Fromnew Tiki barsto the erstwhile guard ofcraft breweries , San Diego is a lush ’s playground . However , imbibing quality quaffs would be impossible without the ridiculously modern troop slingin ’ flavour from behind the streak . Between apply local seasonal ingredients and continuously raising the monetary standard of creativity , San Diego ’s bartenders are the ones arrange America ’s Finest City on the beverage map . Even with new watering holes opening apparently on every corner ( specially in Mid - City ) , there are a few trailblazer across the county elevate craft cocktail from generic gin & tonics to masterpieces of mixology . We ’re honored to profile a terzetto of tippling trendsetters .

Leigh Lacap

Campfire

After a fortuitous outset amidst the taxidermied kitsch ofCraft & Commerce , Leigh Lacap quickly ran through residencies at a slew of distinguished local drink jam like Noble Experiment , Sycamore Den , Coin - Op Game Room , andIronside Fish & Oyster , grooming under cocktail superstars like Christian Siglin , Eric Johnson , and Anthony Schmidt . Now , he ’s shaking thing up at the newly openedCampfirein Carlsbad , which is n’t exactly the Promised Land when it issue forth to truly high - timber drink programme . ( One town over is plate to a real - life vodka bar . ‘ Nuff said . ) That stand to transfer with Lacap at the helm of Campfire ’s bar . Between his growler cocktails like the Grizzly Folk – Bourbon dynasty , mulled cider , tamarind sirup , and gamboge – and the very most famous “ from the fire ” extract like the Charred Corn – tequila , oxford grey , linden tree , and salt , a drink he concoct with some supporter from Campfire ’s chef and a Big Green Egg – North County is brace to compete with Downtown / Mid - City ’s stronghold in quality libations … if not quantity . “We are celebrating a bit of the inverse of the escapist acculturation at Campfire , ” explains Lacap . “ We want our guests to embrace what is familiar and the nostalgia of being outside rather than sit in the dark while stargaze of mysterious and far-off places and thing . ”Lacap ’s emphasis on collaborationism between the bar and the kitchen is a refreshing coming that ’s being embrace by cocktail connoisseurs and gourmands likewise . By complementing familiar look with unexpected prep techniques , Campfire ’s interconnect drink and dinner party card are already causing quite a bombination around town . His advice to fellow booze - driven visionaries?“Love your chef and back - of - house crowd . They are the cocktail Aladdin to your Princess Jasmine – a whole new world , ” says Lacap .

Adele Stratton

Noble Experiment

Hidden cleverly behind a strategically mask ( albeit middling weirdly place ) wall of kegful next to the bathrooms at Neighborhood is San Diego ’s worst - keep secret : imposing experimentation . What it now lacks in secret it more than makes up for with an like an expert curated excerption of cocktail ( including the ever - present Dealer ’s Choice ) , each painstakingly craft in true speakeasy style . Be disposed to await for your fiat ; even during a slow nighttime , each hand-crafted cocktail can take up to 15 minutes . But when your deglutition is in the bridge player of Adele Stratton , it ’s deserving the time lag . After getting her offset atThe Pearl Hotelin Point Loma and rotating through a handful of CH establishment likeRare Form , Fairweather , andCraft & Commerce , Stratton land at Noble Experiment , which she describes as “ the bar that made me need to be a bartender . ” Under the tutelage of Anthony Schmidt , Trevor Easter , and Ryan Walsh , she ’s quickly risen through the rank as one of the chancellor mixologists and creative drink slingers in the city . When it comes to what sets Noble Experiment apart , she may be a fleck biased , but her passionateness for her team is undeniable . “ you may go to a bar and get a really good beverage at a draw of place now , but the biggest thing that I ’m seeing is the staff . [ Noble Experiment has ] always had the most originative , hospitable , fun people who work there . The experience is what you remember . ”Stratton ’s other heat admit a preference for mezcal and embrace the recent Tiki phenomenon sweeping San Diego . “ [ Tiki ] is not just a style . People in drinking culture are encompass that vacation modus vivendi , and in San Diego , it ’s so befitting . ”Future plans include helping launch Noble Experiment ’s new bar - within - a - bar - within - a - bar – another back room already under construction . Set to unfold within the next twelvemonth , the unnamed project will concentrate on more avant garde , European - style cocktails , unlike the fundamentals often find on Noble ’s card . “It ’s going to push the demarcation , ” promises Stratton .

Adam Ryffe

KINDRED

The only rule at KINDRED is there are no ruler . “We’re weird . Like really weird , ” jump for joy Adam Ryffe , the 2d - in - instruction behind the bar at vegan hotspotKINDRED . “ We kind of ignore all of the rules set by [ traditional ] cocktail bar and just do cracked shit . Sometimes this leads us down a dark , disorderly course , but we always seem to determine something awesome in it . ”Ryffe ’s irreverently far-out approach to mixology utterly array with the devastatingly hip aesthetic at KINDRED , so it ’s a bit of a surprise to discover his Midwestern beginning . His ego - extol “ odd upbringing ” in the cocktail world started when he cultivate the door at a Kansas City , Missouri honkytonk bar , eventually step in to barback , bartend , and finally manage in a simple six weeks . Once Ryffe got a taste of the potential , he accept the challenge and never look back . “[I ] decide that if I was go to bartend , I was going to do it properly . So I started geeking out about cocktails and read eternal clause … [ I ] started slow , dumb , and excited , but gradually cut my dentition and started making cocktail that made sense , ” explain Ryffe . Nowadays , he ’s just glad to respond to an elevation in clientele ’s expectation . “ invitee have really taken a liking to better cocktail , better solid food , better service … They are now essay out the rightfully extraordinary . Craft cocktails are no longer scary to your modal Joe . ” Along with this shift , pair with drinker ’ ameliorate palates , there ’s also the ( welcome ) added challenge of catering to a vegan crowd . " Not being able to use egg Edward Douglas White Jr. , love , and fatty washout does twinge my cocktail summons a bit , but it ’s also forced creativeness that otherwise would not have been there . ” It ’s well-off to see why Ryffe ’s new cocktail cosmos like the Tiki - influenced Missile Lock , the smoky / spicy Shadow Hand , and basil / red - buzzer - common pepper - infused Garden of Madness are being met with enthusiasm by both vegans and omnivores . get along up , it ’s good to carry zanier things hail from Ryffe and theKINDREDteam . “Suffice it to say , we are going to get uncanny and radder . bide tuned ; gnarled stuff is on the way . ”Sign up herefor our daily San Diego electronic mail and be the first to get all the food / beverage / play in Ithiel Town .

Adele Stratton

Adele Stratton|Arlene Ibarra

Leigh Lacap

Leigh Lacap|Lyudmila Zotova

Adele Stratton

Adele Stratton|Arlene Ibarra

Adam Ryffe

Courtesy of Adam Ryffe