Julia’s introduction to the spirits world began at the tender age of eleven when her father taught her his favorite recipes from Dale Degroff’s “The Craft of the Cocktail” (so that she could make them for him, not herself). She majored in the Anthropology of Food and Beverage at Indiana University and upon graduation launched right into the joys of the hospitality industry. Alongside multiple bartending jobs across Chicago and New York City, Julia also competed several times in Speed Rack and earned a Bar Ready distinction in the prestigious BAR 5-Day program before ultimately making her way to the Beverage Testing Institute. When she is not flighting up tastings for BTI, you can find Julia biking around the city or trying to teach her cat Pigeon to make the coffee in the morning.