When visiting Garden Bar, one of downtown Phoenix's most picturesque and pleasant spots to grab a cocktail, you'll often find Aspen Bingham behind the bar. As she shakes and stirs drinks and chats to customers, her deep level of expertise could be easy to overlook. But a quiet confidence hints that she is quite comfortable at crafting complex cocktails. In February, she was a top 10 finalist for Bombay Sapphire's Most Imaginative Bartender competition, presented by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. The contest included 250 bartenders from the U.S. and Canada. For her entry, Bingham married her two passions, mixology and sustainability, to create a drink that represented the heat island effect that traps hot air in large cities like Phoenix. She also spoke on a panel at Tales of the Cocktail discussing food sovereignty and has created cocktails for benefit events such as one that protects bees. Her level of thoughtfulness certainly affects her bartending, where she takes mixology from the art of drink-making to something that is intentional and pushes boundaries, inspiring people to think as they sip.