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Sippin’ Series returns for Valentine event

BY JORDAN HOUSTON

Progress Staff Writer

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will celebrate all-things romance with a selection of themed cocktails made to share the love.

The center will host its Sippin’ Series: Pretty in Pink at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the center’s mezzanine. In its fourth season, the monthly Sippin’ Series provides a “deep dive” into “the world of cocktails, wines and spirits.”

February attendees will taste and create an array of “cocktails in all shades of pink” crafted by a team of experts from the Republic National Distributing Company, a national wholesale beverage alcohol distributor specializing in wine and spirits.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Events Director Jamie Prins said the fuchsia elixirs are guaranteed to satisfy palates of all tastes as it is “not all sweet.”

A Republic National Distributing mixologist will provide tips and tricks for those looking to advance their own mixology, as well as “surprise products to let guests taste and compare during the discussion.”

Prins, also the Scottsdale Arts Festival director with a background in food and beverage, said the Valentine’s-inspired event is a great occasion to socialize and connect with the community.

“Because it is a smaller and intimate group, it’s a good opportunity to have some one-on-ones from the mixologist from the Republic, or from me walking about and talking to our patrons and getting to know them and understand their interests,” she said. “It’s really a great opportunity for people to get to learn more.”

A mixture of history, regional information, creative recipes and fun new products, each Sippin’ Series event highlights a central beverage and “seeks to further develop knowledge on the topic through an in-person experience.”

“We keep it very intimate and very rare,” Prins shares. “We get a lot of repeat customers, but we also get a lot of new people.

“I would say it has been received very well. We typically sell out and do have a limited amount of attendance – anywhere from 30 to 40, depending on the space we are able to book it in.”

The Sippin’ Series is a spin-off of two other center events – The Catwalk Lounge, a season feature for �ive years, and the Discovery Series, a tasting series that explored France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Japan.

“The events would sell out very quickly and I determined that there was a taste from our patrons for these types of events,” the director said.

After realizing the patrons were “thirsty” for more information on the previous offerings, she dove in head�irst with the Sippin’ Series in partnership with the Republic.

“I’m always learning. My history and experience have been in food and beverage and events my entire career – but I am still learning,” Prins states. “There are constantly new products, new liquors, new spirits and new specialty items that are constantly coming out and being presented to the public and it’s impossible to stay on top of that nowadays.”

Prins continues to satisfy her curiosity through the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts mission statement: the dedication to provide “traditional and contemporary arts of interest to worldwide audiences, to create opportunities for audiences to have thought-provoking experiences with artists and speakers, and to foster creative expression, diversity in thought, and awareness of cultural heritage.”

“The Scottsdale Arts has a variety of things to offer to folks in the community,” Prins said. “Take the opportunity to attend a performance, or show, or a museum, or one of these Sippin’ Series if you haven’t already began experiencing some of the things we have to offer.”

Christine Hansen and Heather Yilmaz circulated among guests at the Scottsdale Performing Arts Center Sippin’ Series: Winter Citrus Cocktails earlier this month.

(David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)

If You Go

Sippin’ Series: Pretty in Pink

When: 7 p.m. Feb. 12 Where: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St., Scottsdale Cost: $50; 21 and older Info: scottsdaleperformingarts.org

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