Overview: From February 5th-12th, 2025, the BevFluence Chicago Speakeasy took over the Windy City and particularly Eris Brewery and Cider House, bringing together an exceptional mix of sommeliers, bartenders, brand representatives, and influencers. This multi-day experience featured blind tastings, hands-on bartender labs, educational seminars, and curated dinners, highlighting tequila, gin, Norton wine, and innovative cider cocktails.
In conjunction with the Speakeasy, BevFluence played a pivotal role at CiderCon 2025, where we activated a cider cocktail booth, hosted an educational session titled “A Chef’s Guide to Cider Cocktails,” and co-hosted the Cider Canada event at CHAOS Brew Club. These events showcased the versatility of cider in mixology and engaged industry professionals in meaningful tastings, discussions, and collaborations.
This report will detail what we did, how it went, what we did well and what we will do better next time. Our goal with these reports is not only to share the social media numbers but to give a full case study for the event so we can all learn together.
Key Metrics for Speakeasy:
- Dates: 2-5-2025 to 3-13-2025
- Reach:
- Social Media: 20.7 Million
- Web Media: 305.1K
- Engagement: 708 total social interactions (likes, shares, comments).
CiderCon Cocktail Booth Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned:
Increased Visibility: The sponsorship and participation in the cocktail booth allowed Bold Rock Cider and Virginia Distilling Company to introduce their brands to a highly targeted audience of cider producers, beverage influencers, and industry experts.
Collaborative Exposure: By working together at the booth, all brands demonstrated how cider and spirits can be successfully integrated into the cocktail space, raising awareness for both Nelson County and their partners.
Reinforced Industry Leadership: The booth helped position these brands as leaders in both the cider and spirits sectors, offering hands-on interaction with key influencers in the beverage world.
Special thanks to Nelson county Virginia Maureen killed it!
Bold cider and Virginia Distilling company and Misguided spirits for providing a last minute much needed triple sec.
Cocktails created: 69
Smiling attendees: 52
Videos created: 75
Number of people who did not know you can make cider cocktails… None thanks to us!
Click here to download full report.
