Jon Santer

National Events

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 2007-2009 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 and YouTube tutorials. 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 (Beverage Alcohol Resource 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. He has since joined the
faculty of BAR 5 and is a Spirits Judge at the San Francisco International Spirits
Competition.