Celebrating the Women of Can Can: Annie Arrasmith

Raise your glass, whether it’s water, whisky, or wine, to Annie Arrasmith, Can Can’s beautiful, badass Bar Manager and creative mind behind the cocktails. 

Annie is proof that girls rule – especially behind the bar. To celebrate the Women of Can Can both on and off the stage, Annie sat down with us and shared all about how she continues to persist as a successful mixologist despite small-minded folks, dated gender norms, and even her own budding confidence. 

Annie Arrasmith behind the bar | Photo by Vicente Capala (2023)

“I stopped wanting to prove other people right or wrong about me and, more so, I just wanted to make myself know that this was something I wanted to do no matter if I was a man, woman, or whatever. I could be good at it and it had nothing to do with my genitalia. If I wanted to be good at it, it was up to me.”

Read on for a guaranteed, heavy pour of girl power. 

THECANCAN.COM: Before finding your home at Can Can, what was it like as a woman making her way through the bartending industry in Seattle?

Annie Arrasmith: I was actually brought into the industry by a dear friend of mine, Karen, who now lives in Portland. There was a group of us girls that worked at a pretty dingy dive bar in Fremont called the Dubliner, which was around for a really long time. I will say that it was owned by a man, but it was run by women. Most girls aren't really brought into that kind of environment right away. My bar manager was a woman, the assistant manager was a woman, and most of the staff were women. At the same time, this was also of the realm where everyone called you “sweetie” and “honey” and still saw you as a dainty, little female just because you were behind the bar giving them service of some kind. I was really lucky because I was surrounded by these strong women. 

It's not an easy thing because you definitely see that you're treated differently. People will talk down to you like, “Oh, do you even know how to do this with your silly, little woman brain?” It’s not always the most fun thing in the world, but it's never been a thing that stopped me from doing much. I took it as more of a fun challenge, like, “Well, we'll see what you have to say in a couple of years after watching me nail this!” Rather than letting it get me down or suck me into trying to conform to the boy's world that it really can be. 

So, I do feel lucky. I have chosen to surround myself with very strong women on purpose. I've also been lucky enough to work for some really amazing men over the years who have not had the same mentality as others. I feel like this is a city that's getting further away from it all the time, which is nice because I know from talking to friends in other places that bartending is still very much the boys club that it always has been. 

THECANCAN.COM: What was one of the most impactful challenges you’ve had to overcome as a woman in bartending? 

Annie Arrasmith: You come across certain people, whether it's of a certain gender or generation, and they speak to you in a manner like, “How could you possibly know this?” I think that happens in a lot of fields, unfortunately. 

But, at some point, I stopped wanting to prove other people right or wrong about me and, more so, I just wanted to make myself know that this was something I wanted to do no matter if I was a man, woman, or whatever. I could be good at it and it had nothing to do with my genitalia. If I wanted to be good at it, it was up to me. 

Part of it is getting out of your own head and knowing that you may not reinvent the wheel, but you can certainly control how fast it spins. I just want to continue helping other women and other people grow in this field. I want the work to do less with what's coming out of my body or what I have in it. I like making drinks, I don't think it should have anything to do with how big my boobs are.

Photo by Vicente Capala (2023)

THECANCAN.COM: Now that you’re at Can Can, how have you felt the most empowered in your role?

Annie Arrasmith: The women at Can Can are all so fierce and so incredibly talented. When I went into the bathroom for the first time, I saw all of the photos of young Fae and other women of Can Can. It was this silly moment of being alone in the bathroom, but it was actually a really powerful moment because I was looking up at all these women standing so strong and looking so incredible and so confident. I'm an introverted extrovert. I'm a homebody, and I'm just kind of goofy. I don't have a ton of confidence, but being around them, like watching the way they walk around and the way they move – it's so powerful, and it's a really special thing to get to be around. As well as the women who work with me on the floor and behind the bar, it's a really wonderful group, in general. They are all so funny and so caring, and it's just a different space for me. I'm really enjoying it a lot. 

I feel very lucky to be around these women of Can Can. If I can take something away from being around women like this, it is that feeling of power and confidence that they exude from their beautiful bodies at all times. There is a beautiful sense of worth and self that they have. They're all just amazing, and it’s a pretty powerful thing to be around on a regular basis. It can be overwhelming at times, but it's always really, really fun.

I want to continue to broaden this feeling for every person that’s walking by the doorway, walking in for a show, or just walking in to see what the bar or the restaurant is like. Can Can is a welcoming space that's filled with so much beauty and power. I just want everyone to be able to see that because it’s something that they work really hard to exude, and I know that they do because I’ve felt it firsthand, and I've watched other people feel it, too.

THECANCAN.COM: What do you find to be critical about the female influence in regard to bartending and serving alcohol? 

Annie Arrasmith: Having a safe space is always going to be very important to me. I'm a complete mama bear to my staff and my friends, and I become that way for my patrons, as well. We have a lot of very wonderful people that come into the bar, but, like any space, there are also the not-so-wonderful. Unfortunately, the patriarchy has painted women to be seen and not heard. They want it to be delivered, they want it pretty, but they don't want to know how it's made – certainly not if it's made with our silly, little women peabrains. But we don't have silly, little peabrains. We have big, beautiful brains, and we're creative and thoughtful. Bartending was such a male-dominated industry for so long that people can still have a hard time associating it more so with women, even though there are so many powerful women in booze in the surrounding areas now. 

I feel like everyone's had different experiences. You can tell that there are people who are surprised when you start schooling them with whiskey knowledge. There is a look you can see on their face that tells you whether they take it in a nice way or not. It all goes back to the very beginning of it being that boys’ club, in general. It's just about fighting that stigma one very tasty cocktail at a time.

Photo by Vicente Capala (2023)

THECANCAN.COM: How do you navigate some of those inevitable nasty moments in bartending? How do you calm yourself and move forward? 

Annie Arrasmith: I've worked in some pretty interesting work environments, including super divey bars where I've literally had a bottle thrown at my head for cutting someone off. A big part is that I’ve learned a lot from my not drinking as well as growing up in an alcoholic family – at the end of the day, I'm not their problem. It’s not personal. Even if it is about my being a woman, it is something internal deep inside them that's very personal to them. It is not personal to me. I try to keep that in the back of my head.

Some of the interactions I’ve experienced are very dark. Some of them are super, super scary and overwhelming. Killing them with kindness is something that I learned a long time ago that can go really far. Some people make it out to feel like you're trying to make them look stupid, but they're doing that on their own. For me, it’s about killing them with kindness and then getting them out in the safest manner so that no one else can be affected by the negativity they're trying to bring into the world. Whatever causes them to be that way is a lot deeper than we know – it's not our business, but it certainly doesn't need to be in our space.

The thing is, there are some people that are gonna walk in that you were never going to be able to accommodate or make happy, and that's not your fault. That person walked in already knowing that they were going to have a negative experience. It's almost like they planned for it. You were not going to be able to turn it around no matter what you did. At the end of the day, it has nothing to do with me or my staff. 

THECANCAN.COM: Looking into the future, what do you hope to see change in your industry? 

Annie Arrasmith: I just want folks to keep going, whether it's people of color, LGBTQIA, or other women. I just want them to keep going and keep trying because we are still going to be the minority for a while. But, that doesn't mean that we're not banging out some of the best cocktails in the entire world. It doesn't mean that we don't have a place here. So, just keep going because our presence is getting louder and louder all of the time, and we are just as fierce as any. In fact, we are always more fierce than any cis white male making a riff on a jungle bird. Just keep going because it's not even that we have a place here but our place is here. We are creative. We are amazing. We are strong, and we make tasty stuff.

Drooling? Come see Annie in action, and make your reservation for the Dressing Room today!