Finding Free Booze Tasting Parties
In San Francisco and probably most other major cities, there is a free liquor company promotion a few times every month. While these events are often held at bars and clubs (in SF I see the most at Ruby Skye, Dolce, and Mr. Smith's), increasingly liquor promoters are throwing high-end tasting parties in other venues.
Last week I went to a Chivas tasting held at the Merchant's Exchange building downtown. The evening began with an open bar of cocktails (all made with Chivas, of course) in a huge fancy lounge suite on the 15th floor. Though there were a lot of people there and only two bartenders, the wait for drinks didn't get too out of control. Then we all sat at small tables in a ballroom while we were lead through a very short tasting lesson including comparison whiskies of both the Islay and Speyside varieties. (I'm not really a big fan of the Chivas 12 they were promoting, but I like the 18 year-old variety we tried.)
Anyway, I was worried that this and other tasting events would be a giant crowded mess of moochers pushing and shoving to get to the liquor, so I was very pleasantly surprised. The next one I've signed up for is a Guinness tasting event.
How do you find out about these events? When you're reading magazines, newspapers, or whatever, rip out all the liquor and beer ads. Any alcohol company that's getting the budget to promote through big advertising often promotes through tasting events also. When you're bored and doing nothing (you know, at work) find the websites for those products and look for a mailing list- that's where you'll hear about the parties.
And for open bar events at nightclubs, you'll hear about them through the clubs' mailing lists rather than the liquor companies'. Sign up for the mailing list of every nightlife venue in town. That takes a while, so save it for a hungover Friday at work.
Last week I went to a Chivas tasting held at the Merchant's Exchange building downtown. The evening began with an open bar of cocktails (all made with Chivas, of course) in a huge fancy lounge suite on the 15th floor. Though there were a lot of people there and only two bartenders, the wait for drinks didn't get too out of control. Then we all sat at small tables in a ballroom while we were lead through a very short tasting lesson including comparison whiskies of both the Islay and Speyside varieties. (I'm not really a big fan of the Chivas 12 they were promoting, but I like the 18 year-old variety we tried.)
Anyway, I was worried that this and other tasting events would be a giant crowded mess of moochers pushing and shoving to get to the liquor, so I was very pleasantly surprised. The next one I've signed up for is a Guinness tasting event.
How do you find out about these events? When you're reading magazines, newspapers, or whatever, rip out all the liquor and beer ads. Any alcohol company that's getting the budget to promote through big advertising often promotes through tasting events also. When you're bored and doing nothing (you know, at work) find the websites for those products and look for a mailing list- that's where you'll hear about the parties.
And for open bar events at nightclubs, you'll hear about them through the clubs' mailing lists rather than the liquor companies'. Sign up for the mailing list of every nightlife venue in town. That takes a while, so save it for a hungover Friday at work.
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