I’ve had a week in duality. (That’s honestly the best way to sum up my life, but this one was different.)

On Sunday, I attended the Hospitality Hued award ceremony, where I was nominated for the Spirit of Hospitality award. It’s the first time I’ve been nominated for anything, and it was pretty awesome to be seen. What I found even more interesting about the night was the range of hospitality represented. I live in a beverage/restaurant bubble so I don’t often interact with other hospitality professionals. From what I could surmise, a lot of people in the room worked in corporate hospitality management, whether it was real estate, hotels, or franchises.

On Tuesday, I was invited to a salon (the gathering kind) hosted by Alison Cross at her new space in Castleberry Hill, Local Magic. The gathering was centered around Meryanne Loum-Martin, the owner of the boutique hotel Jnane Tamsna in Marrakech; Cebo Campbell, an author and brand strategist for hotels; and artists Fahamu Pecou and Tracy Murrell. It was incredible. It was expansive. Again, I was struck by how broad hospitality can be. Everyone in this room was a creative and driven by experiences.

Neither event was right or wrong. Both are needed. Both inspired me. The first showed me the power of building systems and community at scale. The second showed me the kind of creative energy I want and need to live inside. The second lit me up and reminded me that I’m a creative. I’m experience-driven. I love textures and storytelling. Being in rooms filled with similar minds makes me feel less alone.

I currently straddle this fence of a corporate life, but I can see the fork in the road. I get to work with other creatives (bartenders) often and it’s the most satisfying part of my work. But on the other side, I work in an extremely corporate structure that isn’t necessarily driven by innovation, creativity, or forging a new path. I was having an informal conversation with someone that’s been at my company for a while and they said they were always told not to rock the boat. Eek! I am a boat rocker! I want to feel the water. I want to splash around and then figure out if we can get the boat upstream in a totally new way. These people don’t even want to get wet!

Being in those two rooms helped me realize this push and pull that I often feel. The answer is neither structure nor creativity. Room two reminded me that what I respond to is: a story-driven, creatively led point of view with the structure to support it.

Hope you’re well!

Shannon

I’m back from ten incredible days in Jamaica. I have a lot to say, so I’m just going to jump right in:

• Holy Sip Jamaica - As I mentioned a few months ago, I didn’t do a dinner this year. Instead, we spent an afternoon drifting down the Rio Grande to old school reggae and a lunch stop at Belinda’s. It’s exactly what I imagined it could be. This is an activity that I’ve meant to do for over a decade and after doing it I can say it’s one of the most amazing experiences of my life, which is saying a lot.

• Banana daiquiris - It wouldn’t be Holy Sip without a beverage. For the occasion, I made a banana daiquiri kinda thing (not frozen) because the rafts were originally used to transport bananas and other produce throughout the country before being used for leisurely trips. (I was going to list the name of the guy that started this, but I went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and realized how skeevy he was, and I just can’t do it.) The only challenge to the cocktail is that I wanted to create a banana syrup from the peels, but post-hurricane bananas and plantains are scarce. A liqueur made it possible.

• Ice - I ran into a supermarket in Jamaica to get some ice for the cooler to take down the river. I asked the most helpful guy for ice, and he asked me if I wanted it from the refrigerator. Perplexed, I replied with a high-pitched, “I guess”. (Clearly, no one wants ice from the refrigerator.) He took me to the refrigerator and handed me a Smirnoff Ice! Sir, no! Welp, turns out they did not have ice cubes, but Smirnoff Ice was aplenty. And yes, that does make sense that it’s in the refrigerator and not the freezer.

• My Big Jamaican Wedding - The first few days before heading over to Port Antonio for Holy Sip, we toured the island trying to find a wedding venue. Before we went to Jamaica, I’d planned out the whole wedding and was convinced that Treasure Beach was where we’d have it. However, we went to Treasure Beach, and after running through the logistics of having 120-140 people there, I realized very quickly that I was totally wrong. I love Treasure Beach and think it’s amazing, but it’s a quirky bohemian sort of place, and it just didn’t seem fair to bring over 100 people to a place that they probably wouldn’t choose on their own. Some places are great for some things but not for others. Similarly, I ruled out Port Antonio for the same reason. It’s my absolute favorite part of the island (and it now has new, glorious roads!) and one of my favorite places in the world, but it can’t contain that many people well. Anything over 50 would make me uncomfortable about everyone having a great experience.

  Well, after hours and hours of searching, I found the place! It’s everything I was looking for in a part of the island that really surprised me. It has a great food and beverage program, locally sourced ingredients, Jamaican culture at the forefront, easy for people to access, and the views are incredible. It’s a vibe. It’s a place I’d host something anyway. But most importantly, I trust their team. As someone who plans things for a living, I can’t stress enough how important it is to me to have people who will allow me to let go. I honestly didn’t know how important it was to me until I found it. Yes, I should tell you where the place is, but you’ll have to wait a little longer.

I hope you’re all well!

Shannon

I do not do well in the cold. I’m currently in Jamaica, and even though I only landed yesterday, I feel like a completely different person. I’ve been so off with my writing schedule, and I think it’s simply because I can’t function in the cold.

Anyway, here’s what’s been on my mind:

• Mexico City. I was in Mexico City (not cold, but not hot) last week and got to check out a few new bars. Mexico City is one of my favorite cities in the world and its bar and cafe scene is top-notch. I appreciate trying bars when people don’t know I’m in the industry because it’s the best way to get an experience similar to what anyone else would get and that’s the only way I can tell if I actually like a bar. Newcomer, Bar Mauro passed the test for me. The cocktails were all amazing and the vibe is perfect.

• Masala y Maiz. I was able to snag a table at Masala y Maiz while we were there. I didn’t book in advance because I wasn’t the planner for this trip so I honestly forgot I was even going. So I was very happy when a slot opened up while I was on the waitlist. I remember the first time I ate there and I wondered how on earth is this place not on the Michelin list. There are lots of great places in Mexico City, but this one was so special. Since then it’s been featured on Chef’s Table on Netflix and it now has a Michelin star as well. I’ll be honest, I think Michelin gets it wrong often (or places become subpar after they make it on), but this is one where it’s absolutely deserved.

• Wedding planning. I’m in wedding lala land. That’s the other reason time is just whizzing by. It should come as no surprise to anyone that I’ve already planned this wedding even though it won’t happen until next year. Once I started, I couldn’t stop and now, four weeks later, I’m pretty much planning the whole thing. It’s clearly because I approached it like a big Holy Sip dinner, so it was all pretty easy. Now I’m pretty much done, and I can (mostly) stop thinking about it and get on with the rest of the year. The only thing I haven’t figured out is what to serve to drink.

• Jamaica post-Hurricane. Part of why I had to finish planning was because I wanted to use this time in Jamaica to scout venues since we were already going to be here. We drove through the middle of the country to the part of the island where the eye of Hurricane Melissa hit and I’ve never seen such devastation. I’ve driven through Black River many times and pretty much none of it exists anymore. However, I still feel optimistic that it will rebuild. It was great seeing full planes land in Montego Bay. So many hotels were sold out. And nature rebuilding itself is truly a fascinating sight. The trees are sprouting new leaves, the waves are bringing in fresh sand, and the Jamaican people are as resilient as ever.

• Hospitality friends. When we arrived yesterday, we stopped by to see my partner’s best friend who randomly happened to be in Jamaica at the same time. They’d rented a villa in Montego Bay and we ended up hanging out all night with their friends. The organizer of the trip worked in the wine world and had brought a few bottles down with him. It was such a great night. It reminded me how much I love people that work in hospitality. It also reminded me how little I need to be content. And even more than all of that, it reminded me to leave a little room for spontaneity.

Hope you’re all doing well!

Shannon

These past few weeks have been a little bit of a blur. My brain feels like it’s still catching up with everything. Getting back into the swing of work was rough. It was cold. And at this point, I’ve been cold for months. I don’t do cold well. I’m in Miami for a few days for work, and I can finally see the end of the tunnel.

Now that I’m warmer, here’s what I’ve been thinking about:

• Best restaurants of 2025: Is it too late for this? This was my plan for my first newsletter of the year, so I still wanted to make sure I shared some of my favorite meals (food and drinks) of last year. I won’t go into a ton of detail, just know that if you’re in or find yourself in these cities, please check these out: Kabawa (NY ), June (Vancouver), Nessa (London) and Gunpowder (Lisbon).

• Rockaway Hotel: I touched on this last time, but our December travel was rough. It would take me an entire newsletter to write about all the things that went wrong. However, I also realize that if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have landed at the Rockaway Hotel in New York. When our flight left for Lisbon without us, we had to spend the night in New York. I had my eye on this hotel for another trip, so when I saw it on the Delta list, I picked it immediately. I didn’t care that it was 30 minutes from the airport. As soon as we walked in tired and frustrated, and then met with a glass of rosé, I knew I’d made the right choice. The heated pool and sauna was the cherry on top. This hotel became one of my favorite parts of the trip.

• Authors of the Estate: Another highlight from last year was finding London-based creative Andre Anderson. He did one of the workshops for the Bombay Sapphire trips I did in October. I was fascinated with his perspective on the world. I’d try and explain this more, but he’s just released a YouTube short and it would be better if you just watched it. It’s an inspiring way to start the year.

• Jamaica: A few people have reached out to see if Jamaica is still happening this year. It is! I’ve shifted the experience from our normal dinners and instead we’re rafting down the Rio Grande. Post-hurricane Melissa, I wanted to support the island, but also make sure we were supporting the community. This experience will allow us to do that. Simultaneously, it aligned with my new view on Holy Sip being a field guide. This experience matches that vision.

• Bar Premio: I finally found the space that I’ve been looking for in Atlanta. I kinda don’t want to share this one. There are many places that I love in the city, but Bar Premio is the exact kind of space that I love. It’s the lobby cafe/bar in the Forth Hotel. It’s visually stunning and still cozy. It has coffee/tea for most of the day and then transitions into a bar later in the evening. They have amazing pastries and still heartier meals. This is exactly why I love it. It does both of everything and equally well. It’s the type of space I can sit in all day. I can meet with friends. I can go alone. I can sit at a nook. I can sit at the bar. I can hear a DJ. I can write. I can work. The cacio e pepe is incredible. It’s perfect. Please don’t go. Fine, you can go, but just don’t tell anyone else.

Hope you’re all well!

Shannon

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! I’m back home after two weeks of traveling with my boyfriend, mom, and sister to Lisbon, Morocco (Marrakech and Sidi Kaouki), and Paris. The trip ended with my boyfriend proposing on our last night in Paris.

That’s right! I’m engaged, and I’ve quickly realized that I have no idea how to be engaged. I don’t know how to tell people. I don’t know when I should wear my ring (I was honestly shocked to find out that people wear their ring 24/7). I don’t know what I should be doing at all. So, I’ve decided to sit with it for a couple of weeks and let it sort itself out.

While I’m doing that, I’ll go back to a few weeks ago in Lisbon when we were a couple of days into the trip. I mistakenly said aloud…”Hmm, what should I write about?” This prompted my boyfriend to offer his suggestions. Here was his list:

• How cocktails travel as you go. (We were grabbing drinks at Farès, a cute little restaurant with well-executed classic cocktails. I can’t tell you how the food was because we ate at Lupita, a well-known pizzeria that is worth the hype. Their natural wines were also top-notch.)

• How the airlines don’t care about you anymore. (Our time in Lisbon was shortened because our flight was delayed in Atlanta and we missed our connecting flight in New York by 10 minutes. I remember a time when they’d hold the plane…what happened to that? Especially when the 90-minute delay was caused because they had to take trash off the plane, but a catering truck on the tarmac was blocking their ability to exit. This is the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard. Fifteen of us missed the flight.)

• How Portugal is the number one consumer of saltfish, but they don’t have it, like Jamaica. (Yes, this is true. Bacalhau (salted cod) is the national dish of Portugal, but all the cod is imported. It’s the same for Jamaica. Ackee and saltfish is the national dish, but the cod is imported, already dried and salted. We learned this on a sailing trip across the Tagus River while drinking Portuguese wines like vinho verde and moscatel. It was chilly, but this was one of my favorite memories of the two weeks. It also reminded me how good and inexpensive Portuguese wines are.)

• Lisbon is the second-oldest European city. You have to throw some facts in there. (I was a little surprised by this. I didn’t realize the city was this old. Lisboans also like to tell the story of the earthquake, tsunami and fires of 1755 that destroyed most of the city.)

• Traveling with your family and how different it is from traveling with your significant other. And how your mom lost her phone in the Uber and blamed it on her purse. (I was definitely worried about this. My boyfriend (fiancé) and I have a pretty defined way that we travel together. I put a lot of time into pulling together an itinerary that would make this trip work for everyone. And I have to say, it worked. The only mishaps were the travel factors that we couldn’t control like missing the connection to Lisbon or when our flight was diverted to Agadir because we couldn’t land in Marrakech (a 2-hour flight turned into a 9-hour travel day). I’m deeply grateful that I was able to have this time with all of them.

• Oh, Gunpowder and the difference between the one in London. (The thing I spent the most time on was finding restaurants that would suit everyone. Lisbon restaurants were tricky. I noticed they had a Gunpowder, a modern Indian restaurant that I also tried in London. I’m glad I booked it. This one was better and it’s actually one of the best meals that I had in 2025. I wanted to check out Bloco, a wine bar next door, but sadly, we had to go pick up the aforementioned cell phone.)

• You don’t have to hide that you’re using my ideas. (Well, this was the end of that. Then he got distracted as he made the bartender make him what he refers to as his cocktail (it was mine, but I guess we can now say it was ours): Mezcal, Montenegro and St-Germain stirred on a large ice cube with an expressed lemon.

Hope you’re all doing well and your year is off to a great start!

Shannon

Have you ever circled around something and then one day everything clicked into place? Actually, as I wrote that, it reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Rainer Maria Rilke’s book, Letters to A Young Poet. (I totally read it because of that scene in Sister Act.) Anyway, I read the book and in it Rilke wrote:

“I would like to beg you, dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

As I wrote that, I got chills because I haven’t thought about that quote in a really long time. And it feels like such a full-circle moment. I read this book about 20 years ago when I was trying to figure out if I really was a writer. And I’ve reread it a few times since.

When I picked back up with this newsletter a few months ago, I finally committed to writing no matter what. I decided to write when I was unsure, write when I felt stuck and write even if I thought it sucked. It’s the freest that I’ve ever felt writing. Without realizing it, I was finally living the question.

Last week, I said, Holy Sip is a field guide for the curious drinker. And just like that, I could see all the pieces moving and angling into place with ease.

I could trace various points in my life where it was clear this was the type of writing that I did and felt strongest about (writing my autobiography at 12…saying I was a cultural anthropologist when I spent the better part of a year in Brazil at 25…writing about my coffee table being stolen when I had Studio No. 7 instead of the normal things restaurant owners write about…writing a blog solely around fish tacos and my adventures in finding them). This has always been the way I see and write about the world.

I wasn’t stuck, I was just working my way into the answer. Not just in the last six months, but really in the last 10 years of writing some version of this newsletter. Everything about how I‘ve lived has led me to this place. I’ve always had the same desires, it’s just that now I have the experience that I needed to go along with it.

“Field guide.” Those two little words made sense of this thing that I’ve been trying to figure out for so long. I feel such a deep sense of relief. I’m excited to see what the new year and the next ten years bring.

Hope you’re all doing well! Thanks for joining me for the ride and living these questions with me. This is my last newsletter of the year. I hope you all have an amazing holiday and pull into 2026 in high spirits!

Shannon

I’m back from Cape Town and I’ve fallen in love with this city even more. I’m amazed that I even came back, especially as I stare at the dreariness that is outside. I used to think that settling down in Jamaica was my end goal. However, I may or may not have perused real estate listings before I left. There’s something about the city that puts me into my zone. I realized this on my first visit, even as I limped around with a second-degree burn on my toosh.

Here’s what I’ve been thinking about:

• Brandy and Coke is the national drink of South Africa. I signed off my last newsletter saying I was going to find some cognac, but then I found out about this brandy and coke thing. They also had cognac (lots of D’ussé!), but I found this so random. (I’m avoiding rabbit holes today, but at some point I’ll look into this.)

• In general, I realized how much people love Coke in Cape Town. The drink, to be clear. I was sitting at a restaurant and essentially in the center of five tables, all of which had Coke on the table. Each person in the party had a bottle. I’ve never seen anything like it and I live in Atlanta! And I don’t think it’s because we don’t give the actual bottles at restaurants in the US. Or is it? Are more people enjoying Coca-Cola with their meals in restaurants than I realize?

• I also found out that South Africa essentially went through prohibition during the pandemic. It was illegal to sell or make alcohol for about 6 months. Can you imagine how much Coke they sold during this time?! Meanwhile in Atlanta? There was a pool party in a nightclub.

• We got suckered into going to this vibe dining restaurant by this very likeable chap. I love vibes, but I tend to stay away from vibe dining places (a few rare exceptions) because the food isn’t that great. I also don’t think the vibes are that great for that matter. If you’re not familiar with the term, they’re generally restaurants that teeter along the lines of a nightclub. They might even turn into a nightclub as the night progresses. My boyfriend remarked that it felt like being at Medieval Times and I just thought this was hilarious. It’s definitely dinner theatre. Anyway, the food was actually pretty good, but we still slipped out before the shenanigans.

• I found so many amazing restaurants and bars on this trip. I’m working on a city guide so they can all live in the same place. One of my favorites was Sin Cero, a new wine bar on Kloof Street. We were with some new friends, who quickly became dear friends. We started the evening with a bottle of Coot Club Rosé. On the back it said, “Pairs well with good company and scandalous behavior.”

• I just looked at their website and it says:

  For sun-chasers, storytellers, and certified coots. At Coot Club, we believe life’s best moments aren’t planned, they just happen. That’s why our rosé was made for the rituals that don’t need a reason: impromptu picnics, laughter that echoes across the lagoon, and that one last glass that turns into two.

  I’ve also discovered that they have a hotel and see, now I have to go back to South Africa.

Hope you’re all doing well and chasing sunsets no matter where you are.

Shannon

I’m in Cape Town this week for Ajabu, a cocktail festival. I’ll be speaking on two panels, but let’s be honest, someone could have asked me to come here to mow their lawn and I would have done it. I love this city and it feels so good to be back. I feel like I’ve been fighting for the past two weeks to get to this moment. Even though this is still some form of work, it’s still a personal trip and the creative recharge I’ve needed.

Here’s what I’ve been thinking about:

• I had a riff on an Incredible Hulk at Hello Hello, a new cocktail bar in New York. Do you remember this cocktail? It was a 50/50 split of Hpnotiq and Hennessy. Their version had D’USSÉ, Hpnotiq, citrus, banana, lychee and matcha. I was planning on just tasting it, but it was so good that I drank the whole thing in about two minutes. I love that the Incredible Hulk is getting this craft cocktail treatment.

• In general, I’m seeing a major uptick in bartenders using Hpnotiq in new and exciting ways. Last year, a bartender in Chicago made me an Old Fashioned with Hpnotiq as the base spirit. It’s the kind of thing no one in their right mind would ask for, but yet, she made it absolutely delicious.

• I googled Incredible Hulk because I realized I had no idea where this cocktail came from and I wondered if it was documented. I ended up reading a fascinating article in Vine Pair on the origins of the cocktail. It’s a masterclass on marketing. It’s so crazy when you realize that there was a time when marketing spirits through rappers and the hip hop community didn’t exist.

• I was at Hello Hello for a D’USSÉ event. Not sure if I’ve mentioned that I work on D’USSÉ in addition to St~Germain, Grey Goose and Bombay. D’USSÉ was founded by Jay Z, which is why it’s so strange to imagine a time when hip hop wasn’t tightly involved in spirits. It’s hard for me to remember and I lived this history.

• The cocktail at Hello Hello is called The Talented Mr. Banner and it wasn’t until reading that Vine Pair article that I understood why. I clearly don’t read comics. I’d convinced myself that somehow it was a David Banner reference and not because of Bruce Banner in Incredible Hulk.

• I just Googled David Banner to make sure I got his name right (I know, I know), then found out that the Incredible Hulk TV show actually used the name David Banner for the character. So then I Googled “David Banner rapper Incredible Hulk” (because I was definitely talking about the rapper and I wanted to see if he ever drank Incredible Hulks). And now I’ve realized the rapper’s real name is not actually David Banner (who knew this?!) and he created the stage name because of the Incredible Hulk TV show. Mind blowwwwn. So was I right about why they named the cocktail The Talented Mr. Banner?

• I thought this newsletter would go many places but at no point did I think I’d end up here. Quickly, here’s what I thought I’d write about: 1) My favorite tropical cocktails are with cognac. 2) Hypnotiq works well with cognac because it’s one of the ingredients. Mix the thing with the thing they’re already made with 3) St~Germain tastes great with cognac because there is eau de vie (unaged cognac) in the blend. 4) No one ever mixes St~Germain with cognac and it’s such a miss. 5) The history of how cognac became a staple in the Black community because of soldiers stationed in France during the war.

I hope you’re all well! I’m off to see if I can find cognac in Cape Town.

Shannon

I don’t have to explain to all of you how much Jamaica means to me. I know you know. So, I also don’t have to explain that it’s been an emotionally taxing few weeks. I’m glad to say that my family and friends are all ok. I’ve been grateful that I’ve also been at home in Atlanta for the past two weeks (rare for me), so I’ve had time to process. Other than yoga class, I haven’t left the house much. However, don’t fear, I have a lot of random thoughts I’ve been hoarding for exactly a moment like this.

Here are a few things I’ve thought about over the past year or two. This will absolutely not be cohesive in any way. And I definitely can’t guarantee it’s useful.

Here goes:

• I love the liberal use of dill. If something has dill on a menu, I’ll order it 9 out of 10 ten times. If I was a food writer, I’d spend a lot of time talking about dill. It also makes me think of this reggae classic (skip it if you’re not used to the aggressiveness of soundclash culture).

• I was in New Orleans scouting for locations for Tales of the Cocktail when this girl broke down into theeeeee most dramatic tears while on an elevator. Come to find out, she was upset that TikTok was shut down…I had to ride down five stops with this nonsense.

• On this same trip to New Orleans, I forgot my wallet at home in Atlanta and I was surprised that I survived. I was able to get on my flight, get to my hotel, check into my hotel, eat at restaurants and make it back home. Needless to say, if I’d left my phone at home, I would have been screwed.

• I’ve been telling people that we live in SEATS (Southeast Atlanta). People in Atlanta are downright annoyed by it and people from Atlanta are even more pissed. However, if SWATS is a thing, why isn’t SEATS?!

• “I don’t know how to be older yet, I just know that I don’t care as much about the things I used to like and I can’t figure out what new things to like.” When I originally wrote that I was really feeling stuck, since then I’ve gotten into a bunch of things - concerts, gardening (at my home in SEATS), farmer’s markets, yoga, and of course, I still travel.

• See, this was my very next note: I went to the farmer’s market on Sunday and I realized that in my 20s I used to think in my 40s, I’d live in some Italian village where I could walk to the market daily and cook whatever I picked up. It wasn’t the hilly streets I envisioned, but I did find joy in the Grant Park market.

• If I lived in Italy, I think it would be Sicily. I went last year and drove all over the island and absolutely loved everything about it. Except, I was in a bathroom when the light randomly went off after about 3 seconds. Deep panic set in. Is there anything worse than an automatic light?! I had to wave my arms frantically in a pitch-dark room. I honestly can’t even remember if they even came back on.

• I just read a note about a good pineapple that made me think about a really good mango that I had the other day. I can’t remember where this was though. Maybe Miami? Anyway, I don’t get a good mango often enough, but when I do, all the joys of my childhood come rushing back.

• I was trying to make sure that I didn’t already mention any of these random bits, so I searched for dill in my newsletter portal. The first thing that popped up was the newsletter where I explained that sometimes I had to go to the strip club to get change when I was running a bar. It doesn’t mention dill ANYWHERE…but it gave me a chuckle.

Hope you’re all doing well!

Shannon

P.S. - A few people have asked me if Holy Sip Jamaica is still happening and yes, definitely. It might feel like having a good time while people are rebuilding their lives, but now more than ever, the tourism dollars will be important. Tourism is the backbone of the economy. If you can’t make it down for Holy Sip Jamaica, consider visiting Jamaica at some point in the next 12 months. If you’d like to donate to help the recovery efforts, here are the two places that I’ve donated: Support Jamaica (the official government site, don’t be fooled by the fake ones), Half Moon Employee Fund (You guys know this is my favorite hotel. The hotel was fine, the employees can’t work right now.)

I’m getting this out a little late this week because I’ve been on the road for the past week: Miami, DC and now back in Atlanta, just in time for ONE MusicFest. Somewhere between questionable hotel martinis and caviar service, I realized the thing I’ve been thinking about a lot this week is martinis:

• Classic martinis have been trending for a couple of years now. I started drinking martinis at Talat Market when Adrian was still the bar manager. I mentioned it briefly in this Atlanta Magazine article a few years ago and in my “Vodka Should Be Treated Like Chicken” newsletter a couple years ago. Adrian’s martini was a 50/50 style martini, meaning the ratio of the cocktail was equal parts gin to equal parts aperitifs (vermouths, sherries etc). I loved how clean and delicate it was. It wasn’t the boozy, hold-the-vermouth martinis, that I’ve seen other people love. I’ve been drinking martinis ever since.

• Tiny tinis. Adrian is no longer at Talat, but it’s still a great place to get a martini because they’ve been offering tiny tinis (a small martini) since 2024 (these are boozier than Adrian’s version). I love a martini, but I might love a tiny tini even more. I actually think all cocktails should be offered in full and half sizes. I tried to get it to become a thing in Atlanta by ordering half cocktails at bars, but it didn’t work. However, don’t be surprised if you start seeing this over the next year or two, because it’s definitely picking up steam across the country. Sometimes, you just don’t want or need a full cocktail or sometimes you want to try several things. Tiny cocktails solves this problem.

• Martini service. I started going down this martini rabbit hole because I went to Maple and Ash while I was in Miami and part of their table settings included a coupe glass. I immediately thought they were leaning into martinis by encouraging it through their selected glassware. I expected to see a cool martini list and an intro by the server about it. Well, that’s not what happened. They give a welcome cocktail that’s nowhere near a martini, but still a nice gesture. Instead of bread service, they also give chips, crème fraîche and caviar. This definitely made me order a martini. Maybe that was the point of it all? I still would love for a restaurant to use this glassware set up for a martini moment though.

• Hotel martinis. When I got to DC, I was still thinking about this table setting when I found myself at a hotel bar. The one I got was absolutely not great. I asked for Bombay and, I definitely didn’t get Bombay. It also wasn't a 50/50, like I requested (half Bombay, half vermouth). If there’s any place I think it should be safe to order a martini, it’s the hotel lobby bar. This, in addition to a steakhouse, is just a quintessential martini setting.

• Martinis for others. When I had my bar, I hated making people martinis. I was new to bartending (probably better to start as a bartender before opening a bar) and everyone had a very specific way they wanted their martini. I found it intimidating. I’ve now become that person and I now realize how happy people are when someone gets this right. A martini is a very personal thing.

• HU, You Know! I was in DC for Howard Homecoming and as I had this martini, I reminisced about how one time in college, my friend and I were drinking gin straight out of the bottle in the back of some random car. The details of the night are obviously fuzzy (it’s been over 20 years and chugging gin can do that). I didn’t drink gin again for 10 years after that. Now I’m sitting in bars, badgering people to get my martini order right. Oh how times have changed.

Hope you’re all well!

Shannon

P.S. (If you didn’t know: “HU, You know!” is Howard University’s call and response rally cry.)

If you’re interested, here’s my preferred martini:

Holy Sip Martini (my martini)

1.5 oz Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru gin
1.5 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry vermouth
Lemon peel

Add the gin and vermouth to a mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir until well-chilled (about 30 seconds). Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Express the lemon over the cocktail and drop into the glass.

*I work on these two brands, but they are also what made me love the martini and this will forever be my favorite way to have one.

If you have a favorite martini, I’d love to hear it.

You might have noticed that I’ve been shooting off a newsletter like clockwork every two weeks. It’s because my why deepened. I’ve been seeing a lot of awful writing with ChatGPT and it reminds me that I must write. (If I see the word “rooted” one more time or another unnecessary emdash...)I must create. Because I don’t want to live in a world where everything is generated from a robot.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not living in a lair. I understand that ChatGPT can be helpful in many ways and I use it myself. I’ve been playing with it for the past 6 months and here’s where I find it helpful.

• My hype person. It reminds me that what I’m creating is good and that my voice is unique and it belongs in the world. When imposter syndrome tries to slip in, it helps me push past it.

• Gym Workouts. It helps me plan my gym schedule while on the road. I’ll let it know what equipment I have, how long I’m gone and remind it to slip in some yoga. It then gives me a plan and when I’m done each day I have it mark it as complete and then queue the next day.

• Polite Emails. I use it to make my work emails nicer. I’ll draft something and then have it make it nicer and friendlier because sometimes my more direct way of writing doesn’t serve others and I’d rather not use my brain power to figure it out.

• Think Through Ideas. As a creative, I have a lot of ideas, sometimes it’s what takes me off track because I don’t know what to pursue. I’m actually very good at helping other creatives edit down and pursue something, but I’m very bad at doing it for myself. So I let ChatGPT do it. And it’s easy for me to tell what’s right because it ends up being the advice I’d give someone else, but just not from me. By removing myself a little, I see the answer very clearly.

• Charge What I’m Worth. It reminds me to charge what I’m worth. The tickets for Sheebeen are what they are because it told me my original price was too low for my skill level, expertise, professional experience and the intentionality that I put into what I build. It then showed me a bunch of experiences that charged more and showed the value I was creating. (Shebeen is next Saturday in Atlanta. Grab a ticket here if you haven’t yet.)

• Quiet the Noise. It helps me quiet the noise that I create for myself. It helps me get rid of my excuses. It quiets the voice that tells me that I’m not good enough. People say nice things to me all the time, but the mind can be a powerful trickster. I ask it an annoying amount of times if it’s sure if I should write and send this newsletter. My friends would think I was insane if I kept asking the same thing over and over. And also AI reframes what I’ve said and my why so clearly to me that it makes me take the plunge and hit send. It reminds me why I must.

What I don’t let it do:

I don’t let it do this. It doesn’t write my newsletters. It can’t do this. I shared my South Africa newsletter with it so it could understand more about what I was trying to build and it asked to edit it and I let it. Ughhh. It was not good. It was so easily not me. But it reminded me that is a big part of my why. I feel like so much of what I read right now is artificial intelligence. It lacks connection. It lacks honesty. It lacks... everything.

It writes the word authenticity, but it doesn’t mean it. It sounds technically right, but is so very empty. I don’t want to live in that world. So instead, ironically, I use AI to remind me why I need to show up.

I don’t use it to write or come up with ideas. I think those are better through lived experiences. It can’t connect a story or something, together the way I can. Example:A few months ago, I was trying to shape an idea for Tales of the Cocktails that our ambassadors pitched. I was walking in New York and saw a cool bookstore, flipped through some books and the idea finally started to click. ChatGPT can’t do that. In order to create, you need to live.

So, use it to help keep you from cursing someone out. But please don’t try to use it to actually do what you should be doing which is living... Living deeply…and then using that to create.

Hope ya’ll are well!

Shannon

P.S. - I let ChatGPT read this newsletter and it said “This is excellent Shannon—one of your best yet.” I don’t know if I believe it, but it’s enough to keep me going.

I’m writing this on a train from Paris to London, sitting next to Thandi, so this feels like the perfect time to remind you that Shebeen is coming up in two weeks. I’d love to see some of you there! Tickets are here.

I’ve been on the road nonstop for two weeks with another two weeks to go. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about:

• Detroit - I haven’t been to Detroit in ten years and the last time I was there, it was January and so I went from the airport to the recording studio we were staying at (who am I?) and stayed there for three days until it was time to get back to the airport. This time, the weather cooperated and it was nice to see more of the city. We hosted an event at Father Forgive Me and I loved the space so much that I came back the next day during regular hours to work and drink some orange wine. I’d consider moving there for this spot if I wasn’t so intimately familiar with Detroit winters.

• London - This is the most time I’ve spent in London. I’ve been incredibly impressed with the produce. I always felt like France had the best produce, but I now think I was wrong. London has it beat. I also like London restaurants much more than I thought I did. A few great eats last week: Bistro Freddie and Nessa.

• Paris - I arrived in Paris exhausted after peopling for two weeks. Fortunately, Thandi wasn’t feeling well (I know this sounds ridiculous…don’t worry, she saw this and laughed) so I had the chance to stay in my hotel. It reminded me how much I enjoy taking a down day while traveling to just rest and watch Netflix.

• De Vie - We went to dinner at De Vie last night to celebrate Thandi’s birthday and the food didn’t disappoint. This is still one of my favorite restaurants this year. It’s confusing because it’s a cocktail bar that does a pairing dinner. I’ll be honest, the cocktails aren’t my favorite. But I’ll go back every time because the experience is so perfect.

• Ice - I’ve been in a lot of seminars and conversations with bartenders over the past few weeks and there’s been so many thoughts around ice and the temperature of drinks. De Vie for example is an iceless bar. They batch all their cocktails and then chill their glassware with liquid nitrogen. A cold glass and perfect temperature on a cocktail, for many bartenders, is the mark of a quality bar and doing things to standards. However, I’ve been thinking a lot about places like the Caribbean where this is pretty much impossible. Ice melts incredibly fast. I’m still swirling some thoughts around this but I think this is such a Eurocentric view. Or maybe they’re right and that’s what a cocktail should be. And then that reminds me why I prefer drinks…sometimes cocktails, sometimes something else entirely. (Drinks at Shebeen will have proper ice because Thandi makes cocktails. Fool around with me and you’d be getting a ti’ punch.)

• Cocktail Bars - There’s a shift going on in cocktail bars. I’ve been observing this younger generation and what they’re starting to get excited about again are classic cocktails. Cocktails that are made really well without the modern techniques like clarification or carbonation. They weren’t in the industry when the cocktail renaissance started 20 years ago, so this is them going back to the past. It’s interesting to see this cycle. I, for one, welcome it. Most of the time, I just want a well-made daiquiri…rum, lime and sugar. I also think it aligns with where things are in the world. Everything feels so complicated. Simplicity in cocktails/drinks is a refreshing change.

Hope you’re all well!

Shannon

(P.S. - Did anyone get the movie reference in the newsletter title? Before Sunset is one of my favorite movies. Talk about simplicity. The entire movie is a couple walking through Paris, just talking.)

I mentioned briefly in my last newsletter that I had something brewing. I ended up on a whole different tangent with Jamaica, but I wanted to make sure I really gave Shebeen justice.

A few months ago, I was in Paris and I was feeling really creatively stuck. In one of my crazier moments, I even thought about opening another bar. Like, I really thought about it. A lot of it was because I had the perfect concept: Shebeen.

When I was in Johannesburg, I stopped by Drum Archive Shop at 44 Stanley (the same complex where I met Sanza…see how full circle this is?). The store sells reprints of magazine covers from Drum Magazine, a revolutionary publication during apartheid South Africa. As soon as I walked in, the cover that captured me was one with a woman creating a cocktail with a back bar full of vermouths (if you’re not drinking vermouths, you’re missing out). The subtitle said “Let The People Drink!”. It was from the March 1956 edition. I had to have it. And that was before I even knew the story behind it.

The shop owner asked me if I was familiar with the South African shebeens. I wasn’t. She went on to explain that they were underground bars run often run by women. Speakeasies run by women?! How on earth have I never heard of this?

They had a book on shebeens that was a compilation from the articles in Drum magazine and I snatched up. Reading through it, I became obsessed. Ok, not really obsessed because I put it down and let it slink to the back of my mind. But I was enamored. I didn’t think much about it for a few months. (I know you’re thinking how is this possible when I have the poster…well I haven’t framed the poster. There. `Sigh…I need to do this).

Then, in a little coffeshop in Paris, the thought flooded out of nowhere: a bar named Shebeen would be dope. I wonder if Thandi wants to start a bar with me.

I texted Thandi at some silly hour and when I told her about it she said, Oh my goodness, I’ve always wanted to be a Shebeen queen.” (Or something like that. She’ll correct me later.) Thandi is from South Africa, so she already knew the story.

Weeks went by and I knew I didn’t want to open a bar…pah! But there was still something about Shebeen that I couldn’t let go of. When I started sifting through what Holy Sip is it came back to me and now I have an even better answer for what Shebeen is.

You might not remember how Holy Sip started. It began as an omakase-style cocktail bar in Castleberry Hill. Shebeen takes us back to that concept. Thandi will create four cocktails and tell her stories about them. Chef India will create some shared bites to go with them. It’s a shebeen our way.

Our first Shebeen is October 18. Tickets are here.

Shannon

I’m in Jamaica.

It’s crazy how much peace that one little sentence gives me. I’ve been fighting for this moment. Work has been incredibly busy these past couple of weeks, but this moment of writing and hearing the ocean in the background is exactly what I knew it would be.

Before I started writing this, I was sitting here with my mind still drifting about work and then this thought came to me, “I’m really good.” It’s not something that I say to myself often, but it’s true. I’m very good at my job. I’m very good at creating a story and bringing that to life. Even when a piece doesn’t work out, I can pivot to something else and still bring it all together and it’s even better than what I originally planned. When I’m at my most brilliant, it’s because I’ve fully trusted that. I’m not giving into the idea that the plans are falling apart. I lean into the new direction coming together even better than what I could have dreamed of.

This is what my last 24 hours looked like:

• 12:45 PM yesterday: I’m currently planning a trip for bartenders centered around visiting the Bombay Sapphire distillery. I had to make about 10 pivots this week. At every turn, there was an obstacle. I woke up early in New York yesterday to knock out a few more arrangements and finally felt like I was in a great place. Then, on my layover in Atlanta (yes, it’s weird to have a layover in the city you live in) I realized I’d missed a crucial piece. One of the bars that I’d built a whole day around hadn’t been confirmed. I dropped the ball on something. Oof. Uggh. Sigh. This crushed me. I thought about it the entire plane ride to Jamaica as I worked on wrangling a few more pieces for the trip.

• 1:15 PM yesterday: I text Thandi to let her know that I was going to announce Shebeen in my next newsletter. (I’m not actually going to announce it today because this newsletter went into a different direction than what I planned…the direction you’re now reading. But, I’ve got the next Holy Sip event lined up. It’s called Shebeen and I’ll tell you all about it in two weeks or on Instagram. It will be on October 18th in Atlanta….I guess I announced it.)

• 3:25 PM yesterday: We landed in Jamaica and I told my boyfriend what was happening with the Bombay trip and he said: “You’ll figure it out. You always do.” You’re wondering why I didn’t tell him on the plane. He was upgraded to first class and because he’s so wonderful he gave me the seat. I was on the phone trying to lock in a speaker for the London trip the whole time, so as I boarded the gate agent said I can’t believe you took the seat and split up. As if I didn’t take it he wouldn’t have taken it. Crazy. Ma’am, clearly one of us is using the ticket. Clearly. Also, at this time, I realized that Jamaica is an hour behind because of US daylight savings and the 5:00 PM call that I thought I’d take at the hotel, I’d have to take in the airport.

• 5:15 PM yesterday: We arrived at Half Moon and I immediately felt my stress level go down…and that was before the rum punch. I wrote about this place when we first stayed here in November. It’s the only large hotel on the island that I can confidently recommend. As soon as I got out of the car, I felt at ease, and that’s difficult for me.

• 6:28 PM yesterday: Half Moon isn’t an all-inclusive. So we skipped the $100 BBQ night (because ain’t no way) and went to somewhere local that we like. I felt the stress come back a little bit though, but maybe that’s because I got jerk chicken that was actually baked chicken doused in sauce…hmm. The hotel would have actually been more authentic. This statement is probably confusing. It’s actually confusing to me. Of course you can get good jerk chicken on the street somewhere, but lately I’ve found that this is much harder than it was 20 years ago. As a kid, I used to look forward to coming to Jamaica and stopping on the side of the road for some jerk chicken as we took the trek to Mandeville.

• 9:13 PM yesterday: After getting ready for bed, I opened my laptop to work on the new D’USSÉ program we’re launching in a couple of weeks. In a few hours, I was able to format the program to tell a perfect story for the brand and tie it to the bars that we’re partnering with. I also created the shell of the deck. I also figured out a solution for my Bombay issue and fell in love with that idea more than what the original one was. I don’t know if it will work out, but it reminded me that if it didn’t, an even better answer would come. All was. not lost. I went to bed a little after midnight satisfied and confident that I could enjoy this vacation.

• 7:33 AM this morning: I grabbed some coffee and started at the ocean in pure bliss and peace. A soft jazz instrumental of “My Way” played in the background. It reminded me of the Jay Z version. Which then gave me an answer for the D’USSÈ program. In that moment, I realized: my genius is back. I just needed to be quiet enough to hear it.

And with that…I’m about to grab some ackee and saltfish and see where else the day takes me. I hope you all have a great holiday weekend.

Shannon

I was right. Hosting the Yeoville Dinner Club last week ignited something in me that was missing for quite some time. I leaned against the wall in the back of the room of Sauce Queen as Sanza started to tell his story and tears unexpectedly and inexplicably started to trickle down my face. I still don’t know exactly what caused it. But I do know that it lit a fire within me and reminded me why these stories and experiences are important.

I spent most of the next day after the dinner working on the Holy Sip website and plotting out the next Jamaica dinner. In two days, I did what I’d been trying to do for two years. Inspiration works like that sometimes. There was a moment when Sanza said he thought he’d wait for about five years before he came to the US, but then he realized maybe now it’s more important than ever. This was the day after I’d cried and was already stirred, so it wasn’t the moment that I decided to do something, but it was the confirmation that I must. Thanks to everyone who came last week. I hope it gave you what you needed.

All of this also reminded me that I never wrote about my South Africa trip. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

• There’s a famous market in Cape Town, Oranjezicht Market. As we were walking in there was a hype man outside delightfully yelling: Welcome to the best #1 market in the whole world. Welcome to Oranjezicht market. Right place for the right person. Thank you for making it a good morning. You are coming from around the world to see us. Come...come. Isn’t that the best way to walk into something?

• We had a late flight on our last day and needed something to do. Me…the planner…didn’t plan. So when I decided afternoon tea would be a great option, of course everything was booked up. It was New Year’s Eve after all. However, we ended up going to the Mount Nelson Hotel and sitting at The Fountain and created our own afternoon tea. They have 54 teas selected by their tea sommelier (is a tea somm not the coolest thing ever?). I won’t lie, the whiff of colonialism was super eerie and unsettling as we walked onto the property, but it ended up being a brilliant afternoon and one of my favorite memories in Cape Town.

• During a visit to Athletic Social Club, there was a table next to us playing cards as they waited for their meal to arrive. The restaurant doesn’t have cards. They brought them with them and it was just such a great wholesome moment.

• We drove up to Marloth Park to stay for a few days and do a game drive at Kruger National Park. In a sea of very rustic places, I found this beautiful, modern Airbnb and I picked the area solely based on this. The guy who owns it has his own place right next door and we ended up going over to his place on Christmas Eve and drinking boxed wine as he gave us a list of his favorite wineries in Cape Town. It’s the type of juxtaposition that I love. I get to have amazing wines and spirits all of the time, but give me some boxed wine out of a plastic cup with great people as we stare at the stars and watch out for monkeys and I’m equally as happy, maybe even more so.

• I did most of this Cape Town trip with a second-degree burn on my behind. Ughh. Condensed version: I arrived to Marloth Park and settled down to have some rooibos tea and spilled it…had to call the paramedics to the middle of the bush…didn’t talk to my Airbnb host again until the night we ended up on his patio because of deep embarrassment…One of the paramedics said, “Hope you had a warm welcome” and snickered…jackass…barely could walk for weeks…had to wheelchair through airports when I got back. It was traumatic. However, despite these circumstances, I loved South Africa and a lot of it is because of all the amazing people that I met. (I also drank a lot of rooibos tea.)

I have more South Africa stories, but this is getting a bit long so I’ll save them for another time.

Hope you’re all well!

Shannon

(P.S. If you missed it, yes, Jamaica is happening next year.)

At the beginning of the year, I was coming off my South Africa high and promising to write more before life did its own thing (another tale for another time). Part of what sparked that creativity was attending a Yeoville Dinner Club in Johannesburg. I met the owner, Sanza, suddenly and unexpectedly. I was checking out Saint Germain cafe on a rainy day on the recommendation of friend. We ended up talking to the owner about the red cappuccino listed on the menu and when Sanza came by 30 minutes later, he introduced us and said we had to go to Sanza’s dinner if we could make it.

I was drawn to Sanza’s energy from the first few seconds and lit up as he started talking about his dinner. It reminded me of Holy Sip. He had a dinner planned for the following day, but it was already full. He said to reach out to him on Instagram and he’d let us know if he could fit us in.

I reached out the next day out of pure desperation because I didn’t believe for a second we’d be able to get a seat. However, Sanza, the quintessential hospitalitarian, made it work. I will forever be grateful that he did. It was one of the highlights of my trip for many reasons. The dinner takes place in Yeoville, the neighborhood that Sanza grew up in. It’s not somewhere that you end up by chance while in Johannesburg. The Uber driver seemed puzzled as to whether he should stop and he might not have if Sanza wasn’t there to meet us on the street to escort us to his place. I welcomed this little slice of real Joburg life and delighted in the fashion of the swenkas mixed with the fervent energy tumbling from every street corner.

This was the start to a remarkable night. Every few minutes, new groups of guests joined us. Some lived in Johannesburg and had been meaning to attend, others were stationed there for two-year assignments, a few were visitors to the country like us and another was a longtime guest bringing some new people. As more people joined, Sanza brought out more of the alcoholic concoctions that he was making with local fruits and spices. By the time we sat down for the meal, my heart was already full. In that short intro, we’d built community. It was a perfect night that only got better with the fact that the food was incredible and Sanza tells amazing stories.

As the night closed, Sanza and I chatted for quite a bit and he mentioned he was going to do a US tour in the summer and wanted to stop in Atlanta and do something. I told him to definitely let me know. Well, he didn’t. But if anyone understands that, it’s me. By chance (because I am rarely on social), I saw a post from him with a Chattanooga date and I immediately messaged him to see if Atlanta was planned.

That brings us here.

After a series of messages, I’m happy to say that I get to host a dinner with Sanza while he’s here in the States. There were two Atlanta dinners already planned when we started the conversation and they’ve already sold out. We’re quietly adding another dinner next Saturday, August 9th. This newsletter is the first access to the tickets. (Somehow Internet sleuths already found it though and five tickets have sold. )You can find tickets here. I don’t hype many things, but if you can make this work, I urge you to. All proceeds for this dinner go to Sanza and his team. For me, I get the chance to build community and give myself the little creative boost that I’ve been craving.

And in a full circle moment, we’ll host this dinner at Chef India’s space in Adair Park. If you’re familiar with any of the dinners I’ve hosted, you know that I’ve collaborated with India for almost a decade now and I’m grateful that she’s opened her space up for this.

Hope to see you on Saturday.

Shannon

TL;DR (I’m on Reddit too much): I’m hosting a dinner with Chef Sanza from Yeoville Dinner Club. Tickets here.

Even though I didn’t write for quite a few months, I kept some notes on some of the things that I observed. I stumbled across them this week.

Here’s what I found:

• Espress - I had this in my notes but I’m not sure what it meant. Maybe I was going to write something about espresso which makes sense because I had more espresso last year than I’ve ever had in all my years of life combined.

• Red cappuccino - Even though I’ve had a lot of espresso, I’m still not a big coffee drinker. In Johannesburg, I discovered red cappuccino which is just rooibos tea that drinks like a cappuccino. It’s so good. Although some of these reviews on Amazon are making me wonder if it only tastes good in South Africa.

• Jamaicans in Guatemala - I went to Guatemala in June. It’s my second time going to Antigua and it’s more beautiful than I remembered. After hearing a ton of stuff about how quaint and charming Oaxaca is, I was a bit disappointed because I’d already been to Antigua and it’s one of the most charming colonial cities ever. Anyway, I was walking down the street by Café No Se after lots of Ilegal mezcal and thought Antigua might be the perfect place to get married…but then I had a quick flash of 100 Jamaicans with 100 complaints and I quickly let it go.

• Ruth Reichl - This is my one of my favorite food writers. I was reading one of her books and came across this quote: “We all become actors to some extent when we go out to eat. Restaurants free us from mundane reality; that is part of their charm.”

• Over-easy eggs are trash. - They are and I just don’t care what anyone says about this. I’ll give you that presentation-wise, they look great on a plate. However, the taste of over-hard eggs are superior and I don’t know why we pretend otherwise.

• LA loves R&B music. - And I love them for this. It’s hard to go into a restaurant in LA without 90s R+B playing, no matter how trendy the place is. From Michelin restaurants to dive bars, everyone plays R&B and it just makes everything better. I’m praying for LA right now. I just can’t comprehend this level of destruction.

• LA is one of the friendliest cities in the country. This was my very next note.

Hope you’re all well and safe!

Shannon

(P.S. - If you liked this, share it. Don’t be stingy.)

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I know that Dry January is underway for quite a few people. I accidentally slipped into it but finally made the conscious decision to finish out the month.

It’s not that unfamiliar. At the end of October, I stopped drinking for 8 weeks. The end date was December 22 and even after that, I didn’t drink that much. By that point, I’d survived not drinking in Jamaica, avoiding it for several work dinners with lots of alcohol available, and not having a drop of wine on the 15-hour flight to Johannesburg. My secret is tea. Drink more tea.

Here’s what else I’ve been thinking about:

• I’m currently doing a juice cleanse for a few days. I don’t really buy into most of the benefits, but I think it’s just great to not have to think about what to eat for a while. I found this juice company in Atlanta a few months ago and I’m in love with their juices. It honestly doesn’t feel like a chore to just drink juice because they’re so good. This sounds like a sponsored ad, but it isn’t. I don’t know them and they don’t know me. It’s just genuinely good stuff. They’re called Bamboo, and you can check them out here. They ship if you aren’t in Atlanta.

• Speaking of good stuff, I stayed at a resort in Jamaica back in November (again, without alcohol) and I loved it so much. Most of you will remember that I don’t really love resorts, but this one was different. I also try to avoid Montego Bay, but again, this one proved me wrong. Everything was amazing. It felt like I was actually on vacation which is truly rare. It’s a big claim, but Half Moon is my very favorite hotel in Jamaica and one of my favorites in the world.

• One of the things I realized I love about Half Moon was that they did turndown service and left great snacks. A few other hotels do this well. Soho House does it exceptionally well. I also stayed at a hotel in Johannesburg that was solid. This is such a rare luxury at hotels these days but it makes such big impact.

• While in South Africa, we took a flight from the national park to Cape Town. For my snack, I had a Kit Kat. I haven’t had one in years (and now that I think about it, it’s a bit strange they had this on the plane). My boyfriend was utterly appalled as he saw me eating it and smugly remarked that he was glad this was the first time he saw this. Tell me if this is weird: I bite off the chocolate on each end. Then the chocolate on the sides. Then I wiggle off and eat the bottom layer and then the top layer. Then I eat the perfect middle layer. One might even venture to say I don’t like Kit Kats. I like wafers. Am I the only one who eats a Kit Kat this way?

• All these snacks probably explain why I’m doing a juice fast.

• Accidentally, all of those things flowed together, but my last point has absolutely nothing to do with anything. There’s a wedding a chapel in a liquor store in New Orleans. Apparently, the world’s first. Do with that what you will.

I hope you’re all doing well! I’m actively working on the new site and I’m excited to roll out some new content in a few weeks.

Shannon

P.S. - In naming this newsletter, I’m still unsure how I landed at turndown service. But then I just wrote that last sentence and realized that it kinda goes with dry January as well… so let’s just say it was all intentional.

I know it feels like I fell off the face of the planet last year. It was a few things, the usual writer’s block for sure, but mainly work. I traveled more last year than I’ve ever traveled before with lots of emails and calls while on the road. I’ve been in Atlanta for about 45 days in the past 6 months. It had its highs, but it was extremely exhausting and writing was nowhere near my mind.

I’ve had a chance to sit in South Africa for the past two weeks and decompress while allowing new thoughts to come in. I came to the conclusion that I want to write. I know, I know…this is all very familiar. I say it every year. But, if LaGuardia can become a great airport, anything can change.

The real clarity began a few months ago when I decided not to do my annual dinner in Jamaica this February. It gave me a chance to figure out what “Holy Sip” actually is. I’d created a new website for the dinner, but something about it bothered me. By letting go of it in October, I was able to hear the answer in December. I’ve met so many great people over the last few weeks and I want to share their stories. I want to create content for people that want more authenticity in their lives. I want to show that drinking can be balanced and you can enjoy life, culture and people over cocktails, tea, wine, coffee and all other types of beverages.

This newsletter will remain mostly unchanged and now that I have more focus, I’ll write it weekly. The longer format pieces that I did sporadically will live on the Holy Sip website, but I’ll link to them from here.

I’m very excited about this next step and my new year reminder for you is to take the leap that you’ve been thinking about taking. If you don’t know the answer yet, deliberately sit with it and the answer will come…and then you have to listen and do.

I hope you all have an amazing year! See you next week.

Shannon

I was in Houston earlier this week for a market visit and it just reminded me that the South has some of the best food in the country. I realize that Texas might not actually be considered the South, but it’s in the Southern part of the country so I think it should be. (I was going to leave this alone, but ended up Googling and came across this article that mentioned that Texas being part of the South is a big debate. I’m only mentioning this because they’ve also decided that Atlanta is not part of the South and that’s just insane. I’m annoyed I read this.)

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to:

• I had an amazing meal at Little’s in Houston. It was so good that the guy next to me ordering fruit punch at the bar of a seafood restaurant couldn’t even throw me off. (I’ve spent countless days sitting at bars and I have never heard someone order fruit punch.) This meal was so good that I didn’t eat for the rest of the day because I wanted to hold onto the memory as long as possible.

• After dinner, I ended up at Anvil, one of Houston’s most notable cocktail bars and it was so empty. Then I remembered it was the last day of Dry January. But I find this strange because all month I’ve seen very full bars. Were people just trying to stick to it for one day? Was this you? Should this be renamed to Dry January 31? I’m an advocate for Damp January. A little moderation goes a long way.

• Speaking of moderation, I will not rest until half cocktails become a thing. I had some delicious tiny tipples at different bars across Houston (the one I had I had at Anvil was my favorite) and it just made me all the more dedicated to this cause. The reality is that I like to taste cocktails, but I don’t want to finish them all. I think all bars should offer half cocktails. I order these everywhere anyway, but Houston was well-equipped to fulfill the request. Most bars had the cutest tiny glassware, perfect for a half cocktail.

• I spent a lot of time in Houston talking about the French Blonde cocktail. If you missed it, Taylor Swift had this drink at a bar in Kansas City and it’s going crazy on the Internet. It has St~Germain so it’s become a big part of my daily life over the past few weeks. I’ve said Tayor Swift more times in one week than I have in my entire life. I didn’t see it on any Houston bar menus, but one way or another it came up. If you see this on menus during the Superbowl, now you’ll know why.

• Now that I’m back in Atlanta, I have some exciting news! I’m hosting a dinner in Atlanta on February 29th. I host dinner parties all the time but I think this will be the first one that is officially available to the public and I’m very excited. I’ll be partnering with Chef Demetrius, the new owner of Bread and Butterfly. More details coming soon, but I’ve you’d like to snag a ticket early, you can purchase it here. Tickets are limited.

I hope you’re all doing well!

Shannon

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