Sourced Craft Cocktails Brings Happy Hour to You
The Texas-Based Company Has Put More Than 3,000 Bartenders to Work in the Past Few Weeks
BY Rebecca Sherman // 04.23.20Order a Spicy Margarita from Sourced Craft Cocktails and everything you need — including the alcohol and jigger to measure it — will be delivered to your door. The company pays bartenders an hourly wage to prepare your order and deliver it. It's a delicious way to help a great cause.
When Tim Angelillo launched Sourced Craft Cocktails in 2015, he had no idea his cocktail-delivery company would become a life raft for thousands of out-of-work bartenders around the country. Because the COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily shuttered restaurants and bars everywhere, bartenders have been plunged into desperate financial straits.
“I never imagined circumstances like these,” says Angelillo, who was calling from his house in Austin, where the company is based. “In 72 hours, we rebuilt our website and job descriptions and determined that we could keep enough money coming in for the bartenders to keep a roof over their heads.”
Angelillo says he has put more than 3,000 bartenders to work in the past few weeks, including 550 in Texas. (The company has locations in Austin, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco.) Bartenders are paid $15 an hour to prepare and deliver the drinks — plus big tips.
“People are being really generous tipping right now,” he says. “The average tip is around 22 percent. Our delivery bartenders are on track to make $4,000 a month.”
Bartenders are also being paid hourly wages to produce videos and podcasts on how to mix cocktails at home, along with live Zoom Q&A sessions for big groups. In addition, a portion of sales goes to the United States Bartenders’ Guild COVID-19 relief fund, Angelillo says.
Ordering cocktails from your phone or the website is easy. Here’s how it works: Choose from the menu, which features the kind of craft cocktails you were once only be able to get at your favorite bar. The selection is updated daily.
For instance, check out the Evening Standard, an old-fashioned made with Sazarac rye whiskey, homemade apricot Demerara syrup, and Chinese five-spice bitters. Tommy’s Margarita is made with Patrón Silver tequila, fresh squeezed lime juice, and agave-nectar syrup. Tracy’s Garden features Absolut Vodka, homemade cucumber and lime juices, and basil-infused simple syrup.
Drinks are offered in packages of 12, ranging from $72.11 to $82.73 for the cocktails listed above. A limited selection of bottled wines and Champagne is also offered.
Your delivery comes with:
• An 8-ounce bottle of all fresh ingredients batched together to make 12 cocktails
• A sealed 750ml bottle of alcohol, sourced from a local spirits retailer
• A jigger to help you measure each cocktail
• A menu with instructions for how to mix your cocktail
• Four high-quality Sourced-branded plastic cups
• A tote bag with everything packaged inside
Order by 3 p.m. to get your delivery that day, straight to your doorstep.
Another big way to help those in need during the pandemic? Include a 12-pack of Live to Give purified water for $22.99 with your cocktail order. The Dallas-based bottled-water company donates 50 percent of the net profits to military and first-responder families in need.
Angelillo says he’s gotten so many emails and texts from bartenders looking for work around the country — along with others who just want to order the drinks — that plans are already underway to launch Sourced Craft Cocktails in Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C., ASAP. Houston is also a possibility, he adds.
The pandemic has been a game-changer for how people shop and work.
“The shelter-in-place order will rapidly shift how people buy drinks in the future,” Angelillo says. “When you think about how Amazon shifted brick-and-mortar shopping online, that’s happening to the alcohol industry now. We just never expected this type of crisis to be the accelerating factor.”