At a Glance
Overview
Valere partnered with Death & Co, one of the world’s most celebrated cocktail bars, to create “Cocktail Rolodex” an AI-powered bartender chatbot that transforms how customers discover and create cocktails. By leveraging advanced AI and natural language processing, the solution enables Death & Co to provide personalized cocktail recommendations, ingredient-based recipe searches, and 24/7 bartending expertise to customers worldwide.
The Challenge
- 2,000+ cocktail recipes locked in static, unsearchable databases
- No interactive way for customers to explore recipes based on available ingredients
- Inability to provide personalized recommendations at scale
- Customers struggling to find recipes matching their preferences and ingredient availability
- Limited staff capacity to provide one-on-one cocktail guidance to all customers
Solution Implemented
- AI-powered bartender chatbot with natural language understanding
- Intelligent recipe search based on available ingredients
- Personalized cocktail recommendations using machine learning
- Interactive conversational interface mimicking expert bartender guidance
- Scalable platform serving customers 24/7 across all time zones
About the Company
Death & Co: Pioneering the Modern Craft Cocktail Renaissance
Founded: New Year’s Eve 2006/07
Headquarters: East Village, Manhattan, New York City
Locations: 4 (New York, Denver, Los Angeles, Washington D.C.)
Industry: Craft Cocktail Hospitality
Parent Company: Gin & Luck (est. 2018)
Leadership:
David Kaplan – Co-Founder & CEO
Ravi DeRossi – Co-Founder & Partner
Alex Day – Chief Operating Officer & Partner
Devon Tarby – Partner
Death & Co is a renowned craft cocktail hospitality company recognized as a premier innovator in the industry. What began as a single, intimate bar in Manhattan’s East Village on New Year’s Eve 2006 quickly became a pioneer in the modern craft cocktail movement, redefining what a cocktail bar could be.
Expansion & Growth
Death & Co has successfully scaled from its original Manhattan location to become a national brand with strategic expansion:
- 2006/07: Original bar opens in Manhattan’s East Village
- 2018: Denver location launches with exclusive bar service for The Ramble Hotel
- 2019: Los Angeles location opens
- 2023: Washington D.C. location opens, taking over the acclaimed Columbia Room space
The company established Gin & Luck in 2018 as its parent company to support further expansion, new bar brands (including Close Company), and ventures into boutique hotels and e-learning platforms.
Industry Recognition & Awards
Death & Co’s influence extends far beyond its physical locations:
- Listed repeatedly in “The World’s 50 Best Bars” during its early years
- Winner of America’s Best Cocktail Bar at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards (2010)
- Winner of World’s Best Cocktail Menu at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards (2010)
- James Beard Award Winner: “Cocktail Codex” won Book of the Year
- Acclaimed Publications: “Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails” and “Cocktail Codex” are considered essential texts in the industry
The Challenge of Digital Transformation
After building a legacy of awards and cultural impact, the natural next move was expanding that influence through a meaningful digital transformation. The company’s extensive cocktail library represents nearly two decades of innovation and expertise, with over 2,000 recipes developed by world-class bartenders. However, this valuable intellectual property remained trapped in static databases, inaccessible to the 50,000+ retail customers who wanted to engage with Death & Co’s expertise between bar visits and recreate the experience at home.
Death & Co wasn’t only looking to digitize recipes, they also needed to capture the essence of what makes their bartenders exceptional: the ability to listen to a customer’s preferences, understand their constraints, and provide expert guidance that leads to a perfect cocktail.
The challenge was translating this human expertise into an AI experience that felt authentic, helpful, and aligned with the Death & Co brand.
The Partnership View
Death & Co recognized that their cocktail knowledge could serve a much broader audience if delivered through modern technology. They needed a partner who could:
- Understand the nuances of cocktail creation and bartending expertise
- Build sophisticated AI that could provide authentic bartending guidance
- Create an engaging user experience that matched their brand’s premium quality
- Handle the complexity of ingredient substitutions and personalization
Project Details & Timeline
Project Start: March 2025
Development Model: 5-week Proof of Concept (PoC)
Technology Stack: React (Frontend) + Python (Backend)
AI Framework: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
Our Approach
Valere approached this challenge not as a simple chatbot implementation, but as a project to capture and scale bartending expertise through artificial intelligence. The goal was to create an AI bartender that could think like Death & Co’s world-class bartenders, understanding context, making intelligent substitutions, and providing personalized guidance.
Methodology
Discovery Phase:
- Comprehensive discovery workshop documenting business goals and product vision
- Deep dive into Death & Co’s recipe database structure and taxonomy
- Analysis of 2,000+ recipe collection from Death & Co books and archives
- User research identifying two distinct audiences: home enthusiasts (approx. 80%) and professional bartenders (approx. 20%)
- Documentation of pain points: limited real-time expert access, ingredient substitution uncertainty, difficulty finding reliable recipes
- Analysis of Death & Co’s distinctive writing style and bartender persona for AI training
Technical Solutioning Phase:
- Selected Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) framework for optimal balance of accuracy and flexibility
- Designed natural language processing system to understand cocktail-related queries
- Built ingredient intelligence for substitutions based on Death & Co’s Cocktail Codex fundamentals
- Created recommendation engine prioritizing Death & Co recipes with intelligent fallback to generated recipes
- Implemented technical guardrails: cocktail-focused conversations, appropriate topic redirection, clear labeling for non-database recommendations
- Technology stack: React for frontend responsiveness, Python for backend robustness
Data Structuring & Training:
- Organized 2,000+ recipes into RAG-accessible format
- Structured data around six fundamental cocktails from Cocktail Codex for recipe generation fallback
- Trained AI personality to mirror Death & Co’s book writing style and professional bartender tone
- Developed taxonomy for ingredients, techniques, and flavor profiles
- Implemented preference tracking for personalized experiences
User Experience Design:
- Designed simple, text-based chat interface with clear navigation
- Created free-access model with email/phone capture after three queries
- Implemented one-week chat history retention
- Built conversational flows mimicking expert bartender interactions
- Designed for seamless embedding on Death & Co website
- Optional feedback mechanism (thumbs up/down) for continuous improvement
Development Phase:
- 5-week intensive PoC sprint (March 2025)
- Agile development with continuous stakeholder feedback
- Focus on core functionality: recipe retrieval, recommendations, ingredient substitutions
- Basic conversational capabilities with room for enhancement
Deployment Strategy:
- Direct integration with Death & Co website
- Phased rollout to existing 50,000+ retail customer base
- Scalable architecture supporting future enhancements: advanced personalization, e-commerce integration, educational features
The Solution: Cocktail Rolodex
An AI-powered bartender chatbot that transforms how customers discover, learn about, and create Death & Co’s world-class cocktails. Built on advanced AI and natural language processing, Cocktail Rolodex delivers personalized bartending expertise at scale.
Intelligent Recipe Discovery
Ingredient-Based Search
- Customers can enter available ingredients and receive matching cocktail recommendations
- AI understands ingredient variations and suggests appropriate substitutions
- Handles partial ingredient lists and provides “close match” suggestions
Natural Language Queries
- Conversational interface allowing customers to ask questions naturally
- Understanding of cocktail preferences (“I like something citrusy and refreshing”)
- Context awareness across multi-turn conversations
Personalized Recommendations
AI-Powered Suggestions
- Learns from customer preferences and previous interactions
- Recommends cocktails based on taste profiles, occasions, and skill levels
Expert Guidance
- Provides step-by-step instructions with bartending tips
- Explains techniques and why certain ingredients work together
- Offers substitution suggestions when exact ingredients aren’t available
Scalable Expertise
24/7 Availability
- Customers can access bartending expertise anytime, anywhere
- No wait time for recommendations or recipe searches
- Serves global audience across all time zones
Brand Extension
- Extends Death & Co expertise beyond physical bar locations
- Creates ongoing customer engagement between bar visits
The Results
Cocktail Rolodex successfully transformed Death & Co’s extensive cocktail library into an engaging, intelligent customer experience that extends their bartending expertise globally.
Measurable outcomes include:
- 90% accuracy rate: The chatbot provides correct, relevant responses from source materials 90% of the time
- Additional 5-7%: Minor tweaks needed but fundamentally correct responses
- Staging build deployed: Fully functional application tested with real users
- Production-ready: Foundation built for public launch and future feature expansion
- Brand voice achieved: AI personality successfully mirrors Death & Co’s professional bartender style
- User data capture: Email/phone collection system integrated for marketing funnel
Business Impact Metrics
The AI bartender now delivers accurate cocktail guidance 24/7 with a 90% response accuracy rate, cuts user search time from minutes to seconds, and captures new customer data to fuel Death & Co’s marketing engine. It transforms 2,000+ static recipes into an interactive experience that boosts engagement while reducing staff workload.
