Cocktail fans who checked out the Netflix competition series Drink Masters, which premiered on October 28, might have caught two familiar faces. Kapri Robinson and Lauren Paylor “LP” O’Brien have worked at some of the city’s top bars and are outspoken and active voices in the bartending community. We caught up with both of them to ask about the show, their favorite places to drink, and more.
Lauren Paylor O’Brien
Spoiler alert: O’Brien won the competition and its $100,000 prize. She worked as the official bartender for the 2022 Emmys, and was on Wine Enthusiast’s 40 under 40 list in 2021. She got her start in the business at now-closed Shaw bars Eat the Rich and Southern Efficiency, and has stirred up cocktails at local destinations like Penn Quarter’s Silver Lyan and the late Petworth bar Dos Mamis. Now, O’Brien runs a beverage consulting company called LP Drinks Co. and is the co-founder of Focus on Health, a wellness resource center for the hospitality industry.
What was the first drink that got you excited about bartending? And how did you make your way into the industry?
“Honestly, a martini. When you’re young and you don’t really know any better, it seems like such a sophisticated, exotic serve, and it was actually the first cocktail I ever made when I started bartending.
As far as the way that I delved into beverage, I was a student at a university in DC and frequented the Passenger. My best friend was a server there. I was extremely accustomed to being in very noisy environments, growing up with seven siblings—I like to say I thrive in those environments. I’d go there late-night, do my homework, and I soon found myself going there less for schoolwork and more because the bartenders were so hospitable. They took such great care of me, and were so kind to someone who was just going into the bar to do work and not really ordering anything.
I asked Derek [Brown] who owned Columbia Room [inside the Passenger at the time] if I could get a job as a bartender, and he hired me to work as a server at Eat the Rich.”
Favorite places to drink in DC? And outside of DC?
“I really, really, really love Serenata, Service Bar, Cranes, Allegory—I found myself frequenting those bars often. I don’t go out as much as I have in the past, for many reasons. But every time I go into those spots, they do such a great job making me feel like I’m right at home. Now as far as in the world, Handshake out in Mexico City is hands-down one of the best establishments I’ve ever been to, from a service perspective and the serves that they offer.”
Drink of choice?
“Nowadays, anything that has no or low ABV in it. I don’t drink nearly as much as I did in the past. It’s been really, really awesome to sit down at bars and have bartenders giving out non-alcoholic beverages and low ABV beverages that really focus on flavor and story. If I had a drink of choice right now, it’d be a Sherry Cobbler, which is traditionally Sherry that has citrus, sugar, fruit, and sometimes mint in it. Delicious.”
Do you have a moment from the show that you’re most proud of?
“There are two moments that resonate. And I know you only asked for one. The bodega drink in episode two is my favorite. I really did not understand or realize the impact that would make. So many people have reached out with such great, wonderful things to say. It’s such a lived experience that tropical fruit drink in a bodega in the Bronx. And I think seeing how everyone resonated with it was really special to me. And then the finale. I really tried my best to ensure that I set myself up to display what I was able to do in the show in a progressive way, and really left the best for last.
What was the most stressful moment in the competition for you?
I think we both know what that moment was. So, stressful moment was the black and white challenge I had in the eliminatory round. I had not been at the bottom yet. I was very fixated on the fact that I was being placed into the eliminatory challenge. And for the first 30 minutes of that challenge [I] really was unfocused, made the decision to kind of throw everything I had ingredients-wise away and restart. And it certainly worked in my favor, [I] took a more literal approach to making that cocktail and serve the judges something that I would absolutely serve in any bar.
How do you budget your time between all of your different ventures?
“LP Drinks Co. is an event production and consulting business that I own. I’ve owned it for over six years and it’s my full-time gig right now. I love it. I get to work with clients in their homes, I get to do virtual events, I get to work with individuals who want to open establishments and bars, I work with bartenders providing them with education, and it allows me to kind of get the best of both worlds.
And Focus on Health is a health and wellness advocacy company that I currently own, the co-founder Alex Jump is very heavily involved. She’s amazing at what she does. And she really leads brand relationships, as well as event production for Focus on Health. With that, we’re really focused on intention in what we do and activating in spaces that really allow thought provoking conversations and assist bartenders in taking better care of themselves.”
What are you going to be working on in 2023?
“I have a series of pop ups primarily in DC, but essentially, anywhere I can get my hands on, so in the US, outside of the US. And then, additionally, I will be creating some online classes that people can take advantage of if they’re looking for some cocktail 101, 102-level courses to take. Yeah, and I am always trying to find ways to connect with both the beverage community and customers and consumers. So, I’m hoping that I can continue to find ways to do that.”
Kapri Robinson
In addition to founding the nonprofit Chocolate City’s Best–a DC-based cocktail competition and educational resource for Black and Brown bartenders–Robinson serves drinks at swanky Eaton hotel bar Allegory. She also hosts the Soul Palate Podcast with Denaya Jones, in which the pair taste spirits and discuss current events in the food and beverage industry, and has worked on other initiatives aimed at challenging norms and empowering consumers in the food and beverage world.
What was the first drink that got you excited about bartending? And how did you make your way into the industry?
“The first thing that got me excited was a tropical drink at Farmers Fishers Bakers. That was the first time I had seen fresh juices being made–it might have been the zombie that we used to do there–and it was just exciting to watch the bartenders because there were so many bottles that they had to pick up and they did it so fast. But also, it came out with these elaborate garnishes; it was just so pretty and then if you taste it, it was like, ‘Whoa, this is strong. It’s tasty.’ That was the first drink that really got me into what this craft could be.
[I] started serving at Uno Chicago Grill–that was a way to make some money while I was going to Howard. And then I stopped going to Howard, and I was like, ‘Okay, well, I need to make more money than I’m making at Uno’s.’ And someone told me about Farmers Fishers Bakers on the water—a higher caliber restaurant and more money—so I started serving there. And when I saw the way they were creating cocktails, I was like, I really want to learn, I really want to do that. They bumped me up to bartender, and from there, I just found it to be an amazing environment. And the people that were over me at the time, challenged me to do competitions and different things like that.”
Favorite places to drink in DC? And outside of DC?
“I love going to O.K.P.B. which is this speakeasy-style bar over in Mount Pleasant. So cool, so cute but you know me– you’ve seen the show–classic cocktails are my thing, and they just do them so right. I really love it there. I also am a big, big fan of Causa. It’s just so amazing. The food to the drinks to the Pisco service. And then I also really enjoy for a good, homey, fun Afrobeat vibe, Lydia on H Street. That place is just such a good time every time I go.
Outside of DC, I love New Orleans in general. So anything in New Orleans.”
Drink of choice?
“I always am going to be sipping gin no matter what. I like to take gin shots, or I’ll do a gin and tonic. Gin is my spirit of choice. When it comes to a drink, it changes all the time. I could be into a gimlet one day and a martini the next day or a rickey the other.”
Do you have a moment from the show that you’re most proud of?
“Winning that competition [in episode 3] was a proud moment because I needed a win. And I’m just happy that my style of bartending was able to take the judges to a great place. And then I would say the second highlight is that I ended on such a strong note. For them to say that that was the best cocktail that they had tasted from me [in episode 5] and that’s what I can leave them with a lasting impression of, I felt really good about that. And then also being able to represent who I am, as a Black woman in the industry.”
What was the most stressful moment in the competition for you?
“It was definitely the first elimination round. They didn’t show it at all. But definitely when I get intense–anxiety or anything, I cry. And when they said that I was safe, I bawled immediately. I couldn’t hold it. And I was like, “Oh, my God,” because I didn’t want to go home first.”
How do you budget your time between all of your different ventures?
“I keep my bartending schedule to four days a week, Wednesday through Saturday, which allows me to have Sunday, Monday, [and] Tuesday to do the other projects. But it still feels like I’m just mixing everything together. I think it’s important to be consistent on the days. Sunday is one day to record the Soul Palate Podcast and it’s my day to be with Denaya where we’re talking about future episodes and what we want to taste. Mondays I like to rest a little bit. Tuesdays–almost every day is a Chocolate City’s Best day for me–kind of waking up trying to figure out what’s going to happen next and all the other moving parts of Chocolate City’s Best. I’m constantly having conversations with people around the country about how to do partnerships and different things like that.”
What are you going to be working on in 2023?
“Definitely keep an eye on the podcast, there’s a couple of projects that are going to be coming out–I don’t want to say yet–that I think are going to be really awesome for the industry. I have a pop up coming up with Empowering the Diner that’s going to be an explosive, immersive experience where we’re going to be trying to accentuate and excite all of our senses. Chocolate City’s Best Cocktail Competition is coming back next year. We took a break this year to get some ducks in a row, but next year, we’re coming back bigger and better. And I can’t wait to meet 10 more Black and Brown folks of the industry and give them opportunities to thrive.”
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
