Prominent New York Bar to Pop Up at PufferFish
Amor Y Amargo will serve its bitters-focused cocktails at the tiki bar on Sept. 7.
PufferFish Cocktails. Photo Courtesy of PufferFish.
Amor Y Amargo has just eight seats at its cozy digs in Lower Manhattan, but come September, Milwaukeeans will be able to pull up a chair in their home city for a pop-up from the bitters-focused bar, to be held at downtown’s PufferFish.
The event, sponsored by Misguided Spirits, will mark the official launch of the brand in Wisconsin.
Amor Y Amargo, Spanish for love and bitter, got its start in 2011. The bar, a project of mixology giants Sother Teague and Bruce Shultz, serves as a love letter to the high-proof botanical seasonings, or bitters. With its curated selection of neat pours and bitters-forward cocktails — stirred, not shaken, hold the mixer — Amor Y Amargo quickly rose to prominence and is now consistently ranked among the world’s best bars.
On Thursday, Sept. 7, PufferFish will provide a warm, Milwaukee welcome for Amor Y Amargo, hosting the bar for a pop-up at its rooftop space. A former pop-up itself, PufferFish is now permanently situated atop Hotel Metro, 411 E. Mason St.
“To have one of our favorite global bars come into our market is huge for Milwaukee,” said JC Cunningham, owner of PufferFish, in a statement. “It is our first stop every time we are in New York, so to host them at our bar is a dream come true.”
From 5 p.m. to midnight, Teague and Shultz will showcase their original creations, made with Misguided Spirits, for guests inside the main bar, while the PufferFish team serves their tiki-inspired drinks on the patio.
Pabst Blue Ribbon will also be on-site, offering a beer-and-shot combo featuring Misguided whiskey.
James Zinkand, founder of Misguided, recently made the decision to relocate to Milwaukee, and said he plans to bring the company along for the ride. “We are super excited to set up our base camp here in Milwaukee,” he said in a statement. “It’s the perfect fit for our brand.”
Misguided will also provide attendees with additional information regarding its annual Oktoberfest cocktail creation contest, held in partnership with Underberg, a German digestif bitters company. Submissions are due Oct. 3. The competition’s champion will win a trip to Germany. Be sure to make a good impression — Teague and Shultz are judging the finals.
In addition to providing good fun, the evening’s festivities will contribute to a worthy cause. Bartenders at PufferFish have decided to donate all of their tips from the event to a disaster relief fund for hospitality workers in Maui.
For more information on the pop-up visit the social media pages for PufferFish or Amor Y Amargo on social media.
Although the pop-up will be Amor Y Amargo’s first foray into Wisconsin, the New York bar has a Milwaukee connection; its general store sells a variety of bitters from purveyors across the country including Milwaukee’s own Bittercube.
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