Cocktail For A Cause

In September 2015, the Pickled Fish bar manager Matt Lessnau (now Head Distiller at Adrift Distillers) was also working as a city council member for the Parks and Rec department for Ilwaco. He wanted to find a way to raise money for a new play structure they were building, and suggested creating a cocktail special, with 50% of the sale going to raise money for the new play structure.

Bourbon Renewal

The first cocktail was taken from a modern classic by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, the Bourbon Renewal:

2 oz bourbon

1 oz fresh lemon juice

0.5 oz creme de cassis

0.5 oz simple syrup

1 dash Angostura bitter

The Bourbon Renewal was incredibly popular, and raised $2,145 for the new play structure. This storming success was the birth of the Cocktail For A Cause program.

Over the years, through the Cocktail for a Cause program, we’ve supported over 47 different local charities – from Astoria food banks to our local ACLU chapter, to projects tackling youth homelessness on the peninsula – and raised $43,000 and counting!