While cocktail industry veterans Tripper Duval and Daniel Beres planned their first business venture, they knew they wanted to have fun in a creative, yet socially responsible way. The result was Lost Whale (2151 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.), a casual yet quirky cocktail-centric lounge that opened in June 2018 in Boone & Crockett’s former space.
“We are a neighborhood bar, and as much as we do craft and draft cocktails, we still have Old Milwaukee on our beer list, and craft beer,” Beres says. “Six of our eight beers on tap are from Milwaukee.” The cocktails on the menu are rooted in classics like a Manhattan or an old fashioned, or from their fun seasonal interpretations of drinks. The Jenny from the Block drink features Banks 5 Island Rum, Bacardi Ocho Aged Rum, Lime, Rishi White Ginseng Tea and Bittercube Jamaican #2 Bitters.
The Salvaged Cocktails menu board consists of cocktails that are available for a limited time and include one or more ingredients that might have been discarded otherwise, such strawberry tops that have been turned into syrup. “We turn whatever we can into something else instead of wasting it,” Duval emphasizes.
Duval was the mixologist for Badger Liquor and served as president of the Milwaukee chapter of United States Bartenders Guild, and Beres was beverage director of Stand Eat Drink Hospitality Group. As self-described “cocktail nerds,” they love the math and science involved with perfecting drinks. For the Wisco Old Fashioned, they blended cherry juice, put it into a Cornelius keg and carbonated the whole thing. “We can control the bubbles and carbonation in the entire thing, so the carbonation lasts, and it’s not so sweet on back end,” Beres says, “instead of just topping off the drink with lemon-lime soda from a soda gun.”
Beres and Duval travel extensively to network with others in the cocktail industry. They take ideas and consider how to make them work in Milwaukee so they’re fun but not pretentious. They offer consulting services and developed cocktail programs for the new Saint Kate hotel, fundraisers the nonprofit Arts at Large, and for Screaming Tuna. The pair has also been featured in national magazines such as Forbes and Imbibe.
Sustainability in a Playful Way
The name Lost Whale was inspired by an urban legend that resurfaces every few years—whale sightings in Lake Michigan—and it’s a theme Duval and Beres enjoy playing with. To celebrate their one-year anniversary, they released a beautifully illustrated and creatively written fairy tale book, The Peculiar Adventures of Chipper & Mutton Abalone: The Mystery of the Lost Whale, that also serves as the spring-summer seasonal cocktail menu.
“It’s a fairy tale adventure of a lost whale, and we’re two characters in the book,” Duval says. It was penned by internationally published author Nina Maybe and illustrated by production designer and animator Loretta Keresen. Customers can also purchase the book/menu. The hardcover edition is $50, or $30 for the soft cover copy, and proceeds go to pay the artists and writer, for the print runs, and to Arts at Large.
Duval and Beres support Milwaukee water sustainability groups such as Milwaukee Riverkeeper and Sweetwater Foundation. There are six different trash receptacles behind the bar for different things. They use compostable straws and trash bags, and paper products from recycled fiber.
Photo credit: Evan Casey
The cheery, laid back vibe of the outdoor patio provides an ideal spot for events. “We cram in as much fun stuff as we can,” Duval enthuses. They hold monthly themed birthday parties for each sign of the zodiac, and an August party featured a cement mixer converted into the world’s largest cocktail mixer.
For more information and event updates, visit facebook.com/lostwhalemke or lostwhalemke.com.
