make sea salt and make a foam for the drink. Making them reminds me of the ocean, of being in the water. It’s the drink I feel the most connected to.
Do you crowd surf at concerts like you do on ocean waves?
No, I’m an introvert. It was originally called the Couch Surfer. The reason it’s now called the Crowd Surfer is because when we first opened Magnus—pre-pandemic, that is—people would see others with the drink and want to try it. Strangers would pass the drink down the bar, taking a sip as it traveled by them.
Do you own more bartending or surfing gear?
Probably more surfing gear. It’s my money pit. That’s pretty much where all my paychecks go to die.
Is surfing like tending bar?
Very cool question. I think, as people, we’re always trying to find that flow state. When you go surfing, there’s so many different variables coming at you—the wind, the water temperature, how the waves break—and you’ve got to flow differently every time. At the bar on any given night, there are different people with different energy, wants, and asks. You’ve got to move with those changes. A good night feels very much like surfing—you think less and get into that flow state.
Did the surfing help you ride the ups and downs of a hospitality professional during a pandemic?
It’s the thing that held me together. To be honest, if I didn’t have surfing, facing the pivots and challenges of COVID would have been a lot harder. For me, surfing is the best for managing anxiety, depression, and stress.
What are some of the changes we can expect as Magnus on Water opens this March after its winter break?
Both the kitchen and the bar programs need a lot of storage space. So, we’re building out a walk-in [refrigerator] and we’re taking over the adjoining space for more storage. We’re going to knock down walls and renovate it somehow, but we don’t exactly know how yet. It could be a holding tank for guests waiting for tables, or maybe we’ll expand dining. Given the staff it requires to support our full food and beverage programs, we’re also thinking about how we could set up two different menus, two different vibes for the different spaces. It’s in flux. We’ll see how it all flows.
