Mike Henderson started working in the service industry at the age of 14 but began his bartending career after college when he returned to his hometown Madison, Wisconsin in 1999. There, Hendo landed his first bar job a small college bar, Paul’s Club, where he met and worked under now renowned mixologist Jim Meehan for three years. In 2003 Mike moved to Colorado and worked in seasonal ski town restaurants and bars before moving to Boulder in January 2007 to take over as general manager of Rhumba (now Centro Latin Kitchen & Restaurant). In 2008, Henderson spent time as a regional Brand Ambassador for St. Germain before accepting a position at TAG as bar manager. In 2009, Hendo was nominated as one of Denver Magazine’s Mixologists of the Year and can currently be found “Behind the Stick” at Colt & Grey on Platte Street in Denver’s revived Riverfront district.

One of the most decorated and dedicated men in our profession, New Jersey native Sean Kenyon is a third-generation bartender with 25 years behind the bar. A student of cocktail history, Kenyon is a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and is a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program and has been asked to proctor the program each year since his graduation.

As a founding member of the Colorado chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild (COBG) he is passionately dedicated to furthering the art and craft of bartending. In 2009, Kenyon was named Denver Magazine's Mixologist of the year, and was one of three finalists in 2010. In 2010 he won Domaine de Canton's Bartender of the Year competition in St Maarten. Kenyon feels blessed to be able to make a career out of something he loves so giving back to his community has always been a top priority. Sean has coordinated or participated in charity events for the Denver Rescue Mission, The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Foundation, The Gathering Place and Share our Strength, where he is the 2010 Colorado beverage chair for Taste of the Nation. As well, in 2008 Sean ran his first marathon, the Denver Marathon, to benefit the V Foundation for cancer research and raised over $5000.

COBG Treasurer (and Denver rock legend) Anika Zappe has been Root Down's (1600 West 33rd Avenue) creative cocktail force since the restaurant opened in December 2008. Our tattooed mistress of Cocktology mixes drinks that emphasize fresh, quality ingredients and has spent over 14 years behind the stick supporting her rock & roll lifestyle while she performed with her band, Hemi Cuda. Touring to different parts of the world exposed her to some great cocktails, and eventually the “livelihood” turned into her passion.

Always a dominant force in cocktail competitions, Zappe was a nominee for Denver Magazine’s mixologist of the year in 2009. Her other accomplishments include being “Denver’s Most Inspired Bartender” in 2009 and she was one of just 100 mixologists invited to the Grand Marnier mixology summit in Vail during April 2009. She has attended the prestigious BAR program in NYC and graduated BAR Certified and is a brand ambassador for Boca Loca, a Colorado owned cachaca company. Her personal goal is to inspire and educate others while continuing her own studies in spirits and bartending.

Mixing both words and cocktails, Brian Melton first stepped behind a bar at the age of seventeen, but began stringing sentences together the day he first learned to write, hand making illustrated children’s books bound with string in second grade. A jack-of-all-trades, Texas-native Melton has spent time as a professional radio DJ, a struggling musician, a vagabond, an office manager, a pizza maker, a telemarketer (if only for two days) a writer and editor for Denver Magazine and 5280, and a professional student and collegiate teacher who has his Master’s in English Literature.

Melton has finally figured out how to combine his love for the bar and his passion for writing and, when not slinging drinks, can constantly be found tucked into his neighborhood coffee shop writing press releases, websites and an uncontrollable amount of blogs including both the COBG blog and his own blog “One Day In Cocktology.”

As our fearless leader, Bryan Dayton’s 15 years of experience and his ever-growing list of accomplishments serve as a testament to his dedication to our craft. A graduate of the Beverage Alcohol Resource Program (BAR) with honors, Dayton opened his own restaurant, Oak at Fourteenth, in November of 2010. Prior to that, Dayton oversaw the beverage program at Boulder’s acclaimed Frasca Food & Wine and worked part-time as the Colorado brand ambassador for Domaine de Canton while owning his own cocktail catering service, Sweet & Sour Cocktails, Sweet and Sour Cocktails.


Dayton helped start the Colorado chapter of the United States Bartender’s Guild in an effort to help develop the growing cocktail scene in Colorado. Based on his own award-winning cocktail recipes, he received two invitations to the Grand Marnier Mixology Summit in 2008 and 2009. Dayton has been featured in several prominent local and national publications, including Vanity Fair, Men’s Journal, 5280, Westword, The Denver Post, and several of Dayton’s recipes can be found in latest publication of Mr. Boston’s Bar Guide.