We recently connected with Tony Cross and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

When I had the idea to start Reverie, my idea was to batch and carbonate cocktails into 6 oz glass bottles. I would deliver them in six packs locally. I was obsessed with getting my idea off of the ground, telling everyone who would listen about my future venture. Problem was, I had no idea how I was going to carbonate cocktails without the juice separating and being shelf-stable. It wasn’t until right when all of my permitting became approved that I figured it out. Soon after I started delivering our cocktails, I found out through state officials that my bottle size was “too small” to legally deliver. As silly as it sounds, I had to cease operations immediately. Luckily, I was able to pivot the following month: while pouring drinks our of a keg at a local fundraiser, it dawned on me that I could deliver full kegs of our mix to bars and restaurants (adding the liquor upon delivery) to pour on draught like a beer.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I used to manage a restaurant while bartending. While there I started a cocktail and wine program that took off. When I stopped working there, I knew that I wanted to do some sort of mobile bartending, but also know that the town I live in wasn’t big enough to keep me busy with traditional gigs. Cocktail delivery was unheard of when I started, especially for North Carolina. I hoped I had found a niche.

Today, we deliver growlers of our cocktails locally; we cater small and large parties; we deliver kegs of our carbonated cocktails to bars, restaurants, and venues in and out of State.

One of my proudest moments is having our cocktails poured during Atlanta Braves games through Yard House restaurant at Truist Park.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The pandemic almost crippled us. We had recently started offering local growler delivery months prior to the lockdowns, but the response was pretty dismal. In a last ditch effort, I did a promo on Instagram and Facebook on our business page about our services. The response was so overwhelming that my head was spinning. Within a few weeks, we went from delivering a handful of growler a week, to averaging around 50-60 a day.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I knew right off the bat that I needed help from other people/businesses in the area to get my brand recognizes. My solution was: go around town handing out small bottles of our carbonated cocktails to local businesses and friends in town. I asked everyone that if they enjoyed our cocktails, to please take a picture (with logo showing) and tag us on IG and/or FB. It worked! Pretty soon, buzz was going around town about the company that would deliver cocktails. It was a lot of fun getting the word out this way!

Contact Info:

• Website: reveriecocktails.com
• Instagram: reverie_cocktails
• Facebook: Reverie Cocktails

Image Credits
Rachel Garrison Warren Henry Lewis Emily Boles