Kansas City King

With The Hey! Hey! Club in Kansas City, Missouri, Ryan Maybee is living his dream.

In Kansas City, Missouri, Ryan Maybee has turned his passion for bartending into J. Rieger & Co. distillery and its speakeasy bar, Hey! Hey! Club.
In Kansas City, Missouri, Ryan Maybee has turned his passion for bartending into J. Rieger & Co. distillery and its speakeasy bar, Hey! Hey! Club. (Photo by Tami Knight)

Ryan Maybee’s first foray into hospitality was bartending at the Kansas City, Missouri fine-dining restaurant Pierpont’s in 1999 when he was 21 years old and paying his way through community college. “It took maybe two years for me to realize that I was really good at bartending and I also really loved it,” he says. “I decided then that I wanted to run my own bar one day.” So Maybee shifted his focus in school to business and in 2006, at just 28 years old, he achieved his goal and opened JP Wine Bar & Coffee House. 

But Maybee soon discovered that he wanted more than a wine bar. “I was already really into classic cocktails, but it was a visit to the New York City craft cocktail bar Milk & Honey in 2006 that ultimately changed my life,” he says. “I immediately knew I wanted to open a bar like that.” That bar ended up being Manifesto, which opened in 2009 and quickly became a major cocktail destination in Kansas City. Maybee didn’t stop there: in 2014, he cofounded J. Rieger & Co. distillery, a revival of the historic Jacob Rieger & Company distillery that ran from 1887 to 1919. And since Manifesto closed during the pandemic, Maybee’s focus has shifted to The Hey! Hey! Club, a speakeasy bar he opened in the basement of J. Rieger & Co. in 2019. 

“The Hey! Hey! Club was a natural evolution from Manifesto and it’s very similar in style,” Maybee says. “I believe in taking a classic approach to cocktails, building off of something that’s tried-and-true, while also being creative and introducing new flavors and ingredients.” Although Maybee himself doesn’t bartend much anymore, he has clear influence over the cocktail menu (drinks are $12-$15) as he guides his team to make unique, classically inspired, craft cocktails, such as national beverage director Andrew Olsen’s Flintlock ($15; recipe below) and bartender Derek Branham’s Mochila ($13; recipe below). “We enjoy making beautiful, delicious drinks that tell a story and surprise people,” Maybee adds. “Anything to make guests smile and toy with their perceptions of what a craft cocktail bar really is.”

The Hey! Hey! Club’s Recipes

Flintlock

By Andrew Olsen
Ingredients

1 ounce Russell’s Reserve 10-year-old Bourbon;

½ ounce Appleton Estate 12-year-old Rare Casks Jamaica rum;

½ ounce Carpano Antica Formula vermouth;

½ ounce St. George Bruto Americano aperitif;

½ ounce Bigallet China-China liqueur;

¼ ounce J. Rieger & Co. Caffè Amaro liqueur;

Orange peel.

Recipe

In a rocks glass, stir together Bourbon, rum, vermouth, aperitif, and liqueurs with one large ice cube. Using a lighter or match, flame an orange peel, then express it over the drink and discard.

Mochila

By Derek Branham
Ingredients

1 ounce Compass Box Glasgow Blend Scotch;

½ ounce St. Elizabeth allspice dram;

½ ounce Cappelletti aperitif;

¾ ounce orange gomme syrup¹;

¾ ounce fresh lime juice;

Egg white foam².

Recipe

In an ice-filled cocktail shaker, combine Scotch, allspice dram, aperitif, syrup, and juice. Shake and strain into rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with egg white foam. 

¹Combine 4 cups granulated sugar and 16 ounces water in a pot and simmer until sugar dissolves. Let cool completely, then whisk in 16 ounces fresh orange juice. Add the mixture to a blender and blend on the lowest speed, and sprinkle in 1 tablespoon gomme arabic powder. 

²First make a vanilla syrup: Combine 4 cups granulated sugar, 2 ounces water, and 2 whole vanilla pods in a pot and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. To make foam, combine 8 ounces egg white, 4 ounces Rare Wine Co. Baltimore Rainwater Madeira, 4 ounces Jaanihanso Sherry cask-aged dry cider, and 4 ounces vanilla syrup in an iSi cream whipper and charge with nitrous oxide once or twice depending on desired viscosity