New Tap Truck Will Bring Beer, Wine and More to Your Event in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

A new business concept in Tuscaloosa aims to bring the party to you, no matter where your event is being held.

The Black Tap Society, the brainchild of University of Alabama alumnae Alexus Porter and Jada Thomas, is a new-to-Tuscaloosa idea, a luxury mobile bar service that will bring the beverages of your choice to any celebration, anywhere.

"We are allowing our clients to create beverage experiences through our tap truck and it will let people have a bunch of different things they wouldn't have access to in a normal bar setting," Thomas said. "We can tap craft beers, specialty cocktails, cold brew, kombucha, wine and champagne -- really unique things you don't get to experience in a bar setting."

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Thomas said the entrepreneurs aim to bring a top-shelf experience to any event in the area, regardless of the setting or preferred menu.

"Whether it's a tailgate, wedding or a birthday party, we're able to bring black-tie service to all event types," Thomas said.

The business model is simple -- clients book the Black Tap Society and choose what they want in each of the truck's four taps. The company picks up the drinks, taps the kegs and brings them to the event, where clients can choose a self-service option or elect to have a professional tap-tender on-site to pour drinks for guests.

Thomas, a Tuscaloosa native, and Porter, who is from Montgomery, met at the University of Alabama in 2017 and became friends, then sorority sisters, then roommates. They graduated with business degrees in 2019, but the growth of their budding careers in corporate America was stunted when the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to work from home.

"With a lot of free time to think about business opportunities and with how COVID-19 impacted the bar and events industry, we just really want to provide something that can withstand future social changes like what we saw with the pandemic," Thomas said.

The spectre of the pandemic was at the forefront of their business model, which Porter

"Last year COVID-19 changed the landscape of how people celebrate and we wanted to bring something to Tuscaloosa that was fun and innovative but also safe," Thomas said. "By using a self-service tap experience, it cuts down on crowd creation and reduces touchpoints and is just a COVID-friendly solution for events here."

Porter said the service will launch in Tuscaloosa in August, but the businesswomen are already booking events at their website, www.blacktapsocietybar.com.