Published in this month’s travel issue — click through to read the feature, or pick up a copy at your nearby store!

—

Inside Look: Death & Co Denver

By Emma Janzen

When Death & Co opened in New York City 11 years ago, it quickly became one of the country’s most acclaimed cocktail bars. Now David Kaplan, Alex Day and Ravi DeRossi have successfully opened a second outpost in Denver’s boutique Ramble Hotel.

Day says though they’ve long wanted to expand Death & Co’s presence, they didn’t want to rush into a second location, but when they met hotel owner and developer Ryan Diggins, the potential for partnership clicked. “We found ourselves attracted to Denver for the same reasons so many people are moving there from other cities: a playground of wilderness in our backyard—skiing and snowboarding, hiking and biking, and so much more—but also a thriving food, drink and cultural community,” says Day. “It makes for a particularly exciting place to live and work, and we’re excited to join the already dynamic Denver cocktail and food scene.”

The main bar is located in the hotel lobby, but the Death & Co team are also the exclusive food and drink partner for the rest of the property and will manage three other spaces: the lunch and breakfast-centric DC/AM café, an exclusive 20-seat bar called Suite 6A and an outdoor courtyard bar and restaurant known as The Garden.

Beverage director Tyson Buhler says guests can expect the same quality and style of drinks they’re used to finding at the New York bar. “The goal was to create something that felt unique to the space while still retaining the style that Death & Co has spent the last 11 years cultivating,” he says. “The drinks here could easily live on the menu in New York, but our goal is to create a new culture within our bar in Denver.”

When designing the drinks menu, Buhler and bar manager Alex Jump (formerly of RiNo Yacht Club and Mercantile) took into account the fact that they’re located inside a hotel with visitors from many different cities. “While we will have many guests that are joining us specifically for the cocktails, we know that people are also here traveling for business, or with their families, so we want to make sure we have drinks that can appeal to them as well,” Buhler says.

The menu will rotate when seasonally appropriate, and the team plans to highlight local flavors as much as possible. Current cocktails include boozy creations like the whiskey-based Highwayman and the Wipeout combining three types of rum with cold brew and pineapple. There are also low-ABV options like the Rising Tide with fino sherry, pineapple, lime, absinthe and cucumber, as well as alcohol-free drinks like the King Palm with kefir whey, coconut water and cinnamon.

The Denver location will also expand Death & Co’s non-cocktail offerings, including an impressive selection of craft brews. “We’re lucky to be in close proximity to incredible brewery’s, such as Ratio, Trve, Cerebral, and the list goes on,” says Buhler. “Getting to shed a little light on our love of all things booze-related, not just cocktails, is super exciting for us.”