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The latest pours, people and moments from SpicedBySips.

spicedbysips

Spirits Educator, Experience Curator, Strategist & Marketer. Enjoying this journey… one Sip at a time.
Executive Bourbon Steward⚔️

I see it. I like it. I need to taste it. I find a

I see it. I like it. I need to taste it. I find a way.These aren’t all mine — some I own, some were gifted sips, some were charity pours from people generous enough to share something extraordinary. That’s what community does.This includes the moment I bid during a charity event and won the bottle that started it all for me — E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof, from over a decade ago. And the first time I ever tasted pre-fire EC 18. You see me. I am undone.And that Michter’s 25? I pulled out that fan for a real reason. A bottle kill at Drug City. The last pour. A girl can’t help the way a sip makes her feel.Which sips make you feel like this? Let me know in the comments.

Number 2 is the only one on this list I’d defend i

Number 2 is the only one on this list I’d defend in court. We’ve still got a few spots for my August 7-9 events - comment POUR for the details. (The Pewter top gets opened on Night 2)

The sip that changed everything for me. And what i

The sip that changed everything for me. And what it taught me about how to actually drink bourbon.@ehtaylorbourbon Well over a decade ago, @ehtaylorjr sat on shelves collecting dust. You could find it without overpaying and most people walked right past it. I picked it up because a magazine article told me I needed a bottled-in-bond bottle. I Googled it. Sherry’s Wine & Spirits in DC had E.H. Taylor. That was enough for me.Over the months that followed I went back for the Single Barrel and the Barrel Proof. If you know, you know, those bottles from just over a decade ago now sell on secondary for well over a thousand dollars each. I did not spend $75.@ehtaylorbourbon But what captured me had nothing to do with that. This bottle taught me how to drink bourbon. Neat first. Let it air out. A big rock. I even mixed it. With @fevertreemixers Ginger Beer though?? But I was paying attention, and that made all the difference.@ehtaylorbourbon Curiosity without restrictions. Without the need to chase what’s hot. Without someone else’s opinion overtaking your own impression. That’s how you learn what you like (aka build your palate). And that’s what I want for everyone who tastes anything I put in front of them. So… what was the first bottle that made you pay attention? Comment below…

Shrinkage is real, ask me how I know… Last Friday

Shrinkage is real, ask me how I know…Last Friday my bag tipped and my bottle of 2000s Wild Turkey Rye went sideways in the car — the cork got loose super fast and popped clean off. Stick around for the full play-by-play: the tip, the pop, and what survived. My whiskey-tasting life flashed before my eyes... and I’m still pouring it. Come taste why this near-tragedy was worth it — join us at The Fountain Inn next Saturday. Link in Bio or DM me. And I promise the other bottles are safe.

If this ever actually happens, I’m ready, I promis

If this ever actually happens, I’m ready, I promise. This is actually my favorite thing to do.Not because it’s easy, it’s not. Walking someone through their first serious pour means reading the room, meeting them exactly where they are, and making sure they leave feeling like they belong in this world. Not overwhelmed. Not talked down to. Curious and confident.That’s the whole point of what I do. The pour is just where it starts.If you’re spirits-curious and don’t know where to begin, my DMs are open. Genuinely. 🥃

Clear your weekend. Dan Gardner (@kybourbondan) is

I notice things at luxury events that most people

I notice things at luxury events that most people walk right past. Occupational hazard at this point.The glassware tells you immediately how seriously an operation takes what goes in it. Great glassmakers (I’m partial to German and Italian) interesting variety, theme appropriate, well weighted. I could go on. And on.The ice tells you the same thing. Ice selection needs intention and it matters more than people realize. That choice affects how much you enjoy both the first sip and the last.The bar setup. The bottle selection. Whether the person behind the bar knows what they’re talking about. I clock quite a bit within sixty seconds of walking into any space.Disney Cruise Line actually gets so much right, and the Destiny shows how far they’ve come. Intentional presentation and a few moments that genuinely surprised me enough that I’m tailoring them to my own events.That’s what great guest experience does, it shows up even where you might have underestimated it. And when it does, you pay attention.What’s the most unexpectedly impressive guest experience you’ve ever had? Comment below. 🥃#thespiritedsip #spicedbysips #signaturecocktail #disneycruiseline #luxurytravel

Rum before bourbon. Always. I’m Jamaican. Rum is

Rum before bourbon. Always.I’m Jamaican. Rum is part of the landscape, from terroir to towns. You cannot drive through any village in Jamaica without a rum shop and a church sharing the same block. My family were the church folk, so rum wasn’t exactly on the dining table. But there was always a bottle in the back of a cupboard.Jamaican rum is otherworldly. Loaded with flavor, we love our esters, complex, unapologetic. The world’s first female Master Blender for spirits is a Jamaican woman. You should not be surprised to read this.Bourbon came later. Quiet trips to Kentucky for work, Southwest Airlines magazines, enthusiast groups that pulled me in way deeper than I anticipated. A couple of bottles became a collection. And then it became this.Here’s the thing: your entry point doesn’t have to be bourbon, or tequila, or whatever someone tells you is having a moment.Start with what already calls to you. Pay attention to what you’re tasting. Notice what it sparks. That’s how a palate is built.What’s yours? The drink that started it all, drop it in the comments. I actually want to know. 🥃#thespiritedsip #spicedbysips #craftcocktail #luxuryevents #signaturecocktail

Some cocktails come together quickly. The good one

Some cocktails come together quickly. The good ones take a little more trust in the process.This is what signature sip development actually looks like from the inside, not the finished garnish, not the first sip, but every decision that gets made before anyone ever picks up the glass.The conversation before a single bottle is touched. The base spirit chosen not for what I love but for what the moment calls for. The flavor arc built ingredient by ingredient until everything in the glass has a reason to be there. The versions that almost made it. The detail that changed everything.I’ve been doing this long enough to know that the difference between a good drink and a genuinely memorable one lives in the details most people never see.The glass. The ice. The garnish that isn’t decoration, it’s intention.Swipe through if you want to see exactly how I get there. And if you want something original built for your next event, you know where to find me. 🥃#thespiritedsip #spicedbysips #craftcocktail #luxuryevents #signaturecocktail

HAS @bardstownbourbonco BROKEN THE BOURBON BROS???

HAS @bardstownbourbonco BROKEN THE BOURBON BROS???? Listen the number of posts I’ve seen about this one makes me giggle. Only one person so far @whiskeyshesips has ACTUALLY tasted said scandalous whiskey. But there are a lot of opinions. Share yours in the comments. You grabbing this? #spicedbysips #bourbon #BardstownBourbon #WhiskeyGram #bourboncommunity

Three days distilled to 30 seconds. Watch it come

Three days distilled to 30 seconds. Watch it come together.This was the signature sip I developed for my very first SpicedBySips event, The Southlake Sipper.Every element intentional. Every ratio tested until it was exactly right.The brief: highlight the whiskey, keep it the star, make this an easy drink. I needed to warm the palate for the tasting, highlight the whiskey with something approachable you’d want to keep going back to. This cocktail was both a welcome to the tasting series… and to what I bring to the table.Getting there took longer than I expected and I wouldn’t change a single iteration. That’s the process.First SpicedBySips Tasting. First signature sip developed for a tasting series.#thespiritedsip #spicedbysips #craftcocktail #luxuryevents #signaturecocktail

A few weeks ago I was making drinks at a friend’s

A few weeks ago I was making drinks at a friend’s place and she handed me a strainer. The spacing was so wide you could park a Mack truck in it. I got the bad goosebumps. I felt genuinely ill. It went in the trash. (Timestamped photo is in the comments.) The @abarabove strainer was on her doorstep the next morning. Thanks @Amazon. I... have VERY strong strainer opinions... Friends don’t let friends have awful bar equipment. Period. Proper straining is life.

Every event deserves a drink that belongs to it. H

Every event deserves a drink that belongs to it. Here’s how I make that happen.It starts with a conversation: the occasion, the guests, the vibe, the flavor direction.Then comes the testing, the adjusting, the tasting, the starting over when something isn’t quite right yet.Every version gets evaluated against one question: does this deliver on what I set out to create?The result is something your guests have never had before and won’t find anywhere else. Not because it’s complicated, because it was built specifically for them.That’s what signature sip development looks like. Swipe to see the full process. 🥃#thespiritedsip #spicedbysips #craftcocktail #luxuryevents #signaturecocktail

A week ago, SpicedBySips.com officially launched.

A week ago, SpicedBySips.com officially launched.I’m in my pajamas on my front porch recording this because some moments are too good not to mark exactly as they are.The transition from corporate to working entirely for myself has been one of the most identity-shifting things I’ve ever done. Not in a bad way, in a “wait, I’m still her, I’ve always been her, I just finally pointed everything in the right direction for me” kind of way.Two events in the first week, a website that’s actually live, and more encouragement and tangible support from this community than I knew how to receive. I am overwhelmed.I might not have turned my passion into my profession without partners like @dreamspirits & @allviewliquors helping me see how important what I have to share is in this spaceStill figuring it out. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I mean, this IS the fun part.Oh… and I’m just getting started.Thank you, genuinely. Now let’s GO. 🥃#thespiritedsip #spicedbysips

People tell me all the time they don’t like whiske

People tell me all the time they don’t like whiskey.Or rum.Or tequila.Most of the time, what they really mean is they haven’t met the right one yet.Our opinions about spirits are often built on one bad pour, one rushed recommendation, or one bottle that was never meant for *our* palate in the first place.That’s why I love introducing people to something unexpected.The one that makes them pause.The one that changes their mind halfway through the glass.The one that has them saying, “Wait... *this* is whiskey?”There are thousands of incredible spirits out there. Every one tells a different story. Every one has a different person it’s meant for.These are three that have stayed with me for very different reasons.I’d love to know, which bottle changed your mind about a spirit you thought you didn’t like? 🥃#spicedbysips #thespiritedsip #spiritseducator #whiskey #rum

Some cocktails come together in minutes. The good

Some cocktails come together in minutes.The good ones take a little more trust.This event was just 46 hours away, and I had three signature drinks to build from scratch. Which meant pulling books off the shelf, revisiting old ideas, tasting, tweaking, steeping spices, and following every “what if?” until it finally clicked.This is the part people don’t always see.Not the finished garnish or the first sip, but the quiet moments where you’re tasting the same drink over and over, changing one ingredient at a time, hoping the next version is *the* version.And then, suddenly, it is.Which part of the process would you want to see more of, the recipe development or the final event? Also… the scribble was NOT the final version of the drink. Want to know what was?🥂#spicedbysips #thespiritedsip #craftcocktails #cocktaildevelopment #homebartenderlife

Lean In – a SpicedBySips original. This one start

Lean In - a SpicedBySips original.This one started with a happy accident.I was digging through my bitters collection and found Apple Cider Bitters I’d completely forgotten I had. Around the same time, the very generous Wayne - @drinkwithwayne - sent me a little @drinkcazcanes gift package. I started playing with the Reposado immediately.Then, on an unseasonably chilly day a few weeks ago, it all came together.The Lean In is my riff on a Fallback. Cazcanes Reposado as the base. Apple brandy, Punt E Mes, cinnamon demerara, and those Apple Cider Bitters doing exactly what they were always supposed to do, I just had to remember they existed.Warm, layered, a little unexpected. The kind of drink you make when the weather shifts and you want something that shifts with it.Full recipe in the carousel. I build this in the glass for ease. And I added a dehydrated apple slice cuz fancy.Tag me when you make it, I want to see your version. 🥃#spicedbysips #thespiritedsip #spiritseducator #craftcocktails #cocktailathome

Sometimes your best sip is the one you never plann

Sometimes your best sip is the one you never planned.We were winging it for dinner. My husband finds a bar with food attached to a flip-flop shop. If you know me, you know that sealed the deal immediately.We walked in to @kanerumbar and they blew us away.I told the bartender to surprise me. He mentioned he had a blackberry cordial infusion and was working on something off-menu with it. Say less.Then he topped it with bubbles.Oh my goodness.This is what happens when you hand the reins over and just trust the person behind the bar. No menu. No agenda. Just a bartender who knew exactly what he was doing and a guest who got out of her own way long enough to let it happen.Sometimes the best order you can place is no order at all.When was the last time you let someone else decide what was in your glass? 🥃#spicedbysips #thespiritedsip #spiritseducator #craftcocktails #rum

Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship is doing somethin

Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship is doing something right behind the bar. Here are 5 sips that made the list, including one that genuinely surprised me, and one that had absolutely nothing to do with alcohol.The Distortion Effect. The Eye Opener. The Baroque at The Rose. A Bacardi collaboration that stopped the night cold. And a double espresso from Palo, because I’m not a baby.Full breakdown in the video. What’s the most memorable sip you’ve had recently, and where? 🥃#spicedbysips #spiritseducator #thespiritedsip #disneycruiseline #disneycruise

Credentials aren’t everything in this space. But t

Credentials aren’t everything in this space. But they’re not nothing either.Everything I’ve built - the certifications, the community, the access - exists because I put in the time before anyone was watching. Now you get to benefit from it.What matters most to you when deciding who to trust in the spirits world?#spicedbysips #spiritseducator #washingtonDC #DCluxury #bourboncommunity

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