While the East Valley long has been the epicenter of Arizona’s craft beer scene, it’s been slow to warm up to the growing craft spirits trend.
That appears to be changing, though, as some of the Valley’s most prominent ‘‘mixologists’’ recently have left Phoenix and Scottsdale to work in the East Valley.
They include former Citizen Public House beverage director Brandon Casey, who opened The Ostrich in downtown Chandler in 2015, and ex-Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails bar lead Bobby Kramer, now at the soon-to-open Brickyard Downtown (see story).
Now Travis Nass (pictured above) has joined the fledgling CaskWerks Distilling Co. in Tempe.
Nass, one-time master mixologist at the Last Drop Bar at Lon’s at the Hermosa, was the 2015 “Beverage Master†inductee into the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame.
He will work as marketing director and ‘‘spirit guide’’ to expand the availability of CaskWerks’ gin, apple pie liqueur, and soon-to-be-released wheat whiskey throughout Arizona.
He’ll also help the distillery open a Tempe tasting room this year.
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