Very Good Drinks & The Espresso Daiquiri
When the world shut down after the pandemic began, craft cocktail bartenders Demi Close and Jazz Rodriguez were working at OKC’s Bar Arbolada, and felt burnt out with the profession and lost about what to do next. There’s only so long you can spend slinging drinks and working busy late nights when you might be there until 4 a.m. cleaning up. This eventually led to an exodus out of the country to Thailand, which reinvigorated their passion.
“We were kinda done with cocktails, and in Thailand we were introduced to all this new cuisine,” Jazz explains.
Since then, they’ve founded Very Good Drinks. What started as a goofy Instagram page where they experiment with new ideas for cocktails has turned into a business. They’ve been featured in the New York Times and Imbibe, and even had one of their drinks on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
Very Good Drinks goes across the board, from sweet to savory beverages, and the duo isn’t afraid to post their mistakes, which allows other people to learn from them.
“We want to provide a place for industry people to get together and talk and work on ideas together,” Demi stresses.
It’s become a hit both inside and outside the bartending community. Their sense of humor and charm and non-pretentious attitude toward making drinks is appealing to the home bartender, but the way they break down novel techniques inspires the professionals.
Very Good Drinks gave us one of its new recipes that anybody can do at home. Hopefully, it inspires you to switch things up next time you shake a cocktail.
