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Past Event · October 9, 2025 · Our First Ever

Potions & Paws

Drinking Buddies × Pearl Diver × Pawster

The Potions and Paws event poster featuring a cartoon dog and the sponsor logos
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How It Came Together

This was the very first event Drinking Buddies ever threw: a Halloween-themed cocktail night at Pearl Diver, costumes encouraged for humans and dogs alike, built as an activation for Pawster, a local Nashville nonprofit.

Pawster is more than a one-off partner. Every single copy of Drinking Buddies has a QR code on the back linking to portraits and stories of dogs Pawster supports, often through service workers going through addiction treatment. That connection between hospitality and recovery runs close to home for us.

This wasn't a fundraiser we ran. Drinking Buddies built the whole event and Pearl Diver hosted it, purely to give Pawster visibility: a costume party, cool stuff for the dogs, and a room full of people meeting them for the first time. A nice surprise on top: Doric Lodge 732 F&AM used the night to present Pawster with a $1,000 check of their own, nothing we raised, just a good thing that happened in a room we built.

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The Night

Guest holding her dog in a costume at Potions and Paws Guest with his dog wearing a rainbow hat Guest in a Pawster Nashville shirt with his dog Raffle prize table with a copy of Drinking Buddies zine A group of dogs in Halloween costumes Bartenders in cat and dog face paint behind the bar Doric Lodge presenting Pawster with a $1,000 check at Potions and Paws The Drinking Buddies mini bar stand on display at Pearl Diver

The Menu

Three sponsor brands backed the night, two of them starring in their own potion-themed cocktail.

Bone Voyage cocktail card featuring Trovador Rum
Bone Voyage · Trovador Rum
Lady Lagoony's Blue Moony cocktail card featuring Trovador Rum
Lady Lagoony's Blue Moony · Trovador Rum
Cauldron Crisp cocktail card featuring Engine Gin
Cauldron Crisp · Engine Gin

With Pearl Diver, Trovador Rum, Engine Gin, The Pathfinder, and Pawster

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