We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew Allen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’ve always felt that hospitality is my ongoing theme in my life, whether it’s a friends gathering, or a group of people sitting at my bar. I define hospitality as Making someone feel as comfortable as you feel. To invite someone into a space where they may feel intimidated, make it a priority to make that person feel welcome and less of that intimidation.

Growing up in New England, working in the restaurant business, I fell into the culture of “taking care” of people, and human connection took place pretty quickly.

As I learned people skills (starting at the legal working age of 14), I had always worked through high school and paid way through college, and it felt easy to connect with people. Without knowing it, body language played a huge part of learning the trade – I was able to read people. Of course, I would help them with their orders and get the correct dishes and cocktails to them – Everyone’s gotta eat! As I continued, I would get praises from the management about a 5-star review, or an email saying a first date went super well because they had me serving them.

With a boost of confidence from a young age, I continued on to waiting tables at night in my 20s, while I was an ESL (English as a second language) teacher for Denver Public Schools and the skills were transferred to teaching kids the correct way to speak, spell and understand English. Sometimes it was deemed necessary to explain it in Spanish. There’s something that teachers talk about called the “lightbulb moment” when a student’s eyes widen and they understand why a rule is applied in the English language, for example – that’s what makes teachers keep doing what they’re doing.

One slow night, working at Margarita bar in Cherry Creek in 2018, a woman and her daughter were sitting at my bar watching me make our famous “Horchata Martini” for one of my patrons – she says – Hey, what’s in that? I said, Well let me show you – I pulled out my bar tools, Vodka and Horchata, and brought them over to her and her daughter – nice and slow, I showed her how to build this drink into a shaker, and them I rimmed the glass with cinnamon and pour shaken cocktail into the Martini glass. They absolutely loved it. and the smiles of their faces said it all. Turns out she was a Property manager at AMLI Commons Park. She offered to pay me a 6 hour shift’s wage to come in for 2 hours and teach her residents to make cocktails the following month.

Now, I tell people my business started during the pandemic, but It really started with this connection, where I continued to build it during the pandemic using Zoom and several other luxury residential rental buildings.

My mentality – If you’re good at something, teach it. Take the compliments of “you do a great job at this” and run with it.

If you do well at your job – risk is necessary to branch out on your own and fund your own venture. Why work for someone else? There’s a million excuses not to, but a million more that say “DO IT”.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We run classic cocktail classes in Downtown Denver, RINO neighborhood. We can host you and your corporate team or we’ll come to your home and setup for a fun party to celebrate a bachelorette, baby showers, birthday parties, client entertainment, etc.

My most important rule – create a no pressure environment for learning.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Over the years, I’ve found my spots in Denver, Summit county, Vail, Littleton, and Cherry Creek.

Best bartenders in Denver – North Italia- Shoutout to Frank the tank, Nikhol, Jess, Remy and Kenai
Best tacos – La Diabla LoDo
Best food (Michelin star appointed)- Bruto, shoutout to Chef Chris Ryan
Best brewery – Our Mutual Friend
Best BBQ – Smokin Yards in Idaho Springs
Best Happy hour – Palenque Littleton

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My business partner, Chef Callan who runs Bittersweet provisions

My SEO guy – Spencer of Connectflo.com

My social media guy – Emilio of High shutter productions

My commercial space owners and property managers – Cara of Thrive workspace- Ballpark

Website: https://www.mattsmixology-denver.com

Instagram: MattsMixologyDenver2024

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O_lqNIPA7Y

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