Joe Stinchcomb: Bringing History, Community and Local Vegetables to the Bar
Story by Elizabeth Tettleton Mason, Photos by Lindsay Pace
Creating a Third Place in Oxford
During COVID, I honed my cocktail-making skills during my days in captivity. I plucked sage leaves from my garden, made vinegar shrubs, infused tequila with peppers, hand-bottled limoncello for Christmas gifts, and pulped fruit for purees. I enjoyed sharing my creations with my fiancé (now husband) and my (tiny) social media following. Although I enjoyed this, something was missing. I think we were all missing ‘it.’
That ‘it’ is what Ray Oldenberg termed the ‘third place’ in his 1989 book, The Great Good Place. A ‘third place’ is the location you enjoy outside of your ‘first place’ (home) and your ‘second place’ (work or school). It’s the place you choose to spend your time, the place you seek out community, the place you feel comfortable outside of work, school, and your home. For many, their third place is a hip bar or cozy coffee shop in the hub of their town.
To say I missed going to bars during the Pandemic sounds odd but was true in the sense that I missed the community it gave me. There is a certain comfort and camaraderie that is uniquely found on a bar stool on an evening with a light crowd and talking with the person behind the line. The bar at City Grocery has always been a solid go-to in Oxford, and the local dive bar The Blind Pig possesses its own unique atmosphere, but a young bartender from Atlanta, Georgia, is creating an experience in Oxford unlike no other.
The new “third place” in Oxford, MS, Bar Muse, is tucked into the left side of the historic local music venue, The Lyric Theatre—Joseph “Joe” Stinchcomb crafts beverages and weaves stories in this delightfully cozy space.
“We’re making people feel seen and heard and validated. The thing that I’m most proud of is that we aren’t just making a good product; we are serving a good experience,” said Joe Stinchcomb.
When Joe Stinchcomb came to Oxford to pursue a degree at the University of Mississippi, opening a bar and beginning a mixology career that would garner national acclaim was not on his radar. Joe was at the helm pre-pandemic when Saint Leo was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program. He’s since received accolades, including the 2019 Smith Fellowship with the Southern Foodways Alliance, the 2020 Sam Beall Fellows Program with Blackberry Farms, winning the Iron Bartender with Yoknapatawpha Arts Council several times, and he has been featured in magazines such as Garden and Gun, Southern Living, Eater, and more.
“Your ‘third place’ is typically a restaurant, and you likely have like a rotation of 2-3 places you go,” said Stinchcomb. “I think restaurants provide a lot of emotional support that the public doesn’t realize. I wish people would acknowledge the labor and artwork that goes into providing those spaces and making sure those spaces are maintained.”
In college, Joe enjoyed acting and improv, and he likens the bartending experience to a theatrical stage.
“Bartending to me is like theater –it’s a production,” said Stinchcomb. “It’s the same product each time, but the people seeing and tasting it, are different. Just like an audience, and like an actor, you’re able to judge what the show’s gonna be like by the audience – the audience dictates what the show’s going to be like. Some people are quiet and just want a glass of wine and to be left alone. Some people want to engage and have fun.”
It’s the variety of people and the fact that no two nights are the same that truly gives Joe his passion for his craft.
“I can make the same drink 50 times for 50 different people, and every reaction is gonna be different. It gets you that hit of serotonin instantly.”
Local Produce Into Award-Winning Cocktails
Since February 2018, when Joe’s Black History Month cocktail menu was released, his world changed. He was thrust into notoriety in Oxford and the greater cocktail and mixology sphere. He received requests for interviews and appearances and to make statements on the menu and its reception in Oxford. Patrons were impressed with the research he put into creating the menu and his poised reaction to those who opposed it. Many were supportive of his desire to use the opportunity to make a difference in his community. That desire to support his community spreads to the very ingredients he uses.
“The produce in Mississippi is the best produce in the United States, so I want to highlight that in my drinks. I’m inspired by things that I eat in everyday life, and the chefs we have here in Oxford,” said Stinchcomb. “I love going to the farmers market on Tuesdays and seeing what they have for vegetables and herbs.”
Stinchcomb embraces the challenge of creating something unique from local products and challenges his consumers to enjoy cocktails in ways they never would have imagined. “Right now, we’re working on a peach cordial, and we’re using Clear Creek, Miss. peaches.”
Stinchcomb is currently incorporating strawberries from Pontotoc, Miss., on the new menu and enjoys adding savory elements such as tomatoes.
“Mr. Brown gave me a bunch of herbs, and he’s from Water Valley. Using his herbs gives people a connection with the cocktail they’re drinking. It’s coming from where you’re walking. It’s grown on the same ground right here, the land right next to you, the land you live on.”
Joe’s love of his profession has led him to partner with chefs and other friends in the industry to create the Sunday Supper Club, an exclusive beverage and meal pairing limited to 42 guests. To receive notifications of future Sunday Supper Club seatings, join the Bar Muse email list through their Instagram page.
Eager to help other minorities find their footing, Joe gives back to the community that pours into him by volunteering at various Yoknapatawpha Arts Council events, such as the Big Bad Business series, which provides entrepreneurs with networking opportunities and resources to start or push their businesses to the next level.
At the end of the day, Joe wants to be called a bartender. Nothing fancy – terms like mixologist, sommelier, and even entrepreneur are not his fixation.
“I think I found a career where I truly can be myself, and as someone who loves to interact with people, who loves to support their community,” said Stinchcomb. “I can’t ask for much more than that.”
