Publisher disclosure: Jason Littrell publishes this guide and offers beverage services. His business is included below. Entries are unranked; placement is not a claim that one provider is better than another. Confirm each provider’s current scope, availability, and references directly.
Hiring for a festival, activation, or VIP event
Start with the beverage responsibility, not the size of the event. You may need a creative cocktail concept, a batching and service plan, an experienced beverage team, or a combination that works alongside your existing producer. For a festival, plan service peaks, replenishment, and site requirements before settling the beverage scope.
Explore festival cocktails and beverage production, brand activations and pop-ups, or awards and VIP hospitality. Compare responsibilities using the beverage production team buyer’s guide.
The Made in America case study documents Jason’s supporting beverage role as Tim McTee’s assistant. It distinguishes archived production plans from verified outcomes.
JL Cocktail Co / Jason Littrell
Jason Littrell develops cocktail concepts and beverage production plans for festivals, brand activations, pop-ups, awards, and private events. The scope can include signature drinks, zero-proof options, batching plans, and a beverage team assembled around the brief. Jason’s creative oversight and onsite involvement are agreed per assignment, alongside the responsibilities of the event producer, venue, and caterer. He is based in New York City and available for international commissions by agreement. See the current beverage production offering and the documented Made in America role linked above.
Hero Events Group
Hero Events Group, led by Claire Bertin-Lang (Absolut and Pernod Ricard alum, 19+ years in the industry), is a full-service event production firm working primarily with wine and spirits brands. NYC and Austin footprint. Recent work includes the Old Forester Brunch Bash at Tales of the Cocktail 2024, Diplomático Rum at Tales, and Martini Expo 2025 in Brooklyn. Services include trade outreach, ambassador programs, VIP tastings, product launches, festivals, event staffing, logistics and compliance, recipe development, vendor management, and venue procurement. Strong fit for spirits brand launch programming and multi-city activation work. heroeventsgroup.com
Liquid Productions
Liquid Productions, led by Andy Seymour, is a cocktail and beverage consulting practice with a national footprint and a long history in bar programming, brand consulting, and beverage education. Positioning line "In Pursuit of Perfection" telegraphs the standard. Strong fit for spirits brands building long-arc programming, and for hotel or restaurant groups that need a beverage consulting partner across multiple properties. liqpro.com
Liquid Lab NYC
Liquid Lab NYC is a Flatiron-based cocktail catering and event production firm with a deep bench of bartenders and a broad book of corporate, private, and brand event work in the New York metro area. Full-service scope from bar builds and menu design through staffing and on-site management. Strong fit for corporate and mid-market brand events across the city. liquidlabnyc.com
Manhattan Mixology
Manhattan Mixology runs a luxury event services practice covering weddings, corporate events, and private clients across the NYC metro. Well-organized public FAQ page and a service ladder from bar rentals through full luxury event bar builds. Strong fit for private and wedding-side clients who want a polished production shop with clear packaging. manhattanmixology.com/luxury-event-services
Prolific Pours
Prolific Pours runs a beverage activation practice with a focus on branded moments and consumer marketing events. Public services page around brand activations, event bar programming, and mobile bar services. Strong fit for consumer brand teams running a launch event where the drink is the marketing asset and the scope is a single-day activation. prolificpours.com/services/brand-activations
Cocktails in Motion
Cocktails in Motion is a NYC event bar and cocktail catering service handling private, corporate, and brand events. Public footprint is smaller than the firms above it on this list, and the public site is thin, but the operation is real and works in the same market. Strong fit for straightforward private and corporate events where the client wants an experienced bar team without a large production apparatus. cocktailsinmotion.com
How to use this list
Large-scale cocktail production fails in three predictable places. The bar can not move at the pace the room drinks. The menu was designed for a taste, not a room. Or the accountability for the beverage layer lives in someone who has never worked a bar during peak hour. Before hiring any firm on this list, write down three numbers: the guest count, the peak-hour window in minutes, and the target drink count per bartender per minute at the pour you want. Then ask each finalist for two things. First, a named event at similar scale with a named client contact you can call. Second, a written scope that names the senior on the floor and the batching plan for the peak-hour window.
Any firm on this list, including this one, should be able to produce both inside a week.
If you want a shortcut, answer four questions on the intake page and you will get a specific recommendation for the event, whether that is engaging JL Cocktail Co directly or being pointed at another firm on this list that is a better fit.
For deeper context on the three real service models, see luxury cocktail catering NYC vs alternatives. For the full pillar on the practice, see large-scale cocktail production NYC.
About the list
This list is published on jlittrell.com, a New York City hospitality consulting property. The list is refreshed annually. If you run an NYC cocktail event production practice and want to be considered for the 2027 edition, email jason@jlittrell.com with the firm name, website, and a two-sentence description of what the firm does best.
Talk through your beverage brief
Call Jason at 917-553-5409 or text the event date, location, and beverage brief. We can identify the right scope before asking you to complete a proposal process.
