Design by Fabian Rey
The last weekend of April was the busiest that the city has experienced since the Austin City Limits Festival. There was the Only-in-Austin Eeyore’s Birthday Party at Pease Park, the Austin Food & Wine Fest, and our backyard happy hour at the Nine Banded Whiskey HQ to name a few.
We hosted a happy hour with local online butcher start-up Rosso & Flynn and our office neighbors Made In Cookware, and the wonderful band Ley Line Sound. The weather was perfect, the tacos were tasty, and the whiskey cocktails were of course on point! The afternoon was laid back as the four women of Ley Line Sound performed their set which has musical influences from Brazil, Latin America, and West Africa.
On Saturday morning we descended upon Auditorium Shores where our friend Fabian Rey, a local artist, began painting his live mural commissioned and inspired by Nine Banded Whiskey in the center of Austin Food & Wine Festival. We kept the theme in tact with our tasty “Fresca Frisky” which featured watermelon jalapeno agua frescas from Lula’s and Nine Banded Whiskey.
It was exciting to be part of the diverse group of food and drink brands from across the country who came together to make the festival great.
Later that day, we popped up at the awesome event called “Rock Your Taco” where various chefs of all backgrounds competed at local warehouse venue Fair Market by making their best taco. Attendees tried the tacos one by one until happy and full. The night paired perfectly with our Nine Banded Whiskey horchata cocktails, topped with a dash of cinnamon. At the end of the night Andrew Zimmern of the Travel Channel and the host of “Bizarre Foods” was the winner with his decadent black caviar and cured salmon taco. Congrats to all the chefs!
Sunday morning the gates opened at Auditorium Shores to find Fabian Rey adding some much needed color to the day. The Whiskey + Art interactive activation we put together was extremely memorable for all who stopped by. Naturally we were set up next to Austin’s own DJ Mel spinning all the tracks so it became our duty to keep the cups filled with cocktails such as the Wild Side which is our Nine Banded Whiskey with a splash of grapefruit juice, lime, and a dash of peach bitters topped with Rambler sparkling water.
We closed down the Austin Food & Wine Festival with a bang. Thanks DJ Mel! See you next year!
