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Every week at Melinda’s Alley in downtown Phoenix, part of my job is helping create an entirely new cocktail menu. That means every R&D shift looks a little different. Sometimes I walk in with an idea, build it, make a couple small adjustments, and it is basically there. Other nights I make something, taste it, realize it is not hitting the way I imagined, and start moving pieces around. Last night was definitely one of those nights. I was responsible for both the gin and teq

Balance Is More Than Sweet and Sour A cocktail can feature premium spirits, house-made syrups, clarified juice, a beautiful foam and an over-the-top garnish. But if the drink is not balanced, none of those details can save it. Balance is the foundation of every great cocktail. I help create an entirely new cocktail menu every week during my R&D shifts at Melinda’s Alley in downtown Phoenix. When I taste a new drink, I am not simply asking, “Does this taste good?” I am asking:

San Francisco, Competition Nerves, Unfamiliar Jiggers, an Elevated Daiquiri, and Lessons I Still Carry Behind the Bar Some competitions stick with you because you won. Others stick with you because of everything they taught you while you were trying to. About two years ago, I found out I had been selected as one of three West Coast regional finalists for the Angostura Swizzle Competition. Angostura flew me to San Francisco, put me up at the St. Regis in the heart of the city,

🍋‍🟩 Key Lime Cheesecake, Rapid Infusions & Rebuilding a Cobra’s Fang Every week at the speakeasy, we develop an entirely new lineup of cocktails for the weekend menu. From the outside, an R&D shift probably sounds pretty relaxed. Make a couple drinks, taste them, make a few adjustments, take a picture, and move on. That is definitely not how it goes. R&D is usually controlled chaos. I’m working on multiple cocktails at the same time, making syrups and cordials, infusing spi

Saints & Spirits started with cocktails. At its core, this is a hospitality brand built around mobile bartending, custom cocktail menu development, bar consulting, cocktail classes, and creating memorable experiences through drinks. That will always be the foundation. But from the beginning, I wanted Saints & Spirits to become more than a company you hire for an event. I wanted it to represent the culture surrounding the bar. The creativity. The late nights. The R&D sessions.

Planning a wedding, birthday, corporate gathering, or private party in Phoenix usually means comparing a lot of vendors. And when it comes to bartending, the options can look almost identical at first. Someone has a shaker. Someone has bar tools. Someone can pour drinks for a few hours. So why hire one bartender over another? Because the person standing behind your bar can completely change the experience your guests have in front of it. When you book Saints & Spirits, you ar

There’s something I’ve learned about cocktail competitions: You can feel completely prepared right up until somebody starts the clock. Leading up to Cocktail Wars, recently hosted at the Renaissance in downtown Phoenix, I actually felt calm. I had practiced. I knew my flavors. I knew my techniques. I’ve competed before. I felt collected and ready to go. Then the competition started. And there it was. That rush of adrenaline. That anxious feeling. Your heart rate jumps. You st

Every R&D shift starts with an idea. Sometimes that idea makes it all the way to the final glass. Most of the time, it doesn’t. That’s the part of cocktail development people don’t always see. Ingredients get swapped. Specs get tightened. Entire concepts get scrapped. Something that sounded perfect on paper might completely fall apart once it hits the glass. This week was a perfect example. Two cocktails started in completely different places and slowly evolved into SOLACE an

Three Classic Riffs, Three Different Directions One of my favorite parts about weekly R&D is taking something recognizable and figuring out how far I can push it without completely losing the identity of the original cocktail. Not every drink needs ten homemade ingredients or some crazy technique to be interesting. Sometimes the better challenge is starting with a classic, understanding why it works, and then swapping spirits, modifiers, textures, and flavors while keeping th

Creating This Week’s Speakeasy Cocktails Eight hours. Two new cocktails. Syrups to make, recipes to test, batches to build, bottles to label, a bar to clean, and by the end of it, everything has to be ready for service. Welcome to Inside the R&D Shift, a new Saints & Spirits series where I pull back the curtain on what actually goes into creating cocktails for a working speakeasy. Every week, I step into R&D knowing that by the end of the shift, new cocktails need to be ready

Some cocktails are built around one spirit. Others become more interesting when two spirits share the spotlight. This is called a split base, a technique where the traditional base spirit is divided between two different spirits. Instead of building a drink with 2 ounces of bourbon, for example, a bartender might use 1 ounce of bourbon and 1 ounce of aged rum. The goal is not simply to make the cocktail stronger or more complicated. A good split base combines two spirits that

Most people see an iSi whipper and immediately think of whipped cream. Behind a modern cocktail bar, however, that stainless-steel canister can become a powerful tool for developing flavor, aroma, and texture. Bartenders commonly use iSi whippers for: The goal is not to use an iSi whipper simply because the technique looks impressive. Like any bar tool, it should solve a problem or improve the guest’s experience. Rapid Infusion: Flavor in Less Time Traditional spirit infusion

Why Fernet and Amaro Hold a Special Place Behind the Bar Walk into a great cocktail bar after closing time and you may notice a familiar bottle being passed between bartenders. The liquid is dark, intensely herbal, unapologetically bitter, and often followed by a raised glass between industry friends. That bottle is usually Fernet-Branca, and the shared pour is known as the bartender’s handshake. But what exactly is Fernet? Why does it taste so different from other spirits? A

From bacon and brown butter to coconut oil, discover the surprisingly delicious world of fat-washed spirits. Bacon in whiskey? Brown butter in bourbon? Coconut oil in rum? It sounds like a bartender has gone completely off-script, but these combinations are part of one of modern mixology’s most creative techniques: fat-washing. When done correctly, fat-washing gives a spirit deeper flavor, a richer aroma, and a silky texture without making the finished cocktail taste oily or

An unforgettable cocktail experience is not created by the drink alone. It begins before the first sip—with the atmosphere, the presentation, the energy behind the bar, and the way guests feel throughout the night. For years, I have worked behind the bar and helped develop original cocktails and rotating menus for one of downtown Phoenix’s most recognized speakeasies. Creating new drinks every week has taught me plenty about balance, technique, and ingredients, but the most v

Some cocktails are designed to be loud. Clarified cocktails make their statement differently. They look clean, polished, and almost impossibly clear, but the flavor can still be rich, layered, and complex. That contrast is exactly why clarification has become one of the most talked-about techniques in modern cocktail bars. What Is a Clarified Cocktail? Clarification is the process of removing suspended particles, proteins, and other solids that make a cocktail cloudy. The goa

Cocktail competitions look glamorous from the outside. Guests see the finished drink, the presentation, and a bartender confidently explaining the story behind the glass. What they do not see are the failed test batches, last-minute adjustments, ingredient restrictions, timed presentations, and countless decisions that happen before that cocktail ever reaches the judges. I have entered competitions featuring brands such as Empress 1908 Gin, Angostura Rum, Cointreau, Rémy Mart

A great event doesn’t need an oversized cocktail menu. Too many choices can slow down service, overwhelm guests, and make it harder to maintain consistency behind the bar. For most private events, three thoughtfully selected signature cocktails provide the right amount of variety. The goal is to begin with familiar drinks guests already recognize, then add creative touches that make each one feel distinctive and personal to the occasion. Here are three of the most popular and

One of the questions I get asked most often is: "Where do you come up with all of these cocktail ideas?" It's a fair question. For more than four years, I've had the opportunity to create an entirely new cocktail menu every single week at one of Phoenix's most respected speakeasies. That's hundreds of original cocktails, countless hours of research and development, and more recipes than I could ever fit into a single menu. People usually see the finished drink—the beautiful g

Creating one original cocktail sounds exciting. Creating another one the following week—and continuing that process for more than four years—teaches you something entirely different. Working as a mixologist at one of downtown Phoenix’s premier speakeasies has required me to regularly develop new cocktails across vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and whiskey. Each drink needs its own identity, but it also has to be balanced, visually intentional, practical for service, and enjoyable e