Adam doing his thing behind the bar at Bar Pilar.

It’s 2 PM when bartender Adam Bernbach lets me into Bar Pilar on DC’s 14th Street. Patrons won’t start filling the bar stools and wooden tables until 5, and Bernbach won’t leave until after 3 in the morning. Quiet and humble, he says working at Bar Pilar has allowed him to do what he’s passionate about: creating cocktails.

Bernbach is the force behind Bar Pilar’s Tuesday Cocktail Sessions—evenings that not only allow him to stretch his creative legs but are also becoming a weekly hit with area bartenders and customers alike. Every Tuesday, five new cocktails of Bernbach’s invention are featured, such as the Orange Whip (spiced rum, orange juice, spiced orange syrup, half-and-half, and egg white—shaken) or the Bizzy Lizzy (ancho-chile-infused Gosling’s Gold rum, chocolate mole, cream, and soda water shaken, strained, and topped with soda water). All speciality cocktails are $11, and if you enjoy one, he can make it for you anytime if the ingredients are available.

The Red Derby: Small bartender, big beer selection.

“This is weird, man” says Patrick Manili seconds into our interview at the Red Derby (3718 14th St., NW; 202-291-5000) as he nervously smokes a cigarette by the bar. Maybe it’s the tape recorder I hold up almost too close to him, or maybe the formality of a “serious” interview seems all the more jarring to him because we’ve actually known each other for some time now. Whatever the case, Manili’s trepidation is all but gone by the time he exhales.

I first met Manili back in October, when the Red Derby first opened. Since then, like countless other twentysomethings living in the Columbia Heights/Petworth area, I’ve become a regular at the bar. The Derby, as everyone who knows and loves the place seems to call it, is laden with eccentricities—the absence of an outdoor sign, the cash-only policy, and the can beers—that distinguish the place as our bar rather than just a bar. This sense of familiarity with the place is partly the doing of owners Sasha Carter and David Leventry and part Manili’s.

As the Derby’s bartender, Manili is the kind of guy who naturally draws crowds of men and women. Guys like his sense of humor and endless stream of stories, and he seems to have a quality that women really respond to. His ease behind the bar, Manili suggests, may be the result of a predisposed affinity for the business: “My dad did this for 30 years. It was the only thing I really enjoyed besides movies, and who’s going to get a job in the movie business? That’s damn near impossible.”

Hollywood’s loss is the Red Derby’s gain.

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In photographs, Kim Moffatt appears to be barely at the cusp of adulthood. Her eyes sparkle with a gleeful mischief more characteristic of a collegiate undergrad than of a seasoned bartender. Her voice is so warm and sweet, it calls to mind a batch of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies. Not that 28-year-old Moffat, who does double duty as bartender and pastry chef at the Reef (2446 18th St., NW; 202-518-3800), would like the comparison. “I don’t like making cookies,” she confesses. “I love eating them and they’re easy to make, but I hate baking them.” What’s her problem with cookies? “Christmas comes around and you know you have to bake 50 dozen cookies because you’re ‘the baker.’ ” Fair enough.

At the Adams Morgan bar where she serves drinks to rowdy weekend crowds of twentysomethings, patrons and coworkers call Moffatt “Kim Kimmers,” and she’s got her very own Facebook fan group. The group, Moffatt clarifies, is something of a joke among her close friends, but with her infectious personality and killer looks, it’s no wonder this Atlanta native has won a steady stream of followers.

How long have you been working at the Reef?

Four and a half years—so a long time. I waited tables and worked my way up to bartending. It took three years to get behind the bar because pretty much someone has to die or quit in order for you to get to bartend. I like it; it’s good. I’m not planning on going anywhere else.

When did you start working as the pastry chef?

That’s just been recent. The girl who was the pastry chef here quit, and the chef asked me if I wanted to do it. I’ve been baking forever and I go to culinary school, so it was just a good way to keep in practice. Eventually I want to own my own bakery and then a patisserie where you come in, have good wine and beer, and eat fabulous desserts.

Fans of Arlington favorite Dr. Dremo’s Tap House converged to sip their final Dremo’s Redneck Ales and shake hands with friends on the bar’s second-to-last Sunday night in its current Clarendon Boulevard location.

“There’s a much larger crowd here than on most Sunday nights,” said Greg Kitsock, a Washington Post beer columnist, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Brewing News, and once-a-week Dremo’s regular. “It’s kind of the end of an era.”

Although Tommy Mensing’s professional golf career came to an end after an unsuccessful attempt at the 1997 PGA tour, the University of Maryland graduate has found the perfect way to incorporate golf—in fact, all sports—into his life. Mensing is bar manager at Cleveland Park Bar & Grill (3421 Connecticut Ave., NW; 202-806-8940). His late hours allow him to squeeze in a morning golf game before an afternoon at the restaurant. Once at work, Mensing is clearly at home behind the bar—whether pouring drinks, speaking Spanish to the kitchen staff, or cheering on his Terps.

Gina Chersevani of Rasika (633 D St., NW; 202-637-1222) is a force to be reckoned with. Seconds after I’ve met her, she’s already offered to make not one, not two, but three of her best cocktails to sample (score!) and can barely contain her enthusiasm when talking about mixology. Judging by the attention she gives to every concoction—from the mixing to the smallest detail in presentation—it’s clear that for this University of Maryland graduate, a cocktail is not just a cocktail; it’s a piece of art.

Despite recognition from peers and local media, Chersevani remains humble, often sharing cocktail recipes with other bartenders and friends. And she serves up some lethally delicious cocktails—the latest of which is the Saffronik (and, boy, is it good). As Chersevani tells it, her love for mixology is perhaps equaled only by her love of DC’s Penn Quarter neighborhood.

When did you start bartending?

I first bartended throughout college, and when I say “bartended” I mean served beers from a bucket. But I got my first martini gig at Penang when it opened in 2001, I believe. That’s where my whole martini/make-your-own-cocktail-creation started. After that, I went to 15 Ria and worked with Jamie Leed for a little bit. She’s from New York, and I had read about her, thinking how incredible she was—and still is. I worked with her for about seven months before she opened her own restaurant. I then went to Poste and worked under Robert Weland, who is another incredible chef. My drink knowledge just kind of grew from there. Then I came to Rasika, which will have been open two years in December.

Tell us about your time at Rasika.

It’s been the best experience. I’ve gotten to use ingredients that I would never think of putting into a drink, like saffron, clove, cinnamon, and star anise. And then doing stuff with yogurt, coconut whip, and lotus—just crazy things that are very everyday at Rasika but would otherwise never cross my mind.

Does talk about a 30-to-80-cent Metro fare hike make you want to drink? Cry? Both? Here’s our suggestion: Skip the tears and head to IndeBleu (707 G St., NW; 202-333-2538), and—while you still can—put those extra cents to better use by indulging in the ultimate city fantasy: a Metro ride that leaves you wasted rather than penniless.