Hot Pour | Bourbon and bartending for Kayla Rise at The Basement

Bartender

▪ Kayla Rise, 27

Bar

▪ The Basement

What is your favorite thing about bartending? Meeting new people and having random conversations. People-watching is also awesome.

What is your least favorite thing about bartending? Cleaning up after the drunks and being the responsible one and I really don’t like cleaning up puke and broken bottles.

How long have you been bartending? Eight years. I bartended all through college and now here at the beach.

Where did you go to college? I went to West Virginia University for nursing. I make more money bartending than I would as a nurse.

Have you ever used your nursing skills as a bartender? Yes I have. A lady actually hurt her ankle once, and I came out and elevated it, iced it and waited with her until the ambulance came.

Are you from West Virginia originally? No, I’m from Bardstown, Ky., the bourbon capital of the world.

Do you ever miss Bardstown? Oh yeah, I miss my family and the country. We had a farm and three horses – one for me, one for my sister and one for my brother. I miss the bourbon festival on the first weekend in September. It’s insane. You can smell the mash in the air. It sits on top of your house. It’s all over everything.

How old where you the first time you tasted bourbon? I was 10 years old. I took a sip of my stepdad’s Jim Beam and Sprite.

Is bourbon your drink of choice now? It’s not my drink of choice. I love vanilla vodka and root beer. It’s amazing, like drinking a root beer float, but Maker’s Mark on the rocks makes me happy.

By Derrick Bracey, For The Surge

This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Hot Pour | Bourbon and bartending for Kayla Rise at The Basement."