By 5:30 each night, the bar at the subterranean Trappe Door likely won’t have an empty seat. That pre-pandemic trend has continued throughout the last year, but what hasn’t seemed quite normal — until recently — was the lack of updated cocktails on the menu.
“We didn’t make anything new last year,” explained bartender Ryan Staus, 37. Working a busy bar under DHEC and staffing-related limitations forced a shift in priorities — from Trappe Door’s signature creativity to mere survival.
“We’ve been at it lately trying to come up with new things,” Staus says.
A cantaloupe liqueur, for instance, is an experiment he started without a planned cocktail. He says it tastes like ripe cantaloupe with 18 % alcohol — whatever base liquor it joins will be lucky to have it.
A decade into bartending, Staus credits his talented co-workers over the years for his mixology skills. In fact, it’s difficult to get Staus to say anything about the bar and his work that isn’t “we” — he’s a team player and resists the spotlight or credit for even his best ideas.
He also credits the non-corporate structure of Trappe Door for the inventive cocktails on the menu — all using house-made bitters and liqueurs.
“We get to waste a lot of stuff and make mistakes to make really good stuff,” he says. “If we have an idea, nobody will shut it down. Sometimes we try a whole lot, and it’s a bad idea.”
Other times, they’ll end up with a winner like garam masala orgeat for a curry tiki cocktail with roasted pineapple bitters.
He and his two counterparts have a motto by which their cocktails are inspired: Do Better.
It’s also the reason a drink made with strawberries will never be on the menu.
“It’s too easy,” Staus says.
Ryan’s favorite cocktail recipe:
Irish Coffee
1 ounce Irish whiskey
3 ounces black coffee
1 sugar cube
Mix together. Shake 1.5 ounces cream to thicken it up, and float on top of coffee. Fits great in a 6 ounceglass.
Fun facts:
Ryan is an accomplished photorealistic oil painter — dogs, in particular, are a favorite subject.
After attending College of Charleston and working in restaurants in the city, Ryan moved to Greenville in 2012 to pursue his artwork.
During the pandemic, his wife, Anna, bought him the equipment to work on a newfound hobby of writing and producing rap music.
In high school, he painted himself as a cyborg, inspiring a new nickname — “Ryborg.”
He jokes his favorite cocktail to make is a vodka soda: It’s easy, refreshing, and everybody loves it.
