
Kelley Swenson serves as Spirits Director at Portland, Oregon’s renowned Ten 01 Restaurant & Bar, where his seasonal cocktail creations have created quite a stir in the popular Pearl District neighborhood. His bartending style is a blend of gracious hospitality and quality mixology, making use of fresh ingredients, unique spirits and seasonal fruit such as pears.
Kelley specializes in an oeuvre of forgotten classic cocktails that he feels exemplify the craft at its best, including what he refers to as the “pre-prohibition” era of cocktails. He also has a knack for working with artisan gins, American rye whiskey, flower water, bitters, European herbals and house-made syrups, grenadines and liqueurs (many of which he makes in-house at Ten 01).
Even when he’s not behind the bar, Kelley is promoting his craft. He is a founding member of the Bartender’s Guild, through which he shares his knowledge and passion, and he has been featured in Northwest Palate, Cocktails Atlas, Imbibe Magazine and Willamette Week. He also recently took third place in the “Great American Distillers Festival” mixology contest and was named one of Portland’s best bartenders by Willamette Week in 2007. Kelley holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in History from Lewis & Clark College.
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