Welcome to The Highlight TN!
Good evening y'all. Just under a month ago, Drink Like Royalty got subcontracted by PourTaste to work a pop-up event to raise awareness about their new brick & mortar concept appropriately named The Highlight TN. Owners Jon & Lindsay Yeager have been operating PourTaste, their bar consulting and festival business, since 2011. I became good friends with them last fall when they invited pH Craft Cocktails, which I was managing at the time, to participate in their annual Nashville Cocktail Festival.
Over the years, the Yeagers have developed bar programs for a handful of Nashville's instantly recognizable hotels and restaurants, become regular guests on tv's The Kelly Clarkson Show,
and have even penned a book named The Ultimate Guide to Beer Cocktails, a definitive collection of knowledge and recipes that detail the art of mixing beer and spirits! Their festivals -
the Nashville Cocktail Festival and Cheers Huntsville have become popular events for the locals, tourists, service industry members, and cocktail enthusiasts in their respective markets.
Jon & Lindsey have been planning to open an all-inclusive getaway located in Hendersonville TN for a while now, and the pandemic added even more waiting time to their agenda. They envision a family-friendly space where one can watch movies with their kids in the outdoor movie theater, barbecue with their friends and neighbors, and have an all-around great time while (responsibly) enjoying some cocktails and good cheer. There is also a Member's Only upstairs private bar space set to open (🤫). Two months ago, Jon & Lindsay announced that they finally closed on a property, a beautiful farmhouse in downtown Hendersonville that previously held a private business.
They are currently remodeling the property and turning it into their dream come true.
To spread the word in Hendersonville about the wonderful new business set to grace the town, PourTaste held a pop-up event at the existing property in which folks could arrive and tour the space and receive 3 drinks with their purchase of drink tickets. They hired Delicias Colombianas (www.orderdeliciascolombianasrr.com) to cater the event - one of my favorites!
They parked their food truck outside the farmhouse-turned-modern-event-space, and folks lined up to place their orders of authentic Colombian cuisine prepared with love and a happy belly in mind.
Bartending alongside Drink Like Royalty was my new friend Brandon, who currently tends the bar at
Oak Steakhouse, one of Nashville's premier downtown restaurants. We both had a good time prepping for the night's service and getting to know one another. As we were working, it became clear that word had spread and become quite popular leading up to this event! Once we started service, the waves of people pouring onto the property let us know that this party was going to be packed. According to the reports of our friends who had the luxury of walking around the party, they told us that the line for the bar was out the front door and almost to the road!
Our plan had worked almost too well. Towards the end of service, there were a few upset guests that ended up not getting any drinks due to the long line and 3-hour time limit of the party,
but PourTaste quickly resolved their concerns by gifting them a free bottle of rum along with an apology! Those guys always go the extra mile to ensure that every guest of theirs walk away having been treated in a manner more than just normal bar service and transaction.
If your host apologizes for an evening's misfortunes with a free bottle of booze, you know you're around folk with integrity!
Please check out what PourTaste has been up to at www.pourtaste.com and check out
the stunning concept of their event campus located on Main St in Hendersonville on IG @thehighlighttn, and at www.thehighlighttn.com. Follow Jon & Lindsay's adventures on IG @pourtaste and @nashvillecocktailfestival. These guys stay busy! Maybe Drink Like Royalty will see you soon at one of their events 😎