Tag Archive for: Bremik

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that planning a party is nowhere near as fun as the actual partying part of the party planning process.

Depending on how hard you party, the aftermath can sometimes be even less fun than the planning. I’m not super into that whole “cleaning up after” part either. Basically, I just like things that are fun.

I say all this as a way of prefacing the following statement: Planning the office-warming party for AM:PM PR and 7/Apps has been the kind of blast you can normally only get from a two-liter bottle of diet cola and a roll of Mentos.

That’s primarily because, early on, it was decided that I would be the liaison between AM:PM and Distillery Row , the area of southeast Portland that stretches from Burnside to Harrison and from MLK Blvd. to 12th Ave. Local craft distilleries such as Integrity, Highball, New Deal, Deco, Stone Barn Brandyworks and House Spirits make sure that if you’re sober around these parts, you only have yourself to blame.

Not sure why, exactly, my coworkers thought I would be a good fit for this particular mission. I’ll think about it while I finish this Sazerac.

Where was I again?

I’d love to tell you that it was some major feat of salesmanship on my part that got the distilleries involved, but in truth, I found that these were enthusiastic folks who needed only the tiniest of nudges to get on board. It helped that we were as excited about showcasing the Buckman Neighborhood and the unique businesses that populate it as we were about showing off the cast of characters that make up AM:PM PR.

In the process, I’ve gotten to hang out with Tom from New Deal, Rich from Integrity and the rest of the individuals who bring these individualistic spirits to life. Their personalities are about what you’d expect from the people behind products such as Trillium Absinthe, Hot Monkey Pepper Vodka and House Spirits’ Apothecary line of experimental small-batch liquors.

They’ve got more stories to tell than I have memory to record them. With that realization, we decided to begin filming a series of videos that will showcase the people, places and processes behind some of Portland’s finest intoxicants. They will appear on this website in the days to come.

As a friend once said, with great liquor comes great responsibility. While working with Distillery Row, we’ve also gotten to know our other neighbors, the ones that provide the kind of snacks so necessary to fortifying your stomach in times of plentiful imbibing.

Also bringing their delicious offerings to our shindig will be Meat Cheese Bread, Zell’s Café, Nicholas Restaurant, Clive Coffee, Nossa Familia, Sheridan Fruit Company, Buckman Village Brewery and Eat Your Heart Out.

We’ve been fortunate enough to come into contact with artist Chris Haberman, who will fill the former bunk room of Fire House No. 7 with visual art to complement its culinary counterpoint. Children’s Healing Art Project will be on hand to sell art and cupcakes in order to raise money to take art programs to local children’s hospitals.

Finally, we locked down the services of Cadenza Academy’s Kevin Pardew, who also plays bass for local Celtic rockers Amadan, to provide live music for the event with a band consisting of Dakota Max and Ashley Bread from the Dirt Jake Replicas. Web developer Zach Hoffman from Phoogoo will DJ in Bremik Construction’s offices next door, and attendees – or party people, as I like to call you – will be able to grab a glass of wine from Zanzibar and stroll between the two spaces.

It’s now apparent to me that this blog has turned into me giving props to the many fine people involved in this event, which was never my intent. I wanted to talk about myself and the many hardships I went through to turn my dream of free and plentiful liquor into reality. Oh well. I’m sure you get a sense of the nightmare that is my existence despite my wandering ways.

For those whose invitations got lost in the mail, the party will be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26. Please don’t cast a spell to make us sleep for a hundred years.