The Social Drinker serving up cocktails and more for events in Topeka

For Amber and Chad Frickey, bringing a business to Topeka for others to enjoy was always a topic of discussion at their home.

Amber had been bartending at different establishments in the capital city since 2017 as a second job. She said she and Chad love going to events and being around people.

An employment lay-off this year pushed them to take a chance in starting their own business. They're calling it The Social Drinker, a dry hire bar and catering service.

"We're from here, we live here, so we weren't sure how busy and how much it might pick up and really succeed in this market," Chad said. "To our knowledge, there's nothing else exactly like it here, so we're hoping it kicks off here and can survive and succeed in this market."

Social Drinker is 'Dry Hire'

In a dry hire bar, the customer provides the liquor and the service bar offers everything else, including professional bartending and bar set up. While you can direct the client to a preferred liquor store, or in some cases place the order for them, you are never permitted to pay for the alcohol without a liquor license, according to MobileBevPros.com .

The Frickeys accept reservations for The Social Drinker by phone or email, thesocialdrinkerllc@gmail.com. That is followed by consultation in which customers can go into more detail about their event and what their needs are.

The couple said they serve the capital city and all surrounding areas as they are willing to travel.

"If they say, I have a 200-person party and I want to supply this cocktail and give them two different types of beer, I'll give them a shopping list basically and send them to the liquor store to go get what they want," said Amber. "Then, they can tell us what they want their vibe to be, how they want their event to look, and then we can basically tailor the bar to look like what they are wanting."

The couple caters to the parties' desired style with custom cocktails, custom stickers on cups, bar decorations and more.

Three different party packages are offered on The Social Drinker website. Those packages include tier one, a package that guarantees four hours of coverage for up to 50 guests with beer, wine, liquor, 'high quality disposable drinkware', napkins and bar set up and breakdown.

Tier two includes mixers for house drinks, choice of one customized cocktail plus everything in tier one. Tier three includes two customizable cocktails for more than 100 guests and what's offered in tier one and two.

"Anything we can do to elevate their event as a bartending service we're here for," said Chad.

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Looking to the future of the business

The couple first introduced The Social Drinker on Sept. 21, via their business Facebook page . Just within their first month of business, they've been booked at several events around Topeka.

"I want everybody ... to know our name, everybody around us to know our name and be like, 'oh yeah, we have The Social Drinker at our party,'" said Amber.

"It is a good drive and a push, but it has been a real feel-good moment really. All the immediate support we had, and it's not all people we know too. Strangers supported (us) from the get-go too," said Chad.

Being present at more local events, with an even busier schedule is what they look forward to as the business progresses, they said.

By 2025, they said they hope to obtain the proper license, so clients don't have to be the ones to buy liquor. They see themselves purchasing a trailer for outside events and being more mobile.

Working together is a good balance for the Frickeys, as they agreed that they keep each other in line. "She's the creativity, and I'm kind of the logistics." said Chad.

"Sometimes I get crazy big ideas, and he'll bring me back down to earth," said Amber. "We get to enjoy it together."

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Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: The Social Drinker serving up cocktails and more for events in Topeka