PDX Cocktail Week: Pre-Funking with Red Star & House Spirits
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Red Star Tavern revelers at Negroni Party. Photo by Byron Beck.
If anyone was wondering whether or not Portland Cocktail Week is serious about mixing professional development for bartenders with a healthy dose of good, old partying they had to look no farther than to two of the parties that kicked off what is considered as one of the top three cocktail makers conventions in the country right now (trailing right behind New Orleans Tales of the Cocktail).
See Portland Cocktail Week party slideshow below.
First up, early Saturday night, was the “Negroni Party” at downtown Portland’s Red Star Tavern sponsored by Campari. The theme was 80’s “butt-rock” with a DJ spinning Poison, White Snake and all those spandexed, big-haired, pretty boy bands. Master mixologist/bartender Brandon Lockman manned the main bar (complete with electric guitar ice luge) while several other butt-rocking Kimpton Hotel bartenders played their best Negroni hits in Red Star’s private event space located right behind a super-secret bookshelf entrance.
Next up was the “Happy 10th Birthday House Spirits Distillery!” party at Jacobsen Salt Company in Southeast Portland. Their well-played theme was an actual 10-year-olds birthday party complete with princesses, balloons, scary clowns and inflatables…and, oh yes…adult beverages courtesy House Spirits. That party went way past most of these adult “children’s” bedtime but no one seemed to mind, especially late arrival Jim Meehan, the super hot, former New York City bartender (of PDT fame) who, by relocating to Portland and basically spun the cocktail world on its head.
See more photos of Portland Cocktail Week's Red Star Tavern and House Spirits parties here.
Related Slideshow: PDX Cocktail Week: Pre-Funking with Red Star & House Spirits
Portland Cocktail Week kicked off a little early with two parties on Saturday night. First up was the Negroni blow-out at Red Star Tavern, and the second was House Spirits "10th Birthday" party at Jacobsen Salt Co.
Brandon Lockman
Bassy Bartender
Electric guitar ice luge
Tim and Tracy
Rock Stars at Red Star
Nice shot
Nice Negroni Tat
Princess Bartender
Snow White Server
Party Hat
Scary (?) Clown Bartender
Jennifer and Matthew
Party Boys
Tom Oliver
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