Lessons in Mixology and Alcohol History: Alexi Fisher’s Cocktail Collective

I show up early to Cocktail Collective’s “Cocktail & {Her}story: Women in Spirits” class and Alexi Fisher is already flitting around the bright room filling vessels, preparing ingredients and making interesting conversation with someone who is not helping at all, as only an experienced bartender can. The multi-talented Fisher is also an educator, writer, entrepreneur and Scotch whiskey expert. She also operates a mobile bar service called The Hammered Copper.

Conversation flows easily and freely with Fisher. She’ll casually introduce topics in conversation about overlooked historical figures, the role of gender in the alcohol industry and regional brandy rivalries with the ease of a learned historian and the passion of a storyteller.

The Cocktail Collective room is tucked into the Artspace Commons building on 400 West in Salt Lake City. Inside are three square black clothed tables, set up to simultaneously host a multi-course dinner party and a science experiment. Individual servings of liquors, fruity cordials and dried fruit line a metal tray, which sits alongside a Boston shaker and a variety of differently sized and shaped glasses frame each student’s workshop.

There’s a buzz of excitement as attendees trickle in, familiar to Friday evening. In this way, it feels more like a neighborhood bar than a classroom. But as people scurry to find their seats, the awkward thrill of learning something new and meeting fellow students sets in. Friends find each other and settle in at their table, taking selfies and scoping out the vessels and vials of cocktail mixers at their seats.

“Challenging your tastebuds is one of the best things you can do, because it can open a whole other world for you.”

Fisher’s cocktail courses are often taught with a specific historical context in mind or coordinated around a certain theme. Recently, Cocktail Collective partnered with Primordial Customs to host a dinosaur-themed cocktail course. This event featured a cast of a T-Rex skull and information about the often overlooked historical figure, Louis R. Purnell, a self-taught paleontologist and the first Black curator at the Smithsonian Institution.

Fisher says it’s a lot of fun to be able to promote other small businesses and bring together all types of people to highlight the Salt Lake alcohol industry and vibrant community within it. Fisher talks about Cocktail Collective as a resource for people, rattling off options for attendees to make her class into a cool date night or bachelorette party or “come take a professional course to talk about [flavor] profile breakdowns, why we bartend and … why this industry is the way that it is.”

While classic cocktails are Fisher’s forte, she also loves teaching craft cocktails, exploring why and how to bring unique flavors together. She says that “Challenging your tastebuds is one of the best things you can do, because it can open a whole other world for you.” She wants the act of making a cocktail to feel accessible, hoping that attendees will leave with “an appreciation for the history behind this industry, because it is not just drinking.”

Fisher is wearing a shirt she made herself that reads “Women Who Built the Bar,” which is also the running theme for the night. As she describes the history of the famously widow-run champagne company Veuve Clicquot or the contributions women have made to the shape and layout of a modern bars, she turns around and points to names of often-overlooked but highly influential women in the alcohol industry on the back of her handcrafted shirt.

“[I hope attendees will leave with] an appreciation for the history behind this industry, because it is not just drinking.”

Fisher’s expertise both in mixology and history is eclipsed only by her exuberance for the subjects. She approaches her flavors with a scientific approach, having studied clinical psychology and neuroscience in college. She finds inspiration through history, dissecting old recipes and making new ones. 

Cocktail Collective is the first of its kind in Utah and only one of two brick and mortar locations offering cocktail and liquor education courses in the United States. Referencing the pioneers of the alcohol industry, including herself, Fisher says, “If you don’t like the options that exist, create your own.” Keep up with Fisher on Instagram at @melanated.mixologist and sign up for a cocktail class at cocktailcollect.com. 

Read more from the April Beer & Spirits Issue:
Local Beer Reviews
Beer is for Queers: The LGBTQ+ Brewers of SaltFire Brewing Co.