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On a cold February evening, renowned Charlotte mixologist Bob Peters turns off the heater in his garage. He casts his iPhone screen to a 55-inch TV mounted on the wall and plugs a ring light into an extension cord. The professional studio light, which Peters scored for $35 on Facebook Marketplace, illuminates Peters’ quarantine venture: The Garage Bar.
When restaurants and bars shut down and his consulting business dried up last spring, Peters began to turn his double garage in Plaza Midwood into a — well, not a bar exactly. That wouldn’t be legal. It’s partly a home studio, where Peters can broadcast cocktail classes on Zoom or Instagram, and partly a sanctuary, a place to refine recipes and indulge in a craft that COVID — and at times the state legislature — has done its best to derail.
Even though this project began soon after the pandemic struck, Peters only recently began to brand and publicize the space. His new Instagram and logo, which spells out “Garage Bar” in a tool-themed font, are Peters’ latest attempts to connect his homebound community over cocktails and conversation.
The group he’s hosting tonight chats about the ingredients they had to purchase in advance, like Jarrito’s grapefruit soda, and cracks jokes about rolling in late to work the next day. Peters reads the virtual room: “It’s fun how much you can extrapolate in just a few minutes.”
He can already tell this will be a laid-back crowd; it’s seven minutes past the start time and no one is in a rush to get going. When they do, Peters reassures them that questions are welcome anytime.
“This is going to be more of a conversation among friends than a class,” he says.
Almost a year ago, lounging inside a cozy bar and indulging in a long evening of public drinking became activities that put the community at risk. But that didn’t diminish the demand for alcohol.
Last spring, lines stretched down the sidewalk outside local ABC stores. National companies offering home delivery of liquor like Drizly saw business boom.
