Meet Crystal Sagan of Cocktail Caravan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Sagan.

Crystal, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We’ve been doing events for a long time! It started out of a passion for making good, fresh cocktails and connecting with people and just grew organically over the years. In the beginning, I had a full-time job and making cocktails and events was just a fun hobby. After a while, I realized we were getting pretty busy and I should probably quit my other job. So I did and was able to set some more clearly defined intentions and it been super fun to watch things unfold over the last few years.

Has it been a smooth road?
Owning a business is never a smooth road. It’s filled with ups and downs like any good emotional rollercoaster that you’ve invested your blood, sweat, and tears into. The biggest struggle we’ve seen—and will probably ever see—is the complete shutdown of our business due to COVID-19. It was like getting the wind knocked out of you in the middle of a marathon. Business came to a complete halt almost overnight. That was at the very beginning of March and we’re now in mid-April, so saying its been a struggle is an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, I’m beyond grateful for the health and safety of our team and our families and would do it again in a heartbeat if I knew it meant their safety. But not having any revenue for months on end is a scary prospect for any business.

In April, we started a new program to help support our community and our team called Community Supported Cocktails (CSC). The concept is modeled after Community Supported Agriculture, where members sign up for a season of weekly pickups of farm-fresh produce. In our version, members sign up for a six-week cocktail mixer share. We’re sourcing as many ingredients as we can from local farms and turning them into fresh, handmade cocktail mixers. The response has been great and I’m grateful that we’ve been able to turn this program around in such a short amount of time.

As part of the program, we’re taking nominations for local heroes, anyone from frontline medical workers, to teachers and parents or anyone who deserves a little recognition. Chosen nominees have gifted a basket of goodies, including our fresh CSC cocktail mixers plus products from other great local businesses like Fiori Flowers, J Lounge Spa, Ozo Coffee, and others. Its been extremely fun to gift these baskets. We might not be qualified to help on the frontlines ourselves but it’s pretty great to make those who are smiling.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Cocktail Caravan story. Tell us more about the business.
Under normal circumstances, we’re a beverage catering and mobile bartending operation. We specialize in fresh, handmade cocktails, lovely, engaging team members, and adorable bars like Lolita, a vintage travel trailer turned mobile bar. We’ve done just about every type of event you could imagine, from fundraisers and festivals with thousands of people to small dinner parties, corporate events, and lots of weddings.

These days, we’re anxiously awaiting the return of events and are excited to share our fresh, handmade cocktail mixers—via our Community Supported Cocktails program—in the meanwhile. Now is a perfect time for sipping fresh, handmade cocktails at home.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
At this point, it’s hard to say exactly where the event industry is headed. In the near future, we’re discussing ways to execute a socially distant service for small groups. Beyond that, I’m hopeful events will be able to look more like their old selves sooner than later!

Pricing:

• Community Supported Cocktails single share (five cocktails, one type) is $96
• Community Supported Cocktails double share (ten cocktails, two different types) is $192

Contact Info:

• Website: cocktailcaravan.com
• Phone: 720-598-2998
• Email: hello@cocktailcaravan.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocktailcaravanco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cocktailcaravanco

Image Credit:
Crystal Headshot: Andrew Bydlon
Trailer under lights: Sarah Roshan
Trailer closeup with floral: Michelle Lynn + Kerry McIntyre
Bride and groom: Michelle Lynn + Kerry McIntyre
Cocktail + Bottle: Crystal Sagan

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