Cocktail T Classes at the Cleaver STORY BY BRITTANY SMITH PHOTOS COURTSEY OF COOSA CLEAVER & JILL SANDERSON
10 Lake Martin Living
here is something special about small town businesses coming together to make magic happen, but when they cross county lines and truly put forward an effort to get life moving in an entire region, well, that is even more special. The Coosa Cleaver in Wetumpka and John Emerald Distilling in Opelika have joined forces and are doing what they can to bring communities across central and eastern Alabama together. John Emerald Distilling is Alabama’s first legal distiller of whiskey since prohibition started here in 1914. They make vodka, gin, three different kinds of whiskey, three different types of rum, an agave spirit and possibly the world’s only muscadine brandy, but certainly the tastiest. Ryan Friday and his wife, Danyalle, opened The Coosa Cleaver in 2018 after a successful venture in Montgomery with the Cork and Cleaver. Since opening The Coosa Cleaver, the Fridays have looked for any avenue possible to bring vibrancy and crowds to their restaurant and the surrounding areas. It wasn’t until a second trip to John Emerald Distilling that Danyalle sparked the idea of holding a cocktail-making class at the Cleaver. “I’ve been to the distillery in Opelika twice,” said Danyalle. “The last time we were there, Jill and I came up with this idea to host a class, and we made it happen. This is just the first one that we’ve done, so we are working out the kinks, but tonight went pretty well. We had a great turnout.” John Emerald Distilling partnered with The Coosa Cleaver to offer
