Immersive themes are all the rage lately when it comes to party planning. And making cocktails for a dozen guests can mean that the host spends more time mixing and less time mingling than desired.
That’s the idea behind BarBees, a Nashville-based company that started out offering event bartending services and expanded into giving cocktail classes. Jess Blakely and Willow Sprague started up their bartending service in 2019, leveraging their love of people and cocktails into a successful business. During the pandemic, they pivoted the business into a virtual cocktail class service and added the in-person component once people were again welcoming of guests into their homes.
Since then, they have expanded their cocktail classes from Nashville to New York City, Austin, Palm Springs, Fla. and Scottsdale, Ariz., while maintaining a virtual option for remote teams. The format of a BarBees class revolves around learning a variety of bartending techniques while creating two or three cocktails over the course of about 90 minutes. Hosts choose the cocktails in advance and buy the alcohol based on the requirements of the instructors. The BarBees will bring everything else needed for an evening of fun home mixology, ranging from non-alcoholic ingredients, dry goods and bartending tools for each guest. At the end of the evening, the instructor will clean up and take their supplies home. Easy-peasy!
Willow Sprague and Jess Blakely of BarBees Bartending
Pricing varies a bit from market-to-market, but fortunately, Nashville is at the low end of the scale. BarBees charges $60 per person for two cocktails or $80 per person for three, with a minimum of eight participants. For groups larger than twelve students, they will charge an automatic gratuity on top of the class fee.
If you’re looking for a corporate team-building opportunity or a festive party for a birthday, holiday or bachelorette trip, contact BarBees to reserve your time.
