Press

At these three bars high-end cockatails are folded into storytelling - including drinks that pummel smoke and changing scenery

PHOENIX — As the team behind UnderTow rebuilds its immersive cocktail bar in its new home inside the Century Grand building, the space next door at Sip Coffee and Beer is about to be transformed into an immersive cocktail lounge.Josh Katz, the owner of Sip Coffee and Beer, his business partner Maurice “Moe” Murillo, and mixologist Sheldon Wiley — who holds three Guinness World Records for the most cocktails made in a minute and in an hour, and for making the largest Negroni cocktail — have partnered to open "36 Below" in the former UnderTow space, near 36th Street and Indian School Road in Arcadia.

For the past two years, Sip Coffee & Beer Garage owner Josh Katz has dreamed of opening his own cocktail bar in the space under his Phoenix coffee shop. The space, however, was occupied by UnderTow, an award-winning tiki bar. But now, with UnderTow moving into a building next door, Katz's dream is set to become a reality. The new bar will be called 36 Below, a fitting name for an underground martini bar. Flowers, leaves and tables for two will fill the space, Katz says. He and his business team, Chiara Katz, Sheldon Wiley and Maurice Murillo, are keen to bring something different to an area Katz descries as a beer-centric neighborhood.