MixBurgh Conference 2026

Three days of seminars, tastings, and panels for working bartenders, bar owners, and distillers. Cultural District, Pittsburgh.
About this Event

MixBurgh Conference 2026

Three days of rooms full of the thought leaders in craft spirits. Built for working bartenders, bar owners, distillers, producers, and the writers who cover them. Education first, peers in the room, and talent that travels here from around the world.

Founding passes open first for the people who are helping build MixBurgh in year one.

Meet the best in the craft

Learn from the best. Seminars and panels with leading bartenders, distillers, and writers from around the world. Technique, menu, service, and the business of a bar program that lasts.

Taste widely. A dedicated tasting room with visiting distillers and blind flights. Spirits you can't get poured at home, side by side, with the people who make them.

Build your bench. Bring three or four from your bar and develop the whole team at once. Share ideas with peers from across the country. Go home sharper.

Speakers

• David Kaplan, Co-Founder of Death & Co and CEO of Gin & Luck (Seattle)
• Tato Giovannoni, Owner of Florería Atlántico (Buenos Aires)
• Lance Winters, Master Distiller of St. George Spirits (Alameda, California)
• Camper English, writer and educator at Alcademics (San Francisco)
• Robert Simonson, cocktail writer at The New York Times (Milwaukee)
• Mary Kate Murray, In the Mix (Milwaukee)

More speakers announced soon.

The program

Six parallel tracks run alongside one tasting room, so your team can split up, cover more ground, and compare notes over a drink.

• Spirits & Distillery. Production from grain and agave to glass. Blind tastings, visiting distillers, and the technical sessions that change how you build a drink.
• Behind the Bar. The work itself. Technique, menu development, service, and the leadership that holds a program together through a busy Saturday.
• The Business of the Bar. What keeps the lights on. Hospitality, technology, margins, and the systems that turn a good bar into a program that pays its people well.
• Bar Design. An underserved subject at the majors: the psychology of space and physical bar design.
• Bar Technology. From FoH to BoH. Reservations, guest data, POS, inventory.
• The Future of Cocktails. Where craft cocktails go next, and what it takes to build a bar scene in a new city.

The Founding Class

MixBurgh runs as a 501(c)(3) co-op. The people who show up first set the standard for everything that follows. The Founding Conference Pass holds the lowest price we will offer and names you a founding member, one of the first to build MixBurgh and shape what it becomes.

Your Founding Pass includes:

• All three days of programming
• Every track: seminars, panels, and tastings
• Access to the distiller tasting room
• Founding-member recognition
• First access to future MixBurgh tickets and events

The founding release is limited and time-boxed. When it closes, the price steps up.

Details

• Dates. November 9 to 11, 2026 (Sunday through Tuesday)
• Venue. Expansive, 606 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh's Cultural District
• Before the conference. Pittsburgh Cocktail Weekend runs citywide November 7 and 8, with specialty cocktails and guest shifts at participating bars across the city.
• Ages. Attendees must be 21 or older for any session with alcohol service. Responsible service in compliance with Pennsylvania law.

A MixBurgh Foundation event, Pittsburgh's craft cocktail co-op, with support from Visit Pittsburgh.

Claim your founding pass below.