Cocktail Bartending on the Main Line
Spirit Forward is a Philadelphia based craft cocktail mixology team, and Montgomery County is our second home. Twenty-four events here since 2021, in Wynnewood living rooms, Gladwyne backyards, an estate in Villanova, and a wine distributor's office in King of Prussia.
The clients who have us back every year
Two different Main Line families hire us for Halloween. Both of them rebooked the next year.
One flips their whole house. For the second year in Wynnewood, she turned her kitchen into a mad scientist's laboratory, so we showed up dressed as mad scientists and served her ninety guests out of beakers. Somewhere in the middle of it a bartender sets a bubble on top of a drink, full of aromatized smoke, and hands it over so the guest can pop it themselves.
There's something special about a guest telling you they're glad you're back for another year, and being able to greet back guests by their first name.
The bar as part of the party
A client in Wynnewood asked for something mystical for her husband's fiftieth. So the bar became its own room within the party.
Smoke and Mirrors came out from under a smoking cloche, bourbon with black walnut and smoked maple and a flamed orange peel. Mystic Fog was vodka, lemon and fresh strawberry, finished with a rhubarb bubble that broke over the top of the glass. Celestial Divide was blanco tequila under a slow pour of sparkling hibiscus tea. Guests went home with tarot cards that had the recipes printed on them.
That's what we mean by a custom menu. Not just a cocktail menu, but a lasting memory that you take home with you.
A wedding at Appleford Estate
Villanova, October, under fifty guests, and it was a murder mystery.
Every single person had a role for the evening, the vendors included, and we all played ours. Guests spent the night walking up to each other asking questions, trying to piece it together. There were clues in our menu and clues in the cocktails.
The bride doesn't drink, so we crafted her a custom mocktail instead of just serving a club soda with a lime in it: caramelized carrot juice with peppermint-tea-infused honey, ginger, cinnamon and a sprig of dill. Her guests got Suntory whisky smoked under a cloche with lapsang souchong and black walnut, and a strawberry-infused Aperol number with sparkling cucumber water and prosecco.
We've also poured weddings at Spring Mill Cafe in Conshohocken and in private homes from Fort Washington to Paoli.
Corporate, retail and buildings
We activate often in King of Prussia in alignment with many premium brands. Louis Vuitton, Estée Lauder and a Stuart Weitzman store opening at the King of Prussia Mall have all had us behind the bar in their own locations. We ran a wine presentation at Southern Glazer's offices, a tasting event at Valley Forge Casino, and an HOA activation at Visual Comfort.
Building and property managers hire us too. We poured a resident happy hour at the Promenade at Upper Dublin in Dresher, and we're a straightforward line item for an amenity budget.
Cocktail classes on the Main Line
Private classes for 8 to 30 guests, in homes and in hotels. We've taught in a kitchen in Flourtown for thirteen people and in a conference room at the Courtyard by Marriott in Lansdale for twenty-four. We bring everything, even the tables.
Where on the Main Line we've worked
Wynnewood, Gladwyne, Ardmore, Villanova, Lafayette Hill, Conshohocken, Blue Bell, Ambler, Glenside, Flourtown, Fort Washington, Dresher, Lansdale, Norristown, King of Prussia.
We've been everywhere.
Let's plan yours
Tell us the date and roughly how many people. We'll take it from there.