BAR KEEPER SCORES LIQUOR LICENSE

Small-Batch Spirits
By Joshua Lurie
NBC.com – Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Last Saturday was the first day that Bar Keeper’s off-site liquor license kicked in, concluding Joe Keeper’s more than year-long odyssey to fill the shelves at his Silver Lake barware store with small-batch liquor.

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RARE LABELS

Small-production booze at Bar Keeper
TastingTable.com – Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Joe Keeper’s store Bar Keeper has been a reliable source for the glassware and tools associated with a host of historic cocktails–from absinthe paraphernalia to the vintage glassware used as props in Don Draper’s office. The Silver Lake store is the go-to spot for all things cocktail, but always sans alcohol.

But after seventeen months of jumping through bureaucratic hoops, Bar Keeper started selling booze last Saturday. (more…)

COCKTAIL CONFIDENTIAL

Retail Therapy
By Sophia Kercher
LATimesMagazine.com – Tuesday, September 24, 2010

Lately the shelves at Bar Keeper are looking rather thin. The Silver Lake shop, which has long offered an exhaustive array of accouterments for the cocktail lover, is making room for the real thing. Next week, store owner Joe Keeper, after spending months jumping through bureaucratic hoops to obtain his liquor license, will finally add to his array fine liquors from around the globe.
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THE BITTERS TRUTH

Taste your way through the largest bitters selection in town.
TastingTable.com – Monday, July 20, 2009

Every bartender knows that a dash of bitters adds subtle flavor to any cocktail, and when it comes to buying the best bitters in L.A., they head to Silver Lake’s Bar Keeper.

Bitters are often used in classic cocktails like the Sazerac, which you see everywhere these days, or with soda water to settle an upset stomach. Because of its potency, it’s more like a seasoning for a drink–a few drops will add complexity to anything, from Champagne cocktails to rum punch. (more…)

BONUS L.A. SHOPPING TRIP

By Gigi Guerra
Lucky Magazine

Recently opened and located in a prime Sunset Junction storefront, this welcoming shop sells a spot-on assortment of vintage barware. Owner Joe Keeper, a gregarious former reality-TV producer, handpicks all of the items on various antique-hunting missions, and his impeccable taste runs the gamut from glam highball glasses to sleek, brushed-aluminum tumbler sets.

THE GLASS MENAGERIE

By Linda Immediato
LA Weekly – Wednesday, December 27, 2006

How many times have you been to a house party and been served a straight-up martini in a wine glass?

Or champagne in a flimsy red plastic cup? We’ve even seen a Cosmo in a rocks tumbler. I’m as guilty as anyone else. At a New Year’s Eve party I threw last year, I saw the mood level diminish before my eyes when I handed guests their bubbly in coffee mugs. “It’s not about the glass,” one friend said gamely as she grabbed the mug’s handle and attempted a swig. (more…)

BAR KEEPER

By Jon Sattle
LA.com- Wednesday, February 7, 2007

How many times have you been to a house party and been served a straight-up martini in a wine glass? Or champagne in a flimsy red plastic cup? We’ve even seen a Cosmo in a rocks tumbler. I’m as guilty as anyone else. At a New Year’s Eve party I threw last year, I saw the mood level diminish before my eyes when I handed guests their bubbly in coffee mugs. “It’s not about the glass,” one friend said gamely as she grabbed the mug’s handle and attempted a swig. (more…)