Atlanta has many striking tenders of bar , and none of them make Blue MotherF*ckers … although there are many people who do , if that ’s your matter ( we ’ve all been there ) . But assuming you ’ve arrived at the point where you value craft cocktails and the amazing mortal who do n’t just dish drinks but serve guests , you should meet a few local bartenders who are move cocktail art forward in major way of life . We decided to heel the individuals who deserve major credit for the work they ’ve done this year , in hopes that you avoid considering yet another glass of rose or sangaree .
Sean Gleason
Biltong Bar
Everybody just expected there to be beef jerky and a few dewy-eyed two - element bevvies at in force when Biltong first afford . Instead , a serious saloon has emerged , lead by Leon ’s Full Service alum Sean Gleason . In plus to constitute deliciously boozy and totally unparalleled swallow ( bring back the “ Dark Side ” ! ! ) , Gleason guide drinks at sister restaurantCape Dutch , and is down to peach tonic anytime if you have questions . He occasionally lead cocktail classes , and is in particular great on showing you why Mai Tais are awesome , as well as show you how he learned to make them on a level that ’ll make you realize you might be sexist for not yet gulp one ( seriously , they ’re outstanding ) .
What’s your favorite drink to make?
Anything that includes firing .
What got you into bartending?
An academic interest in vice , combined with random hazard .
What’s something you love about this career?
I love the creative outlet , and I feel like I ’m perform more of a public good than I would working in finance .
Greg Best & Paul Calvert (tie)
Ticonderoga Club
you’re able to no longer class the Ticonderoga Club partners now that they ’ve bellied up to their own Browning automatic rifle . Both have received major respectfulness and notoriety through go incredible legal community political program . good can be credit with bulge a citywide mixology movement atHoleman & Finch , while Calvert design the original drinking ofThe Sound Table , breathe new melted life story into Pura Vida Tapas , then became bev director for Victory Brands , where he created cocktails that we all tope atVictory Sandwich Bar , Paper Plane ( where he was a mate ) , andLittle Trouble . In addition to all sorts of awards , they ’ve also cooperate / confab withWild Heavento create local beers ( Emergency Drinking Beer and Wise Blood IPA ) . Both Isle of Man should be at the top of any list as long as they pick out to call themselves bartenders . This class they share a space in both our list and the existent - life measure they run together at Krog .
Greg Best : The Sazerac is my favorite . Because I hold the drink so dear , everytime I make one it feels like position on my preferred couplet of boots . apparently bare , yet often difficult to find the right way prepared . It ’s a large classic template .
What’s something you love about bartending?
Paul Calvert : I’ve always loved playing the host at a company . So when I can aid manoeuver a guest through their total experience at Ticonderoga Club and they love every stop along the way – the cocktail before dinner party , the wine-colored or cider or sherry pair off with the meal , the glass of old rum or the digestive - style cocktail with dessert – I get a great sentience of accomplishment and of a job well done . It is now and has always been the multitude that keep me occur back to work .
Greg : The common topsy-turvydom of the eating house business first put me behind a ginmill . Someone hurt themselves , and I was thrown in to overlay , etc . What keep me concerned though were the nightly opportunities to meet new people and prepare things for them that might just add a level of excitement or joy to their eve .
What’s your favorite drink right now?
Paul : That would be Evan Milliman ’s howling tequila and cognac turned – " Get well-chosen . " The name say it all .
What do you think about the bar scene in ATL?
Greg : I’m incredibly gallant of the picture here in Atlanta . Our culture is a positive and collaborative one , creatively speaking , and we all really get along outdoors of our bars as well . This breeds a healthy surround for everyone . particularly for our guest who have an even horizontal surface of familiarity with the various mixologist across the city .
Miles Macquarrie
Kimball House
The oysters at Kimball House are hard to beat . Still , there are people who do n’t use up oysters ( ignominy on them ) but bank by the cocktail program Miles Mac made in the old train depot . He ’s a three - prison term James Beard semifinalist who spent time atHoleman & Finchand run booze operations atLeon ’s Full Servicebefore becoming a partner at Kimball House , where everything bet scientific but taste like flowing art , thanks to the house - made bitterness and tinctures used throughout the cocktail menu , whether you ’re indulge in the Swiss / French / Californian absinthe program or having a Graeco-Roman G&T , Sazerac , or fancy sour cerise bourbon julep . Hell , the dude even hashis own amarobased on the flavour of Coca - Cola .
I like form drinking . I do n’t know that I have a favorite to make , but I do erotic love making drinks with really nice spirits that most would n’t dare put in a cocktail . Daiquiris with V.E.P. ( take note : that ’s Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé , ahem ) Chartreuse . Sure , why not ?
Craft beer and a fun way to make a living .
Sean Gleason of Ponce City Market|Courtesy of Sean Gleason
What’s your favorite drink to sip?
Sazerac , or a super - moth-eaten – I mean very , very cold – yet stirred , 3:1 ironical Martini .
Kellie Thorn
Empire State South
She ’s known topically as the lady who Hugh Acheson trusts to correspond his kitchen wit with hirer - grade bartending acquirement and taste . She ’s an ATL native who ’s becoming known internationally , thanks to being picked to craft holiday cocktail hold out on CNN and acquire regional competition to fly out to the real urban center named Cognac . She can do to gin what Billy Dee Williams does to … wait , skitter that , since it alludes to a family relationship based on Colt 45 . Anyway , Thorn is on your side , much like your liver . Let them become friends .
I ’ve been in hospitality for 16 years and bartending for 13 of those . Providing mindful table service and curating Edgar Guest experience is what excites me about this industriousness . Bartending is all of that with the added fillip of flexing my originative and intellectual muscularity .
A well - made martini is a lovely thing . Also , Champagne .
Courtesy of Greg Best & Paul Calvert
I think it is vibrant and diverse . There are a wad of smart and passionate the great unwashed in this metropolis running thoughtful programs . Above all though , I think the bartenders in this metropolis make cordial reception the precedence . Good drinks are getting gentle to arrive by all the time , but exceptional and nuanced service is what really elevates an organization .
Navarro Carr
The Sound Table
It says a lot about a bartender when he or she can support and elevate the cocktail and spirits program at a place with sky - mellow expectations . The Sound Table is that venue , due to the systematically fascinate medicine and food carte du jour , but it is NYC native and UGA grad Navarro Carr who has managed to steadily surprise guests who are sometimes too busy terpsichore to realize their swallow are bloody good until the 2d or third sip . He may not be the smiliest sheik in the clump ( I personally thought he hated me for age , which would have been fine ) , but you wo n’t get a bad potable from his hand . Maybe that ’s due in part to his early tutelage from OG ATL bartender Eric Simpkins ofThe Lawrence , or perhaps it ’s just because he ’s really good at what he does and does n’t have to smile for your sloppy self . You ’ll still suck the last dripping out of your highball shabu – count on that .
The short answer is a drink call The Eulogy Cocktail , which has equal parts Batavia Arrack , Strega , velvet falernum , and sassy lime juice . The foresighted answer is " the cocktail that best fits my guest at that import . "
What’s something you love about mixing cocktails?
The opportunity to meet amazing people and also the bond I have with fellow bartenders . We ’re family .
I think it ’s amazing and our metropolis is underrated .
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Courtesy of Miles Macquarrie
Courtesy of Kellie Thorn
Courtesy of Navarro Carr
