Raíces from p 27 salt spice with chile peppers and lime. Next, Sánchez serves a red-to-pink-to- white gradient iced watermelon drink with a splash of lemonade. “It’s called a refresher; it has some plant- based energy made from the green coffee bean from the cascara tree,” she says. The barista-turned entrepreneur mainly utilizes coffee beans imported from Chiapas, Mexico, the state in Mexico, that in her opinion, harvests the best coffee. Before pursuing the brick-and-mortar shop just outside of the Roosevelt Row Art District, Sánchez sold cold brew concentrates and bags of coffee beans emblazoned with the Mis Raices Café logo at pop-ups and street markets Beerkowski from p 28 Do we agree? Or do we disagree?” she asks. “And with a lager, we definitely want it to be nice and crystal clear. This beer is defi- nitely crystal clear.” There are murmurs of agreement from the tables. There are also conversations about the shade of gold, the head of the beer, and some disagreements about the aroma. Benkowski smiles after a few people shout out the profile they’re getting. “While you’re tasting it, I’m going to read what you should be picking up,” she says. “Now we can take a sip. Do we notice any sweetness?” The bulk of the taproom is engaged and talking about their palate. Words repeated throughout the crowd include “dry,” “spicy,” and “herbal.” When the tasting conversation winds down, Benkowski delves into what makes it a lager, a little bit about hops, and the general history of beer and its ingredients. While she does this, it allows everyone a chance to savor their taster and for the bartenders to prepare for the next tasting. It is an impressive balancing act involving pouring 40 tasters while gathering and cleaning the glasses from the finished round. Benkowski’s love of beer turned into a passion after she started bartending at Bone Haus a few years ago. Since then, her passion has spilled into a community that started as a small thing on Instagram. Now, she’s pursuing her Level Two Cicerone and has co-founded a nonprofit for women in the beer industry. Called the Beer Babes Family, the nonprofit raises money for grants for female brewers and female- owned beer operations. How do they raise money? Beer, of course. Breweries from around North America have collaborated on several special releases. The most recent Babes Brew was a Chocolate Raspberry pastry stout in collaboration with Ad Astra Brewing in Prescott. It’s the fifth release they’ve done, adding to a list of collaborations with Ember Home Brewing in Cave Creek; Bone Haus; and breweries in Russia, Quebec; Reading, throughout the Valley. Two leaves sprouting from the hands in the logo represent her children, continuing the new cafe’s theme of family and cele- brating your roots. “I created that logo,” she explained. “If you see the ‘R’ and the ‘S’ in the ‘RAICES,’ the ‘R’ stands for my husband’s last name and the ‘S’ for my last name. So one hand is his hand, and the other is my hand, holding what we have built and planned over the years.” Mis Raíces Café 1325 Grand Avenue, #3 602-675-2228 misraicescafe.com Hours: Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pennsylvania; and Nashville, Tennessee. The whole taproom holds up a stout to the light. “Remember, we’re not drinking this one yet,” Benkowski says. It’s the fourth and last taster. It’s a rich, dark stout called Pistols of Roulette. The bulk of the taproom quiets down and holds their beers out, studying the opacity. “Does anyone know the difference between a porter and a stout?” A few people shout out different flavors. Finally, someone says malt, and someone else cheekily says “the name” — it is the fourth taster, after all. “You can’t have a stout without a porter. Stouts were essentially brewed to be a more robust porter, and the word ‘stout porter’ is what actually described the style before we started calling them stouts. [The brewers] at the time were experimenting with malts, and they came up with some- thing a lot more bitter, a lot more roasty, and here we are with a marshmallow stout,” Benkowski says. The world of beer is changing. Craft beer from the early aughts isn’t the same. Instead, we have smoothie sours, pastry stouts, and crazy new styles that don’t have names yet. “We love Rachel,” says Jennifer Farrer from the Phoenix chapter of Girls Pint Out, an organization that empowers women in the world of beer. “So many men and women just think women don’t like beer but here we are. Women [in beer] still have a long ways to go, but there are people like Rachel, and what we’re trying to do, that get more women in the community.” Beer School is hosted on the second Tuesday of every month at Bone Haus Brewing in Fountain Hills. Tickets are $15 and are available on the Bone Haus website. The next session is August 9. Beer Babes Family Beer is a limited release and is available at select taprooms and bottle- shops around the Valley. Bone Haus Brewing 14825 East Shea Boulevard, #101, Fountain Hills 480-292-9541 bonehausbrewing.com 31 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES JULY 28TH–AUG 3RD, 2022
