Cocktail Expert Develops Delivery Service to Relieve Hosting Obstacles

A new craft cocktail delivery service, Cantaloupe Island, launched yesterday, September 13, 2021, in Austin with the mission to satisfy libation needs for gatherings and events of all sizes. The service was created to enable event hosts to provide premium craft cocktails for their guests without the tedious steps of collecting supplies and equipment, hiring staff, or creating specialty menus.

Cantaloupe Island was founded by Richard Thomas, a Texas native who recently moved to Austin after spending years slinging drinks in New York City. Thomas’ pedigree includes experience at New York hot spots like Heavy Woods in Brooklyn where he trained under Demario Wallace (former head bartender at Pouring Ribbons in NYC) who taught him many techniques, methods, and recipes that he would continue to develop throughout his career. Thomas was also deeply influenced by the batched and draft cocktail movement, which he was exposed to by colleagues and friends working at Yours Sincerely in Brooklyn and Cafe Dante in the West Village. With Cantaloupe Island, Thomas’ goal is to incorporate what he’s learned over the years to help the hospitality industry flourish by creating exciting ways to make serving premium cocktails less labor-intensive and more fun.

I saw a great need for premium batched cocktails in the events and hospitality industry. There’s no other industry that still does things the way they were done a century ago, so why should cocktails be the exception? I’m telling you, a fairy dies every time a bartender picks up more than four bottles to make a drink.”

The Cantaloupe Island menu has over 36 different cocktail creations ranging from the common bar classics to unique creations crafted from the knowledge Thomas has accrued throughout his experience. To help create a diverse menu, there are over 17 spirit brands used. These brands were selected with the help of local favorite The Austin Shaker to ensure the top-of-the-line spirits were incorporated into the recipes. 

The Cantaloupe Island team’s dedication to creating high-quality cocktails is integrated within every stage of preparation but is especially present in the ingredients used. Each morning, the team prepares fresh-squeezed juice for the day and develops homemade syrups and cordials for each drink. To ensure that every batch tastes as fresh as possible, they also dedicate time to filtering any impurities out of all water and ice used. The team even goes as far as to carbonate their drinks as needed, to guarantee that every aspect of the drink is held to the Cantaloupe Island standard. 

How To Order?

Customers can order their cocktails online via the Cantaloupe Island website, whether their event is for five or five hundred. When selecting their choice of cocktails, there are six package options for events of all sizes; packages come in custom growlers and jockey jokes that hold one, four, six, eight, twelve, or sixteen gallons.

The team aims to create a seamless experience for customers, which means staff personally drops off the batches, sets up the station and garnishes, and returns after the event is over to pick up the equipment. All necessary materials are included with each batch, meaning that customers receive items like ice, ice buckets, scoops, bamboo tongs, napkins, bar mats for spills, garnishes, salt, compostable cups, and agave pulp straws upon drop off.

Delivery is currently available in Travis County and orders can be placed at: www.cantaloupeislanddraftcocktails.com.

You can follow along on Instagram at @cantaloupeislandatx.