Area’s moveable bars are actually converted campers
Converted campers bring the cocktails to you
Times Union
By Deanna Fox
August 2, 2017
Why bother going to the bar when the bar can come to you?
The appeal of food trucks has spread from tacos and sliders to the liquid options that hungry (and thirsty) customers desire. Instead of old delivery trucks converted into mobile kitchens, vintage campers are being renovated into portable bars.
“I got the idea for a bar on wheels when I was working at Whole Foods in Denver,” says Adam Lombard, a Saratoga native who operates BarStream, which he owns with lifelong friend Benjamin Deidrich. (The duo met in fourth grade playing Little League baseball.) Lombard had worked in catering and hospitality for 20 years and was looking to return home to Saratoga. When Deidrich returned home from a stint in the Peace Corps, they purchased a 1966 Airstream Safari from California and converted the sleek 22-foot-long aluminum camper into a bartending service.
The work on the renovation was completed mostly by Lombard and Deidrich and included reinforcing the floor, replacing an axle and customizing the interior with 10 taps, refrigeration, a seating lounge and a photo booth.
Classy Camper Cocktail Co., based in Columbia County, also utilizes a 1960s camper for on-the-go bar service. Morgan Herchenroder was in the restaurant business for 20 years (her family owned the now-closed Valkin restaurant in Valatie) and says, “I wanted to do something in the food industry, but not be engulfed in it.” She found her solution in a vintage Shasta Airflight, a compact 8-by-16-foot white camper with brown trim.
Like many bars in the Capital Region, BarStream and Classy Camper source beverages and focus on handmade ingredients for their menus, which are often tailored to the desires of clients. BarStream’s extensive tap system allows for more than just kegged beer: Lombard says he and Deidrich will put signature cocktails on tap, designed specifically for private events and festivals, and rely on kegged wine that creates “less of a footprint.” At Classy Camper, Herchenroder makes her own syrups and fruit purees.
“I think (mobile bars) will continue to grow,” says Lombard, who rents BarStream to private groups and catering groups who want to operate their own bar service. Vinyl signs can be affixed to the Airstream camper for marketing opportunities, and a hashtag photo printer allows customers to step inside the camper and create a memento to commemorate the occasion. Lombard says camper bars have long been popular in Europe, and the trend is just taking hold in America.
Part of the surge is due to the increased fanbase of “camper life” and the tiny house movement. Social media influencers who engage in a nomadic lifestyle, eschewing permanent residency for the chance to travel the world, have spurred the trend. The recession has also led to the decline of homeownership: The U.S. Census Bureau notes that the homeownership rate has fallen to its lowest level since 1965, the year data for this statistic was first recorded.
The lower cost of owning a tiny home or camper allows for the peaceful feeling of having one’s own place without denying the temptations of wanderlust. Lombard and Herchenroder both say the communities that have developed around vintage camper enthusiasts have celebrated the mobile bars they have created. “It’s been very well received, and people are amazed,” says Lombard, noting that people commonly ask if BarStream is part of a franchise. Herchenroder says that her Shasta model is in such high demand, “I almost felt too bad to take it apart.”
The biggest challenge in running a mobile bar for both Lombard and Herchenroder is the legal process for permits. BarStream typically relies on a single-use beer and wine permit and mobile vending health permit granted by the county where the event will take place. The permits take between 10 and 15 days to be received after applications are submitted, and vary based on municipalities and county regulations.
Lombard says other states have a more streamlined process for liquor and mobile vending permits that can be used across locations, and some have specialized catering liquor licenses that do not require a permanent residence restaurant or bar to secure a full liquor license. (New York state does not offer this sort of license.)
“A full liquor license isn’t a feasible option,” says Lombard, as it prohibitively expensive to secure for each county BarStream serves.
Classy Camper gets around the liquor licensing process by calling itself a “mobile bartending service,” says Herchenroder. Her company does not secure liquor permits for the event, instead providing labor, serviceware and non-alcoholic supplies for each event. Classy Camper does consult on ordering beer, wine and cider (where to purchase it and how much to buy) and the permit process.
Herchenroder also circumvents the spirits restrictions on the beer and wine license by making wine cocktails. Rosé lemonade and white wine mojitos have been popular this summer. Classy Camper will be serving wine cocktails like this in partnership with The Flammerie, a Kinderhook restaurant, on Aug. 25 at the Kinderhook Food Truck Village, held in the village square from 5 to 9 p.m.
“It’s harder to run a food truck than people think,” says Lombard, and a mobile bar is a good medium between wanting a portable hospitality option while avoiding the demands of a brick-and-mortar bar, restaurant or food truck. BarStream will be pouring local beverages at the Markets at Round Lake on Aug. 13 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.