The Denver Post

Three New Denver Bars Among the Best in the U.S.

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The bar at Semiprecious

Photo Credit: Jeff Fierberg

The 20th annual Spirited Awards, part of the esteemed Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans, announced its roster of top 10 honorees this week, which are essentially the semifinalists in the national competition categories. The awards, hosted by the nonprofit Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, “celebrate excellence across the global bar and cocktail industry,” according to the organization.

While many of the honorees hailed from cocktail powerhouse cities such as New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans, Denver made an impressive showing in the “best new U.S. cocktail bar” category. Out of 10 semifinalists, three came from the Mile High City.

Those include The Peach Crease Club, a RiNo concept from local cocktail power-couple Alex Jump and Stuart Jensen; Rougarou, a new bar in Five Points from the team behind the esteemed beverage haunt Yacht Club; and Semiprecious, a self-described “neighborhood bar” which came to Denver by way of Los Angeles, where ownership operates two other cocktail joints.

Nikolas Sparks, general manager of Semiprecious, contends that Denver deserves to be recognized among the ranks of other highly-regarded cocktail scenes across the country.

“Though Semiprecious has only been here for a year, this type of recognition for the Denver bar scene has been a long time coming,” Sparks said in an emailed statement. “The community here has been nothing but welcoming and supportive towards us since opening, and we’re honored to be recognized alongside so many of our local friends that are operating at such a high level.”