Safer at Home with Virtual Bartenders
In early March, the calls and emails began to trickle in. A casino party needed to be moved to the end of April…then again to the end of May. A Sweet 16 was postponed with the date as TBD. A June wedding was cancelled altogether and the bride wanted to know if it was still possible to get the deposit back (1000%!).
Mid-February, as COVID-19 news unfolded every day, we alerted our bartenders to “a possible slow few months.” By March 13th, Los Angeles schools had closed and by March 15th Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti shuttered all non-essential businesses. It wasn’t going to just be a “slow” few months but a completely dead few months. We felt for our clients who had to cancel their parties but also knew that we’d all get through this together by staying safer at home.
A couple weeks ago a national fitness chain asked us to join their company happy hour to demo two drinks and to share some bartending tricks and tips. Around eighty people attended the BYOB Zoom meeting while I presented great cocktails to make using what one has on hand. Next came a request from a repeat client who contacted us about leading a virtual tasting for her husband and their friends. They were supposed to take a trip to celebrate his birthday and wanted to figure out a way to recreate the adventure at home. We were starting to realize that people were craving ways to gather and to celebrate but without risking their health or anyone else’s. Enter the virtual bartender!
Our bartenders are ready to help lead you and your friends and family through an in-depth spirit tasting, or to teach you how to make cocktails like a pro in your own kitchen. Want to recreate that cancelled girl’s weekend to Louisville? A bartender can guide you through an in-depth bourbon tasting. Had to cancel spring break in Hawaii? She can show you how to make Tiki drinks that are so good you’ll start to believe you can smell the ocean and hear the waves. All you need is some WiFi, a few supplies, and your flip flops or cowboy hat. We’ll take care of the rest in our beautiful custom kit that even includes a copy of our first book, This Girl Walks Into a Bar: A Women’s Guide to Professional Bartending and Home Mixology.
Each session includes one hour with a trained mixologist who will instruct you and your guests about the history of the spirit, the distillation process, and the unique flavor profiles of drink. Tasting kits vary (email or call for details and pricing) but every box includes palate cleansing crackers, recyclable plastic cups, straws, napkins, and a jigger. Kits are hand delivered two days prior to the session or shipped five days in advance to locations outside of Los Angeles. Companies electing to hold a demo and not a do-along will receive a recipe complimentary recipe list to share ahead of time with all employees.
Last weekend my husband and I were supposed to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary by renewing our vows with 120 of our friends and family. There was going to be dinner and dancing and newly formed memories for the next 20 years. Unfortunately, the plans had to be cancelled in early March along with the rest of the world's plans this spring. We celebrated with a great bottle wine and some fantastic take-out and discussed plans to celebrate year twenty-one next April. After all, this too shall pass.
