It's true, like many in the events space, we've had Spring gatherings cancel their engagement with our beer truck. We have brides & grooms who are uncertain of what might become of their big day and postpone our mobile bartending bookings. And what was promising to be an early start to our busy summer season in the Okanagan & Shuswap has ground to a hault...for now.
Not ones to sit idle, we've decided to do what we can with this time. To make sure that when the flag turns green, we're ready to roll out. Because we know that time will come. And when it does, getting together with neighbours, with our customers with our family & friends - it's gonna illicit every reason to celebrate!
In the meantime, here's a catch-up on what we've been up to:
1. Rebrand
It started off with that beauty, Jewels, being transformed into The Tapped Truck. And what a beauty of a beer truck she is! After one season in business, it became clear that y'all wanted more. Options for interior functions, equipment only rental, more than one rig to choose from...not ones to shy away from a challenge, we did it!
At the tail end of this winter, we were so delighted to roll out Chuck, The Tapped Trolley. He boasts 2 taps and is perfect for interior events or garden parties. We rolled him over to the Homegrown Market recently, where onlookers were delightfully surprised to get ice-cold samples on tap in the middle of a market!
This Spring, we will be rolling out Dixie, The Tapped Trailer. She's a 1966 horse trailer that has been lovingly remodelled to be the ultimate pop-up tap bar. She has 4 taps ready to serve, and is fully off-the-grid just like Jewels. What does that mean? Anywhere we can park her, she can serve, no power or water required! We're just putting the final touches on her, and can't wait to unveil the finished product.
So we've been busy building all winter. And with all the building, it became clear that we were not really The Tapped Truck any longer. We had outgrown our name: it didn't capture all of the mobile bartending services we could offer. With some extra time on our hands, we decided to rebrand under the name Tapped Events, with the tagline "Beer. On Tap. Anywhere."
It fits. And it feels OH SO GOOD!
2. Amping up our good practices
As I mentioned above, Covid has the events & service industries shook. Things will never be the same again. We took this time to reach out to every single one of our bookings to offer an ear or crying shoulder, to let everyone know we'll be here when it comes time to reschedule and to share a bit about what we're changing in our business moving forward.
Here are some of the precautions we plan to take:
• As is our current practice, we will be sanitizing our equipment throughout the day, as well as taking more frequent bathroom breaks to wash our hands
• Hand sanitizer will be available at all times for guests at the bar.
• Single-use cups only will be permitted for tap service: we're sorry but we will not be pouring into glassware of any type in an effort to limit exposure. Further, we will be wearing gloves when cleaning up cups throughout the event.
• Our roster of staff are all fully trained, certified, insured and fun! Because we are blessed to have an amazing team, if anyone is not feeling well, we ask they stay home and will call in another teammate to service your event.
If you have any questions whatsoever about Tapped Events and how we will be moving forward this season and beyond please do not hesitate to connect with me direct.
3. #f*ckcoviddrinkcraft
Pardon the F bomb, but I certainly felt it was appropriate. As we start week 2 of isolation, this whole experience can feel a bit surreal.
For those able, we hope you'll be supporting your local brewer now more than ever. Our breweries are a lifeblood in many of our neighborhoods (in case you needed reminding, here's a read we put out recently) and now more than ever they need your help. MANY are offering home delivery or curbside pickup. We have curated a list of breweries in the interior of BC that are offering these services. (Please reach out to me if you see something inaccurate or a brewery has since added to their offering and we'll get it updated asap).
4. Cisserone Studying
Thank goodness we made a field trip across the line when we did where we collected a long list of American brews. So now, we're equipped to make our way through our American Beer Styles unit of our Cisserone.
Why are we doing this? We are more than just sud slingin party wagons! We want you to have THE best craft beer experience at your party. We want to provide you with the best recommendations for your event and menu. It's meant to be a memorable experience: so much more than mobile bartenders and a beer truck (although that's cool too).
Above all else, we know that when this is all over, it's going to be time to celebrate. To bring neighbours together. To hug our family. To toast our community.
When that time comes. We'll be ready.
Got questions? Or maybe there's something you'd love to see from us in the coming weeks? Pop us an email: cheers@tappedevents.com
We can't wait to hear from you!