If you’re involved in the cocktail business in any serious manner, you knew Chris Patino. He was a huge beacon in the resurgence of fine drinking in America, from the earliest days of the early aughts through the rise of Tales of the Cocktail, Portland Cocktail Week, Speed Rack and so many other spirits gatherings and competitions. He was the founder of the trade marketing agency, Simple Serve, a partner in the incredible venue in San Diego — Raised by Wolves — and an unmatchable, unmistakeable force for many, many years at Pernod Ricard.

Chris was a lot of things to a lot of people, but it’s a rare human who leaves this world, and you can’t find a single person who didn’t just love the guy. Chris Patino was nice. He was genuine and funny, considerate, a mentor, a husband, a devoted father, a really good time, a lover of heavy metal, a teller of corny jokes. Chris was nice.

So often in this world, shit gets complicated. People, especially so. To have that friend who you know to be unfailingly kind, inspirational and nice is what props you up in bad times and what makes you a better human while you’re still on this mortal coil.

We lost Chris way too soon. No one deserves cancer. But, this guy really really really didn’t deserve it. A fan and former resident of New Orleans, his wife Heather and his many friends knew the proper send-off. It was a beautiful Jazz funeral SecondLine in his honor at Tales of the Cocktail 2025. Hot and sweaty, loud and funky. It was perfect.


Seeing all these people he loved, with that big, genuine, nice heart of his, gathering in the streets of a city he loved, at a festival he adored and helped build … it broke me for a moment. I also know that Chris Patino in life would have argued he didn’t deserve all this fuss. I heard him, leaning in a doorway, telling me that this was wild and too much, and he was so touched.

We had a good time in your honor, Chris. You provided us with so many, after all.

And you will be forever missed, spoken of fondly, and spoken of frequently, in quiet moments in bars with cold drinks, good friends and Pearl Jam on the stereo.

If anyone wants high-resolution copies of the above images, email me at JennyAdamsFreelance@gmail.com. I hope the people who took these images below don’t mind me borrowing them for this post. What a legend.