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Raise the bar: Meet the future of Cincinnati’s cocktail scene

This story originally appeared in our August 19 – September 1, 2026 print edition. Check out the edition online here and find where you can get a print edition near you here. Therapist, bodyguard, friend, quiet spy, matchmaker, lifecoach: These are just some of the roles bartenders play when they step behind the stick.  “They’re a big part of the community,” Cincinnati’s cocktail queen, Molly Wellmann, told CityBeat. A great bartender or mixologist doesn’t just produce a killer…