Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Local bartenders in the national news

Posted by Owen Morris on Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 10:45 AM

The Chicago Sun-Times has an article this week about dealing with winter weather the old fashioned way: drinking yourself warm.

There's the usual mentions and recipes from bartenders in New York and (of course) Chicago, but then author Seanan Forbes mentions not one, not two, but three bartenders from Kansas City.

The first is Ryan Maybee:

"Contrast might be the bartender's best tool. Kansas City's Ryan Maybee,

one of the Midwest's hottest mixologists, uses a mist of absinthe to

spark the senses... Maybee smokes liquor, puts roasted butternut squash in drinks and makes

a pumpkin infusion with mulling spices. Warmth comes with sweetness, too"

Maybee was a partner in J.P. Wine Bar and now has a Crossroads bar in the works called Manifesto. It's scheduled to open up later this year.

The other two bartenders are Jay Beavers and Chris Conatser, both of Justus Drugstore:

"Canatser's [sic] a trained botanist, and Beavers is keen on infusions. They

flavor bourbon with dates and brandy with apples and apricots. They

make crabapple infusion ('It's surprisingly good,' Beavers says). They

have even taken to making vermouth: dry, sweet and sipping."

The article doesn't mention it but Conatser was the winner of the 2008 Kansas City Bartending Competition.

It's nice to see some very talented young guys get this sort of attention and goes to show if you succeed in Kansas City, people in other cities might notice.

-- Owen Morris

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