Get to know me

About me

My name is Daniel Carter, and I bring a very unique background to cocktails and the world of drinking. I was born and raised here in Utah and was highly religious until I was 32 years old. When I left my childhood religion, I also opened my world to new experiences which included alcohol. So at the age of 32 I had my first alcoholic drink.

I have come a long way in my journey of understanding alcohol and have personally come to love drinking to have an experience rather than drinking to get drunk. I understand what it is like to venture into this new territory as an adult and wanting to understand it but not knowing how or where to start. I would love to meet you in that place, or wherever you are at in your journey of alcoholic experiences, and help you build your own cocktail compass and enhance your enjoyment and knowledge of the world of cocktails.

Where it began

This business venture was created from my passion for exploring the art of cocktail crafting. As I began buying too many books, bottles, equipment, and produce, my free time became focused on learning, experimenting, and testing my ideas and concoctions on my friends and family. Needless to say, they loved it!

I'm also a teacher at heart and love to share knowledge, not just provide enjoyment. This led to educational nights with groups where I would help them see cocktails in a whole new way.

My first 'What Should I Order?' class happened because my friend's sister, who was new to drinking, went to a bar in Ireland and tried ordering a Pina Colada. The bartender laughed at her and wouldn't serve her. When I heard this story I thought, I offered to do an evening for her and a group of friends who were new to drinking and walk them through 6 very different classic cocktails you could order anywhere. Needless to say, they loved the evening, and all were surprised at what they enjoyed, and all felt very confident in being able to order for themselves in the future.

My first 'Anatomy of a Cocktail' class just happened with my partner and our friend. I brought over 5 Gins, 3 Italian Aperitifs, and 3 Sweet Vermouths (if you don't know what any of those are you should check out our What Should I Order? event!) and had us all try each one. Then I taught them all about how to make a Negroni and we started experimenting with all the options. The night was such a geeky deep dive into the immense landscape of cocktails, and we all loved it!

Each of these events were overwhelmingly loved and I've been encouraged ever since to make them available to everyone who is interested. Hopefully you and your friends will be some of those people!