BAR® – Who We Are
Partners & Faculty

John Santer

Jon Santer has been in the spirits industry for 20+ years. Between 2006-08 he was the only person to be a part of the opening teams at: Bourbon & Branch, Beretta, and Heavenʼs Dog (the three best bar programs in San Francisco at the time). From 2007-09 he served as President of the San Francisco Chapter of the United States Bartenderʼs Guild (during which the SF guild grew from 30-130+ members). From 2009-11 he helped grow Hendrick’s Gin to 100k cases while serving as Co-National Ambassador.

He, his cocktails and projects have been featured in publications including: GQ, Playboy, Esquire, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, Mr. Boston, foodnetwork.com, Saveur, Punch, The Wall Street Journal, Dale Degroff’s Craft of the Cocktail and The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails.

His cocktail, “The Revolver” has entered the cannon of neo-classics and has been spotted on cocktail lists all over the world as well as in many books. In 2008 he was chosen by Bev Media as one of the Top 10 Mixologists to watch in the U.S. His cocktail, “La Luna” took the Chairmanʼs Trophy at Paul Pacultʼs 2011 Ultimate Beverage Challenge.

He founded the Beverage Academy at Bourbon & Branch, passed the BAR 5-Day® at the highest level in the top 5% of all time and is a founding Mixfit.

From 2011 to 2022 he was the founder/owner/operator of Prizefighter in Emeryville, CA. Since opening, Prizefighter has garnered much acclaim, including: Esquire’s Hall of Fame (Best 12 Bars of the last 10 years), Playboy’s America’s Best Bars, Top 100 Bars in the World, and the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bar Stars.