Thea Engst is currently a cocktail developer and writer. Thea has spent more than a decade in restaurants delving into cocktail, beer, spirit, and wine knowledge, but most importantly making friends and her own family of skilled restaurant workers, artists, and wonderful human beings. She has been featured on Chronicle and in The Boston Globe, Boston Eater, Boston, and Boston Metro. Her first book Drink Like a Bartender was rated one of the Best Booze Books of 2017 by Forbes. Thea specializes in making and consuming strong and stirred drinks, she reads tarot regularly, and shares a whiskey with her guides every Monday.

Lauren Vidgor has been working in bars for more than a decade. She became Bar Manager of craft cocktail bar, River Bar, in the summer of 2015 and has since become the Beverage Director for River Bar and its sister restaurant, The Independent. Lauren is now the face of both bar programs and has been featured in Boston Metro, WGBH, Improper Bostonian, and Boston Eater. Lauren excels at retelling the origin story behind cocktails, spirits, and wines. She survives off of black coffee and whiskey. Lauren challenges her staff to be the best they can be and leads by example in educating herself. She learned how to distill at local distillery, GrandTen, and constantly reads up and studies any grape, distillery, or brewery that catches her eye.