Randy Jeffers
Scholar | Portland, OR
JULY 2023
In addition to balancing his studies, his studies, sports, and his love for music during high school, Randy Jeffers picked up shifts at a local Thai restaurant when he was 16 years old. He started off as a dishwasher, and over the next few years worked on and off as a server. It wasn’t until he was 21 that he first got to try his hand behind the bar. Jeffers was hooked, and continued to pick up bartending shifts to support his life as a touring musician. After some time, Jeffers decided to pivot away from the music industry and pursue bartending full time. He was drawn to Italian-style cocktails and liqueurs, and fell in love with the camaraderie of the bartending community.
Jeffers began working at 1905 in Portland, serving drinks while getting a front row seat to the jazz bar’s live shows. The bar’s Italian-focused cocktail menu helped solidify his interest in Italian drinking culture even further. In 2021, Jeffers joined the team at Scholar as bar manager. At the neighborhood cocktail bar, Jeffers zeroes in on digestifs and Italian spirits to bring forward crushable, thoughtful drinks, like his Daisy cocktail with gin, blood orange liqueur, Sirene Aperitivo, and vanilla syrup. Community is a big focus for Jeffers, who engages regularly with the Oregon Bartenders’ Guild, connecting with others to share knowledge and host tastings, and forging relationships with other Oregon bartenders.
