Full disclosure: Writer, Santa Fe native and spirits proponent/expert Natalie Bovis was once a columnist for SFR. But that was ages ago, and well before she created and presided over the annual Cocktails & Culture Festival, a celebration of all things elevated food and drink. And though she left town in 1993 to pursue a life as a writer and actress, Bovis ultimately found her calling with her Liquid Muse blogging and events platform, through which she’ll host the annual Cocktails & Culture Festival that kicks off on May 30. Why would SFR delve into something that doesn’t start for well over a month? Well, this is the tenth year of the fest, plus events sell out at Cocktails & Culture, dear readers, and you should at least have a chance to try and get tickets. We spoke with Bovis about why she does what she does, why it matters and what folks might expect from this year’s Cocktails & Culture.
Bovis was one of the first women in the blog-o-sphere to write about the world of high-quality drink—traditionally a male-
domainted arena. “I was sort of, for once in my life, in the right place at the right time,” she says. “I didn’t plan for The Liquid Muse to become a business, but it got a little notoriety in those days, the heyday of the alcohol world.” Bovis says that prior the 2010s, bars had adopted simpler methods that often boiled down to beer and vodka with sugary add-ons. “In 2006, when I started The Liquid Muse, blogs were kind of a new way of exploring writing,” she adds. Since then, Bovis has also published several books, including 2023’s Drinking with My Dog: The Canine Lover’s Cocktail Book, a dog-themed take on putting together a home bar.
Like house and techno music, the mixology resurgence has British roots, according to Bovis. “At that time, the late-1990s, early 2000s, the resurgence started in London,” she explains. “That really happened with the opening of Milk & Honey and this guy Sasha Petrosky, who opened a branch of Milk & Honey in New York when he moved there, and it trickled down to Los Angeles, New York City. it went major city, and the golden years were really between 2006-2011.”
The Cocktails & Culture Festival is kind of about chasing those feelings of the early mixology resurgence. From the 1930s roughly til the 1970s, bars and their offerings were a little more high-class than the middle of the road style most Americans likely know today, Bovis says. “And I’ve been a bartender,” she notes, “so I know it’s all about hospitality.” Still, she says, the cocktail world is also about taking pride and ownership in one’s work—a bartender and a mixologist are not the same thing. Bovis found herself missing the more elevated concoctions of the mid-aught era, so she educated herself under the tutelage of modern mixology progenitors like Dale DeGroff and Tony Abou-Ganim, otherwise known as the guys who helped mixology go even wider following Petrosky’s impact. During her studies, Bovis says, she came to realize that cocktails, like wine, can take nearly any meal to the next level. In broad strokes, Bovis’ Liquid Muse was garnering attention from big-name spirits brands, and she was tapped to teach workshops and seminars. “When I began teaching, I needed to be an expert,” she says, “so I became an expert.” Which roughly brings us back around to Cocktails & Culture. Learning under masters deepened Bovis’ love of spirits and their craft, a love she wants to share with others. Ditto for food (more on that in a sec), which is why so much of the festival features local chefs.
The Taco Wars feature of Cocktails & Culture merges numerous local chefs who will battle it out for taco supremacy. It also sells out insanely fast each year, thus the early warning. This year’s lineup of chef’s is wild, too, and includes Escondido’s Fernando Ruiz; Jeffrey Kaplan of Rowley Farmhouse Ales; Jackson Ault of the Santa Fe Chef private chef/catering company; Beverly Crespin from Dragonfly Tea House and many more. For Bovis, however, the most exciting feature might be Taco Emergency, a cohort of ER nurses from Christus St. Vincent who took home second place in the Taco Wars competition a few years back. “In 2019, just before the pandemic, I got a random email from a nurse named David Jones asking if the nurses could compete,” Bovis says. “I thought, ‘this is amazing,’ because I always wanted this to be a community event—I was so flattered, and they won second place out of all the professional chefs that year.” The following COVID-19 years highlighted the importance of first responders, Bovis adds. And though Jones has since died, this year’s Taco Wars will feature a team of nurses eager to follow in his footsteps.
The Mind, Body, Spirit(s) event at the Jean Cocteau Cinema adds a mindful and healthier aspect to Cocktails & Culture. Most of the festival events will take place at the Santa Fe Farmers Market Pavilion, but Bovis likes to loop in other venues for the fest, too. Additionally, as Bovis is a proponent of drinking responsibly—or at the very least, thinking of cocktails more like a culinary pairing opportunity similar to wine—one of her favorite parts of the festival pairs a reasonably sized spirits tasting with a guided yoga experience from instructor Emily Branden. Oh, and there’s a special tasting at George RR Martin’s newly opened Milk of the Poppy right around the corner during the fest, too.
Boxcar chef Eric Stumpf is slated to host the Chef & Shaker Brunch event, which includes a pisco tasting. If you’ve yet to taste the South American take on brandy that is pisco, you’ve been missing out. Fermented from grape juice, it’s a bit like wine, only it packs more of a punch. Similarly, Stumpf’s food work at Boxcar punches well above its weight class, and if you always assumed that a sports bar wouldn’t have a kickass menu, his work is the exception. This one will likely sell out, too.
Bovis will launch her newest book project during the fest at As Above So Below Distillery. Titled Cat Gods, Goddesses, Deities & Demons, Bovis’ new book showcases her love of animals through the power of cat lore and history. Of course, she’s proven that love in other ways, including how she’s been able to generate tens of thousands of dollars in donations to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Española Animal Shelter via Cocktails & Culture. She’s also donated to plenty of other causes, including nonprofit Cooking With Kids, which aims to educate youths in the kitchen; New Mexico Children’s Grief Center; Santa Fe Youth & Family Services and others.
Seminars are free for bartenders, which seems like a no-brainer for those looking to et a little more serious about the craft. “I wish more bartenders came,” Bovis says, “which is why I make it free; and I’ve definitely seen when they do come, they end up leaving inspired and excited. You can see their eyes twinking.” As for everybody else? Much of Cocktails & Culture will sell out, which is why the time to get tickets is upon us. Bovis mounts the festival completely on her own each year, too, which kind of makes the whole experience all the more impressive. “It’s a huge investment, and every year I’m nervous,” she admits. “I’m sticking my neck out, and every year I ask myself if I want to do it again. Then it happens, and the people are happy. I’m happy. Then, after a few days of being a recluse in my house and recuperating, I find I’m already thinking about what the following year will be like. And I’ll do it as long as it’s fun, as long as it’s meaningful.”
Cocktails & Culture 2025
- Various times Friday,
- May 30-Sunday, June 1.
- Various price points and locations,
- theliquidmuse.com
