Tiffanie Barriere, The Drinking Coach, Atlanta, Georgia

Member, Tales of the Cocktail Grants Committee; James Beard Beverage Advisory Board; Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier.

There are some people who seem made for their moment. Tiffanie Barriere, an Atlanta influencer, educator and spirits historian known as The Drinking Coach, is one of those people.

Tiffanie is the bartender’s bartender, a bar star who has been awarded some of the beverage industry’s highest honors. She has been named one of the Tastemakers of the South and one of the five top Black female bartenders influencing America’s drink scene by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. In 2020, she was inducted to the Tales of the Cocktail Dame Hall of Fame.

Tiffanie is using her passion to bring relevancy to the moment. The pandemic afforded her time at home to pick up her history books and find inspiration for her first work, a pre-prohibition cocktail book examining the cocktails Black people served and drank. Tiffanie’s deep dive into the little-known drinks culture of enslaved and underrepresented Black people is adding a new dimension to Black history.

“As more about Black lives started to be published, I was asked to share any history I’ve been researching,” she says. “It helps us heal.”

In the past year, interest in Tiffanie’s virtual cocktail history and education classes has exploded. She’s turned her kitchen into a studio where she teaches two to four classes a day. She’s been approached by the Food Network, The New York Times and Bon Appetit. Companies including, recently, NASDAQ UK line up for her virtual happy hour mixology class with stories and history of Black-inspired cocktails.

“Who knew the UK celebrated Black History Month?” she said, laughing.

Tiffanie is a Bar Smart graduate and spent seven years as the beverage director of One Flew South, named the “Best Airport Bar in the World” by Forbes Magazine, The New York Times and USA Today. It’s where she learned The Perfect Purée White Peach Puree makes the best Peach Bellini she’s ever tasted.

As a former Brand Ambassador for The Perfect Purée, Tiffanie says she appreciates the brand for the incomparable flavor it brings her drinks and its suppliers’ sustainable agriculture practices. She’s currently working with The Perfect Purée on Instagram Live.

As an independent bartender, Tiffanie is known for creative and innovative cocktail menus for pop-up dinners and bar consultancy clients and for connecting culinary and farm culture with spirits. She has brought her approachable style to the demonstration stages of prestigious food and hospitality events including the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, Charleston Food & Wine Festival, BevCon, Tales of the Cocktail, Savannah Food & Wine Festival, Music to Your Mouth and more. As an author-contributor, Tiffanie’s cocktail recipes can be found in the “Southern Foodway Alliance Guide to Cocktails” by Jerry Slayter, “Jubilee” by Toni Tipton Martin, and “Road Soda” by Kara Newman.

Her reputation as a public historian has opened doors for her to speak on panels at venues such as Fire, Flour & Fork, Southern Foodways Symposium and the Soul Summit. She has also interpreted the cocktails of African American and women firsts in spirits at the James Beard House in New York City.

Her collaborations with culinarians and chefs reads like a Who’s Who in the Culinary Arts: Duane Nutter; Todd Richards; the late Darryl Evans; Kevin Mitchell; Deborah VanTrece; Jennifer Hill Booker; Suzanne Vizethann; Erika Council; Todd Ginsberg; and Asha Gomez.

Barriere and her cocktails have been featured in such publications as Imbibe magazine (print and online); Difford’s Guide; Creative Loafing; Forbes; Essence; Southern Living; The Bitter Southerner; Cherry Bombe; Washington Post; Thrillist, Eater; Vine Pair; Food Republic; and Garden & Gun.

Tiffanie grew up in Texas and Louisiana, where, as she tells it, her mom pulled her out of the closet when she was 19. As an individual, Tiffanie isn’t loud about her identity as a Black queer woman but recognizes it gives her an opportunity to illuminate the moment.

“I very rarely feel the need to talk about the kind of woman I am or the type of Black person I am,” she says. “I just want to continue to be an example for and testimony to hospitality and culture. Every cocktail has a great story and even though we’re not behind the bar right now we still have space to be polite and tell stories.”