Served Blog Banner Girl: Q&A with bartender Shasta Derbyshire at the Harmon Tap Room

By Ron Swarner on October 13, 2014

Every week we swap out the Served banner art above, introducing you to the people who serve food and drinks in the South Sound. This week, meet Shasta Derbyshire.

Server Banner Girl, Oct. 13-19, 2014

Shasta Derbyshire

Shasta Derbyshire has been pouring beer and tasty cocktails at the Harmon Tap Room for the last four years. She's lightning quick - running back and forth behind the bar, darting out to the beer garden and rolling out kegs from the brewery room. Maybe her quickness was one of the factors that attracted her husband, who she met at the Tap Room and recently married. Her first bartending job was at the Red Lobster the week she turned 21. Shasta met Harmon Brewing Co. head brewer Jeff Carlson while serving drinks at the former Speedway BBQ & Ale House in Lacey. Carlson introduced her to the art of craft beers. She was hooked. Before she knew it, she was serving Harmon beers at the Harmon Brewery & Eatery in downtown Tacoma before moving on to her current gig and "family" as she calls her fellow Tap Roomans.

Why do you serve?

"I serve because I literally get paid to play with beer and people. It's pretty rad. I would NEVER get to meet so many different kinds of people and personalities sitting behind a desk in some corporate box. Not to mention the never-ending supply of beer at my fingertips. ..."

Who is your favorite server in the South Sound?

"My favorite server in Tacoma is no doubt TK Cusato at Doyle's. She is so sweet and fantastic at her job - but don't screw with her, her bar or her staff or she will end you. I love a chick who has her shit under control."  

What are you most proud to serve?

"I am most proud to serve beer, of course. I love talking beer, almost as much as I love drinking it. And it still amazes me how people are blown away when we mix beer. If you get bored of ‘the usual' I can mix a couple choice brews to create something totally new."

What is your current drink of choice?

"A good hoppy IPA and a shot of Fireball. Always. It's just tasty."

What is your favorite movie?

"Favorite movie? The Little Mermaid. Seriously. You put that movie on and I will forever be a 5-year-old little girl on the edge of my seat with excitement - except now I curse at Ursula with a beer in my hand."

What don't you serve?

"I can't help but smile every time someone asks for some blended fruity crap and I get to tell them ‘no.' It may seem rude, but it's really annoying to have people order sugar-loaded blended nonsense just to send it back because ‘they can't taste the alcohol.' That's the fucking point of those drinks! I hope I never have to use a blender behind the bar again."

What's on your radar at the Harmon Tap Room?

"Barrel-aged everything! There are so many bourbon oak and wine barrels just sitting and aging to deliciousness in the brewery and brewery storage. It's like being a kid with wrapped presents in front of you that you can't open yet."

LINK: Meet other South Sound servers