The Cocktail Craftsman · Custom signature cocktail design
I design custom signature cocktails and deliver them to you remotely. Book me on-site and I come as your consultant, guiding your bar team while they make every drink.
Â
I'm a designer, not a bartender, so your team does the pouring. I give them the story, the recipe, and a complete kit so the drink comes out right the first time and every time after. The right drink changes the room.
A signature cocktail for every story worth telling.
Conferences & associations
The part of your conference nobody plans. A signature cocktail can be the icebreaker at your opening reception, or a sponsorship asset worth more than a sign in the hallway.
Membership & networking clubs
Clubs have a house wine. Not a house cocktail. For city, country, and yacht clubs and networking groups, a house cocktail is the small ritual that makes a club feel like a club. One design covers member nights, board dinners, the holiday party, and the gala.
Weddings, venues & caterers
What do your guests drink at the reception? For couples, it's a drink that tells your story. For venues and caterers, it's something you can offer on every event you book.
The blueprint travels. Your team brings it to life.
1. Discover the story.
​Â
We start with why the room exists: the organization, the milestone, the guests, the place, and what you want people to feel.
What you receive: the full kit with every cocktail
​Â
• A consultation
• Recipe card templates (digital and print-ready)
• A shopping list
• An instructional video
• Staff guidance
• Alternative ingredient options
• Scaling instructions for any headcount
2. Design the signature.
​Â
I turn that story into a drink with a name, a point of view, and a recipe your team can repeat.
Optional add-on: printed recipe cards
Â
Want finished cards on the bar? I'll order printed recipe cards for you.
​
Optional add-on: on-site consulting
Â
Want me in the room? I can come on-site as your consultant and work alongside your bar team as they prepare the drinks, making sure every glass matches the design. I consult; I don't bartend. If you add on-site consulting, it's billed by the hour, and a four-hour minimum and my travel and accommodations may apply, depending on the event.​
​ Â
What I don't do
Â
I design the cocktail, only. No bartending, no bar setup, no event planning. Your venue, caterer, or bar team serves; I make sure they have everything they need.
3. Hand off the kit.
​Â
Everything arrives remotely, anywhere in the country, ready for whoever is behind your bar.
Years of hands-on craft cocktail experience in Charlotte, paired with a corporate background.
NASAO Annual Convention & Trade Show: the host-city reveal
For the National Association of State Aviation Officials' Annual Convention & Trade Show, I partnered with three bar sponsors and designed the cocktail that revealed Atlanta as their 2027 host city.
Drinks that did a job.
Charlotte Economics Club: "The Policy Pivot"
They asked for a drink that said something about the organization itself. "The Policy Pivot" has been on their member events menu ever since, credited to The Cocktail Craftsman.
In the press: The Charlotte Ledger
"The Cocktail Craftsman is not a bartending service, Frietch is quick to note, but purely the R&D and storycrafting of creating a distinct cocktail that reflects, for example, a couple's love story on their wedding day, or a company's brand at a convention or trade show."
The Charlotte Ledger, "He's a spirited storyteller," March 28, 2026