Mixologist Wynton Hudson pours a glass of ambition
Published:Thursday | September 4, 2025 | 2:20 PMOmar Tomlinson/Contributor
The best-laid plans sometimes take unexpected turns – just ask Wynton Hudson. Mixology was far from his career paths at Boston College, yet like a well-made martini, his life was shaken and stirred while attending university for two years in the northeastern United States.
“I was studying economics but decided to return home. I was having too much fun,” recalled the dual citizen, who moved to Jamaica at age eight, reflecting on his overseas collegiate experience two decades ago. “I tried the UWI thing here, but university really wasn’t for me.”
While earning his keep tutoring students in economics at UWI, Hudson’s path saw a marked change in 2009 when he discovered Susie’s Bakery and Coffee Bar in Southdale Plaza, Kingston.
“I happened upon Susie’s one day [while] walking with my best friend,” Hudson said, adding, “It reminded me so much of being back in Boston and I was like ‘I’m going to work here’ so I took a part-time job a couple evenings.”
Filling in, Wynton did any and everything required of him. “I was making sandwiches and coffee. My shift ended at close-up, so I did mostly cleaning up to head back home with a bag full of leftovers.”
When Amanda Hanna, daughter of proprietor Susie Hanna, returned from college abroad with the bold idea of opening a bar on the terrace, Hudson was intrigued. Working with Amanda and bartender Keino Petgrave, he quickly learned the craft, built strong customer rapport, and within 18 months was managing the bar entirely, with keys to open and close. “It was something that paid my rent and left a lot extra in my pocket to go and socialise,” he added.
His tenure at the Southdale Avenue-situated watering hole taught him much.
“Susie’s had a very particular clientèle, world-travelled, the glitterati if you will. Those were the people I liked to be around. The conversations were great, and they helped to train me,” Hudson shared. Many customers requested specific drinks, and he used Google to research and master them. He also took advantage of the bakery’s fresh ingredients and well-equipped kitchen to further develop his skills.
LEARNING NEW MIXES
Hudson quickly identified his mixology gaps and dove into learning new cocktails.
“I was able to get into a bit of the molecular mixology using some of the pastry equipment to make cocktails. Plus, I made good relations with people who saw talent. I got invited to a lot of mixology competitions and was winning them so there was some potential there for me so I stuck with it.”
Hudson spent eight years behind the bar at Susie’s on the Terrace, taking on off-the-clock mixology gigs at seasonal all-inclusive events along the way. During that time, he also won the El Dorado Mixology Competition in 2013 and the Hennessy 250th Anniversary Competition in 2015, before amicably parting ways with the Hannas.
Fatherhood had also entered the picture with the birth of his daughter, Jaylee, who is now pursuing a management degree at Howard University in Washington, DC. He then became “a hired gun” at Barcode, serving as consulting manager for four years.
“My role at Barcode was training and development for the bar team, and finding new business for brand consulting projects. During my time there, I was able to secure HEART/NSTA Level 2 certifications for about 40 Barcode team members,” Hudson proudly recalled.
The mixologist, firstborn of two sons to restaurateur father Clinton Hudson and librarian mother Winsome, committed to an entrepreneurial path five years ago. However, the emergence of his company, Hudson’s Cocktail Story, proved tricky – it came on the eve of the disruptive global pandemic.
“I had just landed my big job at Half Moon Hotel and midway through that consultancy, they are like ‘airport shut down, everybody gone a dem yard’. So month one, you are like okay, month two, probably next month; by month six, I was like I have to do something. So I took a job at [a] call centre so I could keep my car payments and pay my rent. After that, I went to Atlanta with my brother and got a bar job there [and] was there for eight months.”
Time away proved creatively rewarding, and his return home coincided with the easing of COVID-enforced restrictions.”Once hospitality opened back its doors I was in hot demand, everyone needed to reset, restart, revamp, retool and retrain,” Hudson explained. With hotels, private villas, and corporate beverage companies on his roster, his expertise spans menu development, training, and implementation.
“I am a problem solver first and foremost,” said the 39-year-old. “This really entails connecting bars with the modern bargoer. That means updating and upskilling your team to deliver on the promise of hospitality in the modern environment.”
As to how he distinguishes himself, the entrepreneur notes: “It’s knowing what is culturally cool and what’s relevant.”
While at Barcode, he attended the Nightclub and Bar Convention in Las Vegas twice, which showed him bartending could reach a world-class level and pushed him to strive further.
Hudson’s current creative libation inspiration finds him on a journey back to simplicity,”You start off simple, then you get really complex and you take it back to simple. So now I am on a journey to understand ingredients and do the simple things well. That’s where it really matters. Bartending is really a people business, that’s the core of any business that people should understand.”
Eyeing his next move, Hudson aims to expand his consultancy across the Caribbean and beyond, while building a team so the business isn’t reliant solely on him.
“Every stage of my career is learning how to scale the business beyond just my presence,” he surmised. “I also have quiet aspirations of taking over a bar in Kingston as it’s the cultural hub, right?”