Todd Maul
Bartending | COCKTAILS | CONSULTING
Todd Maul
BARTENDING
Cocktails
Consulting
About Todd Maul
Todd Maul is a native of upstate New York who has spent over two decades honing his craft in Boston, Massachusetts. A seasoned professional in the restaurant and bar industry, Maul has become a leading voice in the art of innovative mixology.
Before fully immersing himself in bartending, Maul pursued his passion for furniture making at Boston’s prestigious North Bennett Street School. There, he specialized in custom veneering and designing high-end, one-of-a-kind furniture pieces. This background in craftsmanship laid the foundation for his approach to cocktails, highlighting the importance of understanding tools and materials before creating something extraordinary.
At Rialto in the Charles Hotel, Maul became an early advocate for Boston’s emerging craft cocktail movement. Seeking to redefine cocktail culture, he transitioned to Clio, where he explored what was possible beyond classic cocktails.
As Clio’s bar manager starting in 2009, Maul brought an unconventional perspective to bartending, integrating tools like blast freezers and power drills into his cocktail-making process. These methods elevated the craft, blending creativity and functionality. Under his leadership, Clio earned numerous accolades, including:
- Boston Magazine’s Best Bartender
- Best Cocktail Bar by The Improper Bostonian
In 2013, Maul co-founded Café ArtScience, where his innovative bar program utilized cutting-edge technology such as centrifuges and rotary evaporators to push the boundaries of mixology. The bar earned a James Beard Foundation semifinalist nod for Outstanding Bar Program in 2016.
In 2020, Maul launched the Pop-Up Cocktail Bar LTD at Cusser’s Boston, which received critical acclaim from Eater Boston and Boston Magazine.
Philosophy
“Anyone can make good cocktails. The art of mixing drinks is no deep and jealously guarded secret. Nor is it a skill to be acquired only as the result of years of painstaking effort. It can be learned practically overnight… Yet few people do make good cocktails…I am convinced that there are two principal reasons…first, people fail to realize the absolute necessity of using only liquors of the highest quality. (A cocktail is no better than its poorest ingredient) … Second, People fail to understand the basic principle of the cocktail.” (David Embury 1948)
I believe David Embury’s statement holds true to this day. It is not the skill set of the bar staff or the uniqueness of its liquor choices that set a cocktail bar apart- as stated, “It can be learned practically overnight”, and high-quality liquor can be found anywhere, it is how the staff approach the trade from a creative standpoint.
Simply put my mission statement is “The integration of technology into an antiquated trade” What does this mean? I look at the technological advances in refrigeration, fractional distillation, and clarification to make products that are more cost efficient, easier to duplicate, are stylistically unique and at the core- taste better and cannot be duplicated by your competition.
HH Consulting
We created HH Hospitality consulting to help clients in all phases of the beverage business. At HH we design bar spaces, cocktails, and cocktail menus with training for clients who are looking for refined and unique concepts. We help clients develop beverages for both on and off premise consumption. We help them design unique flavors and experiences in emerging markets.
We work with companies to help bring new products to the restaurant space and help them integrate the products into everyday use- to make the bars unique, and more profitable.
I opened the Pop-Up LTD bar as an operational arm of HH Hospitality to show the functional integration of my bar philosophy to the public.
CONTACT
Ready to collaborate? Fill out the contact form below or reach out directly at todd.maul@icloud.com
