Where Portland's Best Bartenders Go on Their Rare Nights Off

One of the remarkable aspects of Portland ’s ginmill culture is the bartenders themselves . These hardworking citizenry spend most of their nights slinging drinks , which could be anywhere from cracking undefended a PBR to elaborately coalesce a cocktail . now and again , they get sentence off .

Because the bartending community is so close in this urban center , they often visit each other on their off hours , supporting each other , trying each other ’s drink , or , more likely , nursing a whisky and beer back and not think about slyness cocktails . We assemble up with a few of Portland ’s great bartenders and found out where they might be happen when they ’re not at oeuvre .

Colin Carroll

Bar Manager atTrifecta Tavern , PDX ’s tallest tattooed bartenderChoice Spots : The Hutch , Free House , Dig a Pony , Rum Club , Slow Bar , My Father ’s Place

Like many bartenders , Colin Carroll , the bar manager at Trifecta Tavern , is a parent . When he ’s notinfusing cocktailswith charred Mrs. Henry Wood in a sous vide container or elucidate Milk River slug , he ’s ordinarily with his two kid . However , on the rare function that he has a night out , he strike up the legal profession near his place , east along 50th , or the Browning automatic rifle near his work . His friends shape down the street from Trifecta at Dig a Pony , so he ’ll block up in there for a cocktail in the afternoon , before it sire too unhinged with W - siders . He ’s also a fan of the Tijuana Speed Ball at Slow Bar , and the crummy drinks at My Father ’s Place . Any night at Rum Club you ’re likely to see an off work bartender knocking back a few daiquiris , and Colin is no different – if he does it make it out for a Nox , it ’s a front-runner .

Kate & Alex Wood

possessor and Bartenders atBang Bang , owners ofAalto Lounge , PDX ’s most fashionable bartending parentsChoice stain : Wine at home , Verdigris .

Since opening Bang Bang , bartending span Kate and Alex Wood have n’t had a lot of time to work over at their cocktail ginmill Aalto , and then they had a second kid . Most dark you may find one or the other managing , serve , and bartending at Bang Bang , a shoes for Thai curry and cocktail . Most often , they might get hold time after work to partake in a nursing bottle of wine at home . On weekends , the pair make it a use to gossip Verdigris , the excellentEuropean - style restaurantin NE Fremont , with their lovely girl and Word . The menage is a regular passel there and are close with the staff .

Jacob Grier

Bartender atCommon Law , writer ofCocktails on Tap , father of Aquavit Week , political scholarChoice spots : Horse Brass Pub , The Rookery

Bartender , writer , libertarian … magician ? When Jacob is n’t mix drink , sipping aquavit , or working on his next legal profession Quran , he match up with a small radical of friends at the Horse Brass Pub . There , the foursome testify off to one another their newest illusion ; they ’re all talented thaumaturgist , change the color of cards , teleporting foam orchis into your hands , disappear and reappearing object , etc . Occasionally the group do around town , let in at the Rookery at Raven & Rose .

Kate Bolton and Eric Rickey

Kate : Portland ’s favored San Franciscan barkeeper , bartender at Tusk , mother ; Eric : bartender atRenata , viking , dadChoice spots : Kay ’s Bar , Reverend ’s BBQ , Gino’s , Bible ClubKate Bolton recently displace up from San Francisco to help open Americano , the new vermouth bar on East Burnside , and is now go over to the freshly open Tusk . One of her cheeseparing supporter , Olga Semoukhina , a rep for Campari Company , impress up at the same time with her fiancé , Eric Rickey , who took a placement at Renata . Eric and Olga go near Kate and her husband in Sellwood , so when the group has a Nox off together and sitters for their kidskin , they wish to research the neighborhood . Favorites admit Kay ’s Bar , which sports a astonishingly good cocktail curriculum , the fantasticBBQ maculation Reverend ’s , and the extremely authentic speakeasy Bible Club .

Tommy Klus

Owner of La Moule , whisk(e)y maven , lowly pedagogue , sherry drinkerChoice spot : Jake ’s Famous Crawfish , Mi Mero Mole

Tommy Klus is a bit of a whiskey wiz ( though he ’d never let in it ) , having curated the entire collection of theMultnomah Whisk{e}y Libraryand , now , Loyal Legion ’s whiskey program . After that chore , openingLa Moulewith Chef Aaron Barnett and Browning automatic rifle manager Mark MacMinn seems almost easy . When he ’s not overseeing the eatery or work with Mark and the respite of the staff on the great cocktail menu , Tommy cast downtown , for either an Irish coffee at Jake ’s Crawfish from his booster Pete , or for tequila or mezcal at Mi Mero Mole from his friend Pablo Portilla .

Emily Mistell

Liquor rep , barkeep extraordinaire at Rum Club , lofty dog mamaChoice bit : Club 21,Hale Pele , Rum Club

you could take the girlfriend out of the tiki bar … Emily is no longer the measure managing director at Rum Club , step down a bit to drop more fourth dimension with her French bulldog , Brix , but , luckily for us she still incline streak there a few nights a week . When she ’s not bartending or meeting with bars to discuss La Niña del Mezcal , the world ’s only women - operated mezcaleria , she likes to stick to tiki bars near her , either the divey tiki bar Club 21 , or the king of tiki Browning automatic rifle , Hale Pele . Emily always vagabond with a crew , and does n’t mind stopping in to visit her friends at Rum Club when not process .

Anna Moss and Alex Blair

Anna : barkeeper at La Moule , half of Portland ’s cutest bartending span ; Alex : legal community manager atSt . Jack , other half of Portland ’s slashed bartending coupleChoice spots : Aalto Lounge , The Watertrough Saloon , The Vintage

If enquire , Alan Akwai , proprietor of fresh spread Hat Yai and previous legal community manager at St. Jack will claim that he introduced Anna and Alex . Now they work at separate spots , but manage to observe a few nights off together a week . Monday night are often little girl ’s nights out for Anna , but other times the duet visits The Vintage cocktail stripe in Montavilla for grownup colour . Aalto lounge and its laughable happy hr is another favorite spot , and Alex like to test his pocket billiards skills at The Watertrough on SE Hawthorne , catch Pokémon between shot .

Katie Burnett, Daniel Osborne & Lucas Plant

Bull in China , bartenders , consultant , mavens , rogues , enablersChoice spots : Bit House Saloon , Aria Gin Distillery

Luke Plant is currently bartending atThe Green Room , and Daniel Osborne is bring together Kate Bolton at Tusk , but otherwise the two , along with marketing gemstone Katie Burnett , consult with bars and shapes the industry with their fellowship , Bull in China , curating swank barware . The III does n’t really get time off , but when they solve on a newfangled menu or a new Cartesian product to set in motion , they often line up themselves with their admirer over at Bit House Saloon , where they can fete a ruined project with shots of tequila or fernet and cider boilermakers .

Amy Snyder

Bartender atLucky Devil Lounge , Devils Point , Kit Kat Club , mother , all around beautiful badassChoice spot : Parks , movie dramatic art , pho restaurants

Voted Portland ’s Best Bartender in 2015 by the Willamette Week ’s Readers ’ Choice Awards over a number of trade cocktail virtuoso , Amy Snyder is a Portland icon . Ex - Suicide Girl , ex - stripper , ex-wife - gogo professional dancer , Amy is now a full time barman and female parent . She has n’t will the strip clubhouse scene , though ; she just moved behind the stripe atsome of the good spots in townsfolk . She manages the impossible task of cultivate three different late - nighttime bar shifts and still get up every break of the day to take full attention of her kid . When she ’s not at work , her life orb around him , whether it ’s going to film , hitting the slide , grabbing pho , or taking him to friends ’ birthday parties .

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Collin Carrol