Malpractice Celebrates One Year, Plus Some Updates, in Portland

Recently, I had a chance to chat with the folks at Malpractice, a bar known for its interesting and unconventional cocktails. I learned that they are approaching their first anniversary, with a party to celebrate that milestone. We also talked a little about their popular cocktails and the bar team’s increased efforts to engage in the non-alcoholic side of drinking at their bar. And now Hirori is joining in on the fun in their kitchen.

Then and Now in Cocktails at Malpractice

Last time we wrote about Malpractice, they were getting ready to open up in Southeast Portland. It started out originally as a pop-up, and I described their work as so: “In their drink-making they will implement modernist techniques, use fermented foods, and include ingredients like matcha and mushrooms along with high-quality spirits.”

They continue to put together intriguing combinations in their drink program, which is supported by an entire team of bartenders—Joshua, Nate, Eric, and Briar—that work collaboratively on all the beverages on the menu.

It’s Bananas Over There

An early drink of note was the Christmas Orgy cocktail. It was made with green Chartreuse, True Tea matcha, Stiggins pineapple rum, Fernet Branca & Mentha, Giffard Banane, house mace & cacao bitters, a whole egg, and fresh nutmeg. 

A recent cocktail they created is called Performative Male Cocktail: Planteray 3 Star rum, Jamaican rum, Amaro Meletti, Giffard Banane, Banana oleo, Yakult, and matcha.” It’s served in a glass shaped like a banana.

I guess they really like bananas over there.

Hirori’s Arrival at Malpractice

Their longtime chef, Stephen Malloy, left in October. Why? He was considering moving on to his next project. “He has a young child, and he wanted to work a job that didn’t need him quite so late,” said bar manager Nate Tatlinger, who was representing the team during our conversation. Stephen had been with Malpractice since the pop-up days, and was ready for a change

They tried out a new chef but in the end it didn’t work out. After taking a little time to figure out what was next with the kitchen, they announced recently about the arrival of Hirori:

“A new partner Hirori is joining us in the kitchen—someone whose food carries memory, warmth, and the kind of comfort you think about on the ride home. We’re excited to bring a new dining experience to Malpractice starting on 12/5.”

Hirori has identified itself as a “yoshoku pop-up.” Yoshoku is a kind of Japanese cuisine influenced by the West. You can see their menu on the Malpractice page. Dishes include Hamachi Tataki, winter squash dumplings, charred cabbage, and more.

The food at Malpractice has a history of being beautiful and geared toward small bites and shared plates (oysters and olives have been popular, too). They aim—in the drinks side and the food side—to prepare everything with a lot of care. I think this is an exciting new phase at Malpractice.

NA Drinks

While I was there, I was introduced to their thinking on non-alcoholic drinking, an increasingly popular practice throughout Portland. I was happy to hear how much they have considered this side of imbibing.

“Our bar program is robust and we are known for a lot of our clarified cocktails,” Nate remarked. That said, they want to have more variety when it comes to NA cocktails. This means going beyond what some bartenders refer to as juice bombs, “a bunch of juices combined together with a little sweetener, shake it up, throw it over ice.” This was a new term for me, but I can see how it came to be.

These are the drinks that I hear ridiculed as “$12 for juice?!? RIP OFF.”

“The team is looking at a more broader set of options for our guests that come by and enjoy our food—we have a wonderful kitchen program—but they aren’t wanting a cocktail,” Nate relayed. Their aim is to go down the route of having the same sort of twists that they do with their regular cocktails, “putting those same sort of mad scientist designs on these mocktails.” Sweetness and acid are easy when it comes to mocktails, but bitter and dry are just the kind of challenging notes they’d like to incorporate. “Something a little wilder out there for folks, as well,” said Nate.

Also, this is the time of year where folks are considering lightening up on drinking, or abstaining altogether, as the holiday parties are flowing. “We want to be able to still have options for those people,” said Nate.

NA on the Menu

They have had two mocktails on their menu—one more bitter and one on the sweeter side, and each is made in various combinations of the array of ingredients they have on hand. Each bartender would ask the individual what they’d prefer and then prepares it.

The bar team had wanted to have four solid mocktails on the menu. Since I originally wrote this piece, I got a chance to see some photos of three new NA drinks: Bitter Enough, Cosmic Wilderness, and Rhinestone.

The Bitter Enough is made with Roots Divino Rosso, NA Vermouth, and Wilderton Bittersweet NA Apertivo.

Cosmic Wilderness is made with Persimmon shrub, rosemary syrup, orange Juice, and beet juice. Topped with soda.

It also comes in a tall glass. They only have a limited number of these face cups, and will be served to limited orders per night. Here is the tall glass version below.

Rhinestone is made with Ghia, lime, pineapple, and tamarind soda.

Cocktails With Booze

As for the boozy cocktails, they make three very popular ones.

First, there is This Is Our Dirty Martini. It’s made with an Oaxacan rum that I’m told has interesting earthy notes to it. “It almost smells like olives,” said Nate. This allows them to step away from what a traditional martini would be, because of the gorgeous and intriguing aroma of this rum.

Additionally, they use a pseudo saltwater brine that they make in-house. Using that brine, they can do a completely different take on a martini than most people might see, compared to one that’s filthy or dirty or extra dirty. They have a little pairing, which is called a “mini martini” that they’ll do with a side of oysters.

The second cocktail is called Under the Volcano, which is a Cynar-based drink. I’m told that people particularly like drinking it with the Chef’s Sandwich, which uses fried Wagyu beef bologna in it.

Finally, they have a clarified cocktail called Birds Aren’t Real! It’s served in beautiful bird glass (I got a chance to see one of them). Nate explained, “Since the cocktail is clarified, you can immediately see straight through it, and it has this huge plumage of mints on the back end, to give it its tail feathers.”

Talking About the Space

I was looking around the space at one point, and BK, the owner, said, “You know, this space used to be a loading dock for business, right?” I had no idea. “And this building is like 100 years old.” It also sits slightly lower than other parts of the building.

They went on to talk about how they started out kind of low-budget when it came to putting up drywall, painting, etc. They did a lot of the work on the inside themselves, no contractor. Naturally, they see flaws, but to be honest, they were not visible to me. They like that it gives the place some character. I also love the giant beams in the interior.

NB: Prior to the arrival of Malpractice last year, Grape Ape, a little natural wines bar, was in this space. Before that it was Kure Juice Bar.

Malpractice Today

So what is Malpractice today? Looking at what it is now means looking at where it came from. Nate spoke for the whole team with the following commentary. “At the start of the business, the thought was that you were coming into what was a house party. We all want you to be able to come into this place where you’re going to have these very invented cocktails, but the bartender isn’t going to be somebody that’s using high terminology [aka jargon] to explain the beverages.

“We want to be able to put something in front of you, and if you don’t understand it, that’s ok. We understand it, but don’t need to explain it with verbose language. It’s a rum. It’s a this. It’s a that. Keeping it simple is key.”

The bar team is dedicated to making sure that everybody who comes inside Malpractice feels like this is a warm and inviting space, which they are happy to have created together. A key value is connecting authentically with all of their guests. They also enjoy the fact that it doesn’t feel like they are rushing through interactions.

Malpractice: One Year Anniversary

December 6 is Malpractice’s one year anniversary, and that’s the same day (Saturday) of the party. It will be a standing room affair, with Amaro Pong (like Beer Pong, but with Amaro), surprise gifts, a special menu by Hirori, and a DJ. All are welcome (21+).

Regular service starts at 5pm and celebration starts at 7pm “until we run out.”

Amaro Pong

And on that bit about Amaro Pong, here’s the explanation on how it’s going to work. Most of us know what beer pong is, and this is similar. First, they will set up seven SOLO-style ceramic cups.

“So, you’ll shoot a ball, it’ll land in one of our cups, and then we will then give you what Amaro would be linked with that cup. So you might get something sort of along the lines of a very nice Amaro that we are importing. Or it might be this other really nice Amaro that’s really hard to get, that might be a little more on the exclusive or vintage side of things.”

“Or, It might end up being like Fernet or Malört.”

The bar’s current favorite is Opal, which is an Icelandic liqueur, considered to be an Amaro. As you can imagine, it has licorice involved, along with fermented potato mash and caraway. And it’s not just any kind of licorice, it’s salty licorice. With that in mind, yes, the flavor of Opal can be very polarizing.

Anyway, you shoot the ball in a cup, and in whatever cup it lands you get a scoot of the corresponding Amaro.

While attending the party, the Amaro Pong may have a ticket price attached to it, but coming into the Malpractice space is at no charge.

There will also be other games, and the aforementioned special menu for the food. And because the night is going to be focused on standing room only, along with connective events and games, look for that food menu to contain things that are a little more snacky, easy to eat while standing up.

Here’s to Malpractice and their first year of business. I wish them only the best for the next year and beyond!

Malpractice one-year anniversary party
Saturday, December 6, 2025.
77 SE Yamhill Street, Portland
Malpractice website | Instagram

Updated December 5, 2025 with new mocktail photos and ingredient lists.