Vinyl records, and more specifically their curation, are at home in the Peach Crease Club. The still-young but forever timeless RiNo cocktailerie – which also plates up a worldly smorgasbord of unique takes on fun finger food, from Danish Hot Dogs to DIY Tinned Fish Handrolls – is, as an establishment, in lockstep with the ethos of vinyl. It’s not only that the Peach Crease Club’s aesthetic is one detailed with reverence for another era when vinyl, auditorily hosting folks in wood-paneled parlors with shag-rugged conversation pits, was the primary medium for consuming music. It’s even more so in the details, or rather, the attention to detail, that tethers the two trades akin.
To be intentional with one’s decisions when spinning Cumbia and Salsa records on a fizzy Saturday evening where – across the courtyard at Mission Ballroom – Hermanos Guitierrez are playing a sold-out show, a vinyl DJ – in this instance, Colorado-based specialist of all records retro Mexican-niche, El Salvaje – is practicing his craft with the same deft attention to detail as the Peach Crease club’s bartenders.
READ: Semiprecious Is Serving New Cocktails With Extravagant Ease
The bar itself – helmed by stalwart industry-turned-community leaders, Alex Jump and Stuart Jensen – is by every measure one of Denver’s best. The vast cocktail program rolls and rotates with new additions pulled always from a place of liquid storytelling. The Chips & Salsa – that’s a drink – brings the seemingly impossible flavor of its namesake into play by the invention and incorporation of a house-made salsa liqueur based on the creating bartender’s family recipe, all somehow without feeling gimmicky or overcooked. The cocktail is so uniquely expressive because it pays homage to the authenticity of its roots, while simultaneously being mastered through the painstaking effort of intention in every decision made en route to its balanced final form.
El Salvaje’s curated listening experience is hypnotizing to witness, particularly with a drink in hand. While one record spins, he meticulously sifts his way through the milk crate collection of sought-after 7-inch, 45-bpm Latin EP’s, nonchalantly flipping their plastic-wrapped covers left index finger, then right, while the ticking time bomb of the active record circles the needle ever nearer to its core. But in the nick of time – every time – he finds one he likes, freestyling the selection based on the live emotion of the space, with the intention of a storyteller who’s ensuring his every decision is in lockstep with the story unfolding in front of his booth.
The Peach Crease Club bar sits on one side of the space. The vinyl deck and its library of records behind it sit on the opposite wall. Intentionality, ultimately, defines not only the fastidiousness of the cocktails being poured and the precision of the records being selected, but the club’s very layout and design. Nights like this were deliberately put in motion when Alex and Stuart began ideating their eventual bar, with every human sense being accounted for.
From the bar, and from the most recent evolution of the cocktail menu, try the Pistachio & Strawberries – a saccharine take on an Old Fashioned where pistachio gelato-infused whiskey is layered overtop strawberry mistelle, rye and amontillado sherry. In the mood for a different kind of treat? Order a Guayaba y Queso, shaken with influences of Cuban guava pastry, and clarified with cream cheese. Or maybe the Hazelnut & Peaches – a gin sour of peaches and Dukkah spice, acidified with sweet potato juice. Pair any of them this spooky season with a full lineup of Halloween-inspired evenings slated as The Peach Scream Club.
Any time of year, come on any given night, flip to any page on the menu, and find unexpected drinks born from that same driving intention that – microcosmic of the curation of the whole Peach Crease Club experience – is intentional and detail-oriented.
Since opening, the DJ lineup has only expanded, folding live music into the space multiple evenings almost every single week. Its proximity to Mission Ballroom not only infuses the space with music at an equally prolific clip, but also gives concertgoers the ideal place to land pre- or post-show. And on evenings when the Mission may not have a concert, even more of a reason to hop into the Peach Crease Club, where something is almost certainly on the schedule. On the docket in October alone, more than a dozen DJ sets grace the bar’s programming, in addition to tarot card and numerology readings and pumpkin carving and dog costume competitions.
But, specific to the season or not, there is no better pairing anywhere in Denver than the finely curated, stirred, shaken, and spun give-and-take of a vinyl DJ and the cocktail menu at the Peach Crease Club. Check its Instagram for the most up-to-date programming for its unique and varied schedule of events.
The Peach Crease Club is located in the courtyard across from Mission Ballroom at 4180 Wynkoop St., Suite 130, Denver.
Its hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4 p.m. – Midnight, Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. –1 a.m., and Sunday from 2 p.m. – 10 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.
Photos by Evan Dale.
