photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
Lily Schaeffer behind the bar with our author’s Mai-Tai.
Cast your mind back, if you will, to the Memphis of late January, 2026. A thick layer of what had been dubbed “sleet-crete” made the streets near-impassable for days. But I had a “Sips” column to write, dammit, and I was not going to be deterred. Lily Schaeffer, the bartender I was scheduled to interview, had called and said she couldn’t get her car out of her driveway but she was still game if I was, so I picked her up and we crunched our way to Mary’s B.O.T.E., aka, Mary’s Bar of Tropical Escapism.
Inside, it was blessedly cozy — alive with tropical colors and artifacts from the islands. The warm tiki vibe proved the absolutely perfect antidote to what was going on outside.
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
A unique atmosphere.
Schaeffer is an effusive and vibrant host, as colorful as her workplace. She started working at Mary’s two years ago, when it first opened. “I’ve been bartending since college,” she said. “I was an art major at UT-Knoxville, and through the years, I’ve periodically gotten away from bartending to do art things — graphic design and so forth — but I always seem to come back to bartending. I enjoy it.”
Born and raised in Memphis, Schaeffer graduated from St. Benedict at Auburndale. After her stint in Knoxville, she moved to Nashville, and after two years there, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she tended bar for a couple of years before reuniting with — and marrying — her college boyfriend.
“We had a ‘situationship’ in college,” Schaeffer said, smiling. “We rekindled things on the phone a bit, then Covid hit and I moved back to Memphis, and so did Kegan. He even drove out to L.A. to get me and my three pets. We were driving back across the country, masked and gloved and not sure what was going to happen next. I figured he was in it to win it, at that point.”
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
It’s a picturesque drink, all right.
“I’d say you were right. ... So, what’s the difference between working at a tropical tiki bar like this and a regular bar?” I asked.
“Rum,” she said. “I was never into rum until I started working here. But Mary [co-owner Mary Oglesby] told me the best way to taste a new rum is to make a traditional lime daiquiri with it. She’s not wrong. A lot of people are a little reluctant to try rum, but that’s usually because they’ve never had really good rum. And rum drinks tend to be a little boozy, so you have to be careful or it will come get you.
“This is the only rum bar in Memphis and it’s been fun to see how invested people get with it. I’ve had couples come in here and show me their home tiki bars because they’ve gotten so into the culture. Lots of people say this place and our drinks remind them of their vacations, which is great. We even do a rum class called Tiki Tales, where we teach you how to make your own rum drinks.”
“So I’m guessing I’m going to be served a rum drink,” I said.
“Yes, I was a little anxious about it,” she said, “then decided, ‘Why make this hard?’ I’m going to serve you our house Mai-Tai.”
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
The main ingredients.
“That sounds like the perfect getaway from this weather.”
“Our Mai-Tai has Myers’s Original Dark Rum, Hamilton 86 Rum, and Clément Rhum Agricole,” she said. “We add Orange curaçao and turbinado, which is like simple syrup but with raw sugar, which gives it a more molasses taste. Then we add an almond simple syrup, made in-house with a little orange blossom water.”
A few minutes later the mighty house Mai-Tai was sitting on the bar in front of me in a blue ceramic glass with a party on top: mint leaves, an orchid, and a slice of lime with a maraschino cherry.
“One thing about tiki drinks,” Schaeffer said with a laugh. “There are a lot of garnishes.”
I took a vacation-size swig. This Mai-Tai is a complex drink, not like the pre-fab ones served in so many places. Flavors hit my taste buds from several directions. It’s delicious and boozy and just, well, perfect. Winter begone!
“I also make a pretty sick NA Mai-Tai,” Schaeffer said, with a grin.
“This one will do me nicely, today,” I said. “And I really like this place.”
“Memphis deserves to have these kinds of bars,” Schaeffer said. “Bars that want to be part of the community, and that create a community. I’m grateful I work at a place like this.”
I am grateful she does, also. And if you want to escape to the tropics — any day of the year — now you know where to go and who to see.
Mary’s B.O.T.E., 588 S. Cooper
