The Cocktailery, a retail destination for cocktail enthusiasts as well as host to hands-on cocktail classes, is now open in Atherton Mill. The shop is a rebrand and evolution of what was formerly known as Liberate Your Palate, continuing private and public classes while adding a shop of bar supplies, bitters, books, and more.  

Owner Tamu Curtis launched Liberate Your Palate as a cocktail passport tour of Charlotte bars and restaurants before evolving into hands-on private classes, as well as public classes at Sweet Spot Studio. During the pandemic, Curtis transitioned to teaching virtual classes before finding the space in popular South End retail hub Atherton Mill.

“What I fell in love with and what made it possible for me to fund this on my own with no loans, no investors, was that we didn’t have to build the space out,” she says. “It was a finished space. So it already came with electricity, finished walls. There was already a kitchenette in there that I could just upfit to be commercial with commercial equipment. All of that was already in place, so those are things I didn’t have to spend money on.”

The interior reflects Curtis’s personality, with floral murals on the wall, clean geometric lines, and plenty of metallics. Stepping into the store, near Not Just Coffee, guests are greeted by shelves lined with giftable items, cocktail books, shakers and straws, and syrups and bitters. There will be a tasting station for visitors to sample the store’s wide selection. Across the store, syrups and drink bases that can be used in cocktails and booze-free drinks are for sale.

The Cocktailery is currently open for private classes and retail customers, with a schedule of public classes coming soon. For Curtis, its opening is the realization of what she hoped Liberate Your Palate would be years ago.

“I was looking for it to be the best possible presentation that I could make it, and that was very hard because I had big ideas that I couldn’t execute because I was never in my own space,” she says. “It never really was what I wanted it to be by any means, so I always was working and working to see my full vision into fruition. And this is it.”

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