Bartenders are required to operate with a Swiss Army Knife skillset – creativity as mixologists, knowledge of sometimes obscure drinks that customers crave, listening and communications skills to serve as sounding boards for their regulars, de facto conflict de-escalators when an environment gets a little too crazy, and generally any other responsibilities as they pop up while doing whatever it takes to create welcoming vibes in their establishments. The Art of Bartending is a Flint. Daily. series that shares the unique characteristics of some of Flint’s favorite barkeeps. Have a favorite Flint bartender you think we should feature? Email [email protected].
The best way to describe the vibe at Market Tap might be “customizable” – and that’s by design.
The tap room and bar, located on the second floor of the Flint Farmers’ Market, has a constantly rotating drink menu that features beers, wines, and ciders from Michigan brewers and specialty drinks created by their staff using Michigan-made liquors and products.
The entertainment on any given night could span multiple music genres ranging from soul and R&B to rock to DJs who play Latin dance and meringue to classic Hip Hop to 80s pop and more. Last year alone, Market Tap was able to pay live musicians and DJs to perform dozens of times throughout the year.
And, due to the fact that Market Tap doesn’t have its own kitchen, they get creative with weekly food offerings too. Andrea Bergstrom, whose family owns the bar, often doesn’t have to go far to find culinary talent willing to set up pop-up style.
“I found out quickly that we needed to have food up here,” she said. “What I slowly started doing is just working with whoever wanted to do a popup.”
Food partners have included fellow Flint Farmers’ Market business owners, including Say Cheese 810, currently their regular Tuesday night partner. The Local Grocer also regularly partners with Market Tap, and vendors from the Kickback rotate through many evenings. Bergstrom said she has tapped into a Facebook group for Farmers’ Market vendors and has at times just put out a call to ask if any would want to do after-hours food at Market Tap. Those relationships have deepened over time, bringing new customers into Market Tap while also introducing bar regulars to new local food options, and even ingraining the creativity of those businesses into Market Tap’s.
“I don’t tell them what to serve, but I might say something like, ‘Don’t forget it’s Mardi Gras and we’re featuring paczki beers if you want to do something special!,’” Bergstrom said. “And then nine times out 10 they’re like, yeah, we want to know what you’re serving so they can complement it. So it’s very collaborative. Sometimes there’s a method behind the madness – I try to pair the food with music sometimes, because I know that the food is gonna bring this crowd and I know that music is gonna bring a different crowd. This is like the essence of this place. It’s a family up here. We support the food vendors, they support us. It’s just been incredible.”
That collaborative atmosphere makes Market Tap experiences unique each time you visit. Beyond just tap takeovers or events with breweries and distilleries or other more typical bar events and entertainment, Bergstrom is also really intentional about tapping into other creative talents in the city. Last year, she worked with Little Suga’s to create events that paired cocktails with desserts. She also worked with MarySam’s Gardens to do floral arrangement classes that quickly sold out.
“Our partnerships have been really important to us,” Bergstrom said. “They (the classes with MarySam’s) went over really well. We’ve already been brainstorming (for this year). We want to do plant bingo. We’re gonna do something starting in May every month, probably through September.”
As a family business, Bergstrom has always had a role at Market Tap supporting the business, but that expanded just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was like my side hustle,” she said. “And then they lost their manager. And so my brother-in-law asked me if I would be interested in taking on a bigger role.”
That time period also called for creativity, as bars and restaurants nationwide had to balance keeping patrons safe with a need to make money. Bergstrom and the team at Market Tap made use of the outdoor space on the patio of Market Tap, bringing in outdoor heaters during the winter, to keep people spread out but still able to socialize.
“It was kind of cool that we created a space where people felt safe out there,” she said.
As a bartender, Bergstrom loves the creative outlet that working with primarily Michigan products provides her and her team. Beyond just Michigan beers, wines, and liquors, they also create items using locally sourced produce and even edible flowers.
“I love the creativity of it,” Bergstrom said. “I collaborate a lot with our other bartenders, and then also with the distilleries or wineries to create different cocktails.”
Market Tap also provides bartending services for events at the Flint Farmers’ Market in various spaces that are available for everything from wedding receptions to corporate events. More information about booking them for events is available on their website, and their Facebook and Instagram pages regularly share upcoming events, breweries and distilleries who will be featured, and food vendors who will be serving there.
“We love just highlighting Michigan,” Bergstrom said. “Michigan made stuff is what we do up here. I think I’ve had six events maybe since the beginning of the year with breweries and distilleries and stuff like that. That’s really our goal is to just curate a special cocktail menu or beer list that you don’t have to drive down to Detroit or you don’t have to drive to the U.P. You can get a little bit of a taste of that here in Flint.”
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