Junket: Williamsburg Premium Walking Tours and Experiences — Local services in Williamsburg

Before I explain why I left such a low review, I want to note that the actual venues we visited were excellent. Additionally, the issues I have with Drink Williamsburg may be a recent problem that they are having since Covid.

When my boyfriend and I signed up for the tour it was not clear that the mode of transportation between venues would be a series of independent Lyft rides. The wording on the website does note that there will no longer be a bus, but it does not let you know that the transportation will be something as unreliable as a Lyft. This unreliability became a problem from the very beginning when our Lyft cancelled on us twice. Luckily the other couple also on the tour offered to drive to our first location so that we would not miss our first tasting. At the second location the Lyft was never scheduled and the other couples Lyft came very quickly into our tasting to the point they needed to cancel it. This resulted in this other couple having to drive us again to the final location. If I am being honest, the only reason this experience was salvaged at all was because of the other couple. We would have been stranded without them.

Additionally, it was not clear from the description that there would be no guide or presence from Drink Williamsburg during the "tour". Not only was there no one from the company there to handle the coordination of the late Lyfts, but when we emailed and called Drink Williamsburg about the troubles we were having we received no response, and I still have not had one (I am writing this review 3 days after having the experience) This led both myself and the other couple to deal with calling each of the Lyfts to explain the situation and why we needed to cancel. This led to confusion and in some cases multiple phone calls because the Lyft drivers did not understand why we did not cancel on the app. The third party ordering and managing the Lyfts did not work at all.

In sum I would not recommend this tour as it is now. If they bring back the buses then I would suggest you try it because the locations were great. However, it should be clear that what you are paying for either way is essentially a schedule tasting at 3 different bars and pre-arranged transportation between them. You are legitimately just prepaying for some drinks at pre-set locations. This is not a traditional drink tour where there is a guide that coordinates the event and tells you about the city/gives you information along your tour. There is no "tour" aspect in...

I made reservations for Drink Williamsburg to celebrate my anniversary. We had Brian as our guide and he was awesome. All four of our stops were interesting and educational. The meadery was exceptional with the samples and education. Copper Fox distillery was hands down the most extensive and interesting of the stops. 8 shires was really neat place to learn about the colonial methods of distiling. Billsburg brewing was a festive, family friendly environment. Our tour guide was professional, friendly, down to earth, and cared about our experience the entire time. Our tour guide gets 5 stars. I gave a rating of 4 stars because the last stop we were not allowed to get a flight of beers because of a anniversary celebration the brewery was having and we were not allowed to get a growler of beer to take with us. At 8 shillings, the regular bartender was not there and there was a substitute who was not familiar with the arrangement and it took a long time to get the samples which took away from the tour time and left no time for shopping. Other than that it was incredible .I recommend this experience to everyone who is interested in distilling and whiskey/mead/beer enthusiasts. It was nice to just sit back and relax and not have to organize or drive....

Overall a great experience but there was a significant hiccup prior to our tour. Latroy, our guide and driver, was phenomenal--very friendly, fun, and a great conversationalist! He totally made the trip and he would be the primary reason for another booking. The featured stops were so fun and there was a nice selection at each. Definitely worth it. On the other hand, I was very skeptical in the beginning because there were issues booking online, and it was next to impossible to get ahold of anyone for assistance during business hours. When I finally was able to speak with Vance, he was rude and dismissive--stating blankly and cutting me off that he sent me an email resolving a booking issue (which could have been avoided if I were able to speak with someone on one of my first 15 phone calls). If I hadn't had the experience with Vance, the apparent owner, I would definitely rate 5 stars. One would think that customer service would be something he would place a higher value on as business will rely heavily on reviews. My advice: book but only on Saturdays at 1pm or 5:30pm and Sundays at 1pm with Latroy! He is the best! Try to avoid dealing with Vance...