At the heart of every event is a story. But how do those stories get told — through speeches, decor, invitations, music? For storybar, these narratives are best communicated through a drink menu.

The Richmond-based traveling bar specializes in crafting thoughtful, thematic drink menus for myriad events. For co-founders Samuel Cisco and Tori Feyrer, cocktails can do more than just quench thirst — they can help tell the stories that words sometimes cannot express.

“Drinks can hold really complex stories,” Feyrer says. “No matter what type of event you’re having, whether it’s a housewarming, gallery opening, or a wedding, you’re telling some type of story by bringing people together … we believe that drinks can help tell that story and help people connect to the deeper meaning behind the event.”

Before co-founding storybar, Cisco says that he spent nearly a decade in the service industry. He has previously held positions at Richmond staples like Blanchard’s Coffee and Ironclad Coffee Roasters before managing storybar’s operations.

Feyrer became involved in the Richmond food and drink scene mostly as a patron, she says, but was inspired around three years ago to begin mixing drinks for friends and family at events like bachelorette parties and birthday gatherings. While Feyrer works as a consultant in her day-to-day life, she says that creating menus and mixing drinks for storybar has given her a valuable creative outlet.

Early in their creative partnership, Feyrer says she and Cisco bonded over a shared belief in the importance of meaningful drink menus at events.

“Sam and I both just haven’t had many good drinks at events, and so that inspired some of this,” Feyrer says. “I will go to weddings and I’ll be like, ‘This is one of the most important moments of [someone’s] life.’ We want the drinks to embody the beauty and the sacredness and importance of those moments.”

This is the mission of storybar: to curate cocktail menus that are not only great tasting, but also reflective of the spirit of the event and the people attending it.

For example, a recent housewarming menu included a “clean, fresh re-imagination of the dirty martini,” New (Olive) Branches. Made with olive oil-washed, peppercorn-infused gin, dry vermouth, olive brine, mezcal and EVOO, this cocktail represented “seasons of pruning creating space for new beauty,” for the host.

“I’m more excited about the storytelling component, of helping people tell their stories in such a way that they can be better understood and better loved by those around them,” Cisco says. “I think that is kind of where my passion comes in.”

To craft a standout cocktail menu for an event, storybar fields requests from customers through the inquiry form on their website. The form asks customers a number of questions about flavor preferences, ordering habits and the story they want their event to express.

Once interested clients submit the form, Feyrer and Cisco meet with them to discuss their ideas for the menu, create mockups and hold a preliminary tasting for the host before solidifying the menu for the event.

The gatherings storybar has created menus for thus far are wide-ranging, from weddings to birthdays to holiday parties, even hosting their own launch party for between 60 and 70 guests.

Though Cisco and Feyrer live in Richmond, storybar is not limited to serving a certain geographic area — Feyrer says they’ve crafted a menu for a wedding in Utah. However, Feyrer says she likes the idea that storybar is rooted in Richmond.

“This is from Richmond and for Richmond, in our minds,” Feyrer says. “And of course that extends to the surrounding counties…but we do feel strongly about being an institution from and for Richmond.”

Though Cisco and Feyrer have found fulfillment through working private events, they hope that the future brings more public-facing opportunities for storybar. Feyrer says that they are hoping to bring specialty drinks to Richmond through pop-ups and ticketed events.

Storybar’s concept allows not only for expression, but also exploration. Cisco adds that the storytelling aspect of storybar allows people to expand their horizons and encounter flavors they might otherwise not be interested in. When the drink menu is structured by a narrative, Cisco says that people are drawn to drinks for reasons outside of their taste or preferences.

“I think coming in and using these drinks to tell different aspects of [the] story has also really opened people’s horizons to trying something new, because it wasn’t necessarily the ingredients of the drink that resonated with them, it was what part of the story that drink represented,” Cisco says. “I think that that’s been really fun.”

Those interested in letting Cisco and Feyrer help bring the story of their events to life can fill out the inquiry form on their website.