Photo: We Are The Cashmans
Foamed cocktails served out of an old-school camper? We’ll drink to that.
When Brooke Mihoces bought a Shasta camper in 2018, she thought she might use it for wine tastings. As a brand manager for an alcohol distributor, the concept certainly fit within the context of her day job. But what she didn’t anticipate was that this one purchase—with a lot of elbow grease and retrofitting—would eventually lead to a whole fleet of vintage mobile bars. Four years later, the Severna Park entrepreneur has two campers, a 1965 horse trailer, and three satellites bars from which her team sling craft beer, unique cocktails, and charcuterie for weddings and small events across the DMV.
You change your menu every season. What’s one of your favorite drinks from the spring update? We have a really cool sea foam margarita. It’s a classic margarita but we use egg whites in it, which gives the drink a creamy mouthfeel. I love making it because most people haven’t tried foam before. I think weddings are a great time to try something new; guests have a unique opportunity to discover a [drink] at the recommendation of their host, without having to worry about the cost.
I love that your bar packages automatically include specialty cocktails. A lot of people get excited about open bars at weddings, but, frankly, we’d much rather taste something handcrafted than middle-tier G&Ts. Yeah, that’s one of the things that separates Vintage Views from other bar-service companies. A lot of our competitors will offer a ‘Level One’ package with basic alcohols. I don’t do that because I want to use the alcohol I want to use to make a good drink. We bring the best quality of ingredients: fresh-pressed juice, fresh syrups, house-made infusions and craft spirits, beer, and wine. We bring cocktails that have five or more ingredients and we can keg them to ensure we are still serving fast in the process.
In your opinion, what are some of the problems with DIYing the beverage experience? One is people think it will be way easier than it is. There are so many components to a bar that often get overlooked. When you’re doing it yourself, you might run out of ice or cups or have to run to the store in the middle of the party to get more of something. A lot of people think “I’ll just hire a friend of a friend,” which can go great or backfire. If they over serve guests, there are liability problems. Wedding guests interact with the bartender more than any other vendor, so why wouldn’t you want to maximize that experience?
Do you have any cocktail book recommendations for the adventurous? What inspires you? I love TIKI: Modern Tropical Cocktails. It’s a great exploratory book for new ingredients. People tend to think of tropical drinks as really sweet or just Malibu Rum, but they’re very complex. My favorite recipe from the book is the Jungle Bird, which is a delicious use of Campari and blackstrap rum.
Even more than the alcohol, Vintage Views has always been known for its iconic campers. Which of your rentals are best for weddings? A lot of people book our original camper bar, the 1964 Shasta, for weddings because it’s white and only 10 feet long, so it can fit perfectly in a backyard. Our horse trailer bar can serve a larger crowd because the window is so big. It’s 12 feet long, matte black with wood finishes, and comes with four draft lines. Lastly, we offer the cutest portable bar cart that comes with an umbrella (either yellow eyelet, blue and white striped, or pink and white striped). It can serve up to 100 people, with one draft line, and can go anywhere—inside or out.
OK, here’s a test. What’s your best hangover cure? There’s a cocktail ingredient called a shrub, that has a vinegar base like kombucha. If you mix a little bit of the shrub with water, you’ll feel better, almost instantly. That works for me, at least with a few Advil!
