Cocktail stories: Cocoffee Negroni, Yacht Club
The Cocoffee Negroni is a modified classic that perfectly captures the hybrid vibes of Denver’s Yacht Club bar.
*This feature was originally published in the April 2025 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.
There is no membership required to drink at Yacht Club, which is the point, and the joke. “We’re not a club,” says McLain Hedges, who opened the bar in 2021 with Mary Allison Wright. “We’re kind of the anti version of that.”
It’s one of several misdirections baked into Yacht Club, which is serving up coastal-inspired cocktails just a few miles from the Rocky Mountains. You wouldn’t expect to drink a Frozen Banana Daiquiri or Old Bay Martini in Denver, yet you can.
Yacht Club started as a wine shop in a food market, and Hedges has worked a love of natural wines into the bar concept and menu. Cocktails and wine are typically thought of separately, yet are listed together here, with wine an ingredient in every cocktail.
“For us, it’s about breaking down walls, breaking down barriers, and creating a place that is a community,” Hedges says. “There’s a cross-utilisation of ingredients, and a deeper story we get to tell.”
Part of that story is to explore seafaring spirits and wines, a reference to the bar’s name. That means rhum agricole, sake, Amontillado Sherry, pisco, Madeira, and Cognac appear throughout, as do pineapple, coconut, and vinegar.
“Leaning coastal, people think a lot more about warm-weather drinks, but we’re inspired by the entire global aspect of sharing and seafaring culture,” Hedges says. “It can feel tropical, but doesn’t have to be.”
These through lines can show themselves in subtle ways, like in the Cocoffee Negroni. Hedges says he is a fan of the Kingston Negroni, made with Jamaican rum in place of gin, and was looking to bring out a richer side of the drink to balance out its naturally bitter flavours. “It’s meant to be something that can be enjoyed at any time of year,” he says.
Coconut rum provides a sense of sand, while the use of Mr Black speaks to current coffee trends, even if that wasn’t Hedges’ intention. Verdelho Madeira ties it together, the perfectly textured vessel for what Yacht Club does best. “We look for things that create longevity and come from an honest place,” Hedges says.”It shows our style, but is extremely relatable.”
Cocoffee Negroni
Ingredients
30ml Planteray Coconut rum
30ml Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
15ml Campari
15ml 10-year-old Verdelho Madeira
1 dash Saline (10%)
Method: Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir for 10-15 seconds, depending on the ice you have on hand. Strain over a large rock of ice in a rocks glass. Express an orange coin and place it in the middle of the ice block.
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