While you can get boozy with your beer buds in every corner of the Queen City, you’d be hard pressed to find a space where you can make, shake and take great cocktails. This past weekend, owner Tamu Curtis quietly opened The Cocktailery in South End’s Atherton Mills restaurant and retail complex.
Tamu, an Oakland, California, native found herself turning to the Charlotte’s local bars to retain a sense of the social life she had on the West Coast.
“I’ve always been a food and cocktail kind of girl,” she told THE BLOCK. “That’s what we did in LA; great dinners, great drinks all night long. I moved here, and it was a different culture.”
Befriending bartenders, barbacks and mixologists during a time when Tamu admittedly didn’t know much about cocktails made her curious about the craft. A few classes (and perhaps a few years) later, she was ready to swap her student status for that of the expert.
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In 2016, Tamu launched Liberate Your Palette (LYP), a “passbook” cocktail tour, partnering with all of the industry friends she’d met along the way. Additionally, she began offering cocktail classes, with multiple class offerings throughout the month at various bars and lounges. Promoted as a great way for singles to “shake, stir, sip and socialize,” LYP quickly grew in popularity and expanded to privately hosting corporate teams, bridal parties and girls night out events.
Fast forward to 2020, Tamu and Liberate Your Palette looked to make a pandemic-forced pivot. As government mandates shuttered doors of restaurants and bars and pressured us all to socially distance, she wondered whether or not her business would survive. Fortunately, corporate executives would still seek fun ways to connect their teams, now more than ever. The Zoom boom allowed LYP to continue hosting both public and private cocktail classes, selling out consistently.
The blessing was not just that Tamu remained booked and busy, but that being booked helped her get to the next stage in her business. It is reported that last year, she grossed nearly $250,000, just enough to open her dream space on her own. On May 10, 2021, Tamu took to Instagram to officially announce the upcoming opening of The Cocktailery, an establishment she describes as a luxury cocktail supply and beverage lifestyle shop.
The 1500 square foot space is beautifully adorned with the help of interior designer Ariene Bethea, owner of Dressing Room Interiors. The shop boasts a stylish living room space—perfect for lounging and Instagram candids—an expansive retail selection featuring everything from luxe cocktail strainers to branded merch, and a massive back area with two grand tables perfect for, you guessed it: cocktail classes.
In just a few short weeks, you’ll be able to book the space for a private cocktail party, or attend a scheduled class hosted by house instructor, Ashley Thompson (all visitors must be vaccinated to participate). With a mission to “take the mystery out of mixology,” Tamu and team are looking forward to offering in-store and online experiences that welcome new and old patrons with expert style and support.
For booking and latest updates, visit thecocktailery.com, and be sure to follow them on Instagram at @thecocktailery.
