Meet Tristan Chan | Founder of The Porch Collective & PorchDrinking.com

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tristan Chan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tristan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Honestly, The Porch Collective was partially born out of necessity and opportunity. I had been the Marketing Manager for Ratio Beerworks for the previous four years. But when the pandemic hit, I like many others were furloughed. And while I had toyed with the idea of launching my own hospitality marketing firm in previous years, this was the push I needed to take the leap.

What should our readers know about your business?
Since arriving in Colorado, I had been fascinated about the communal and collaborative nature of the craft beer industry. I knew I wanted to find a way to become part of this industry and do my part to give back to it. SoI launched PorchDrinking.com a national craft beer publication in 2012 in order to tell positive stories within craft beer. At the time, there were already plenty of beer sites that rated and ranked beers, so instead we focused on great storytelling and keeping beer fun and approachable. Through PorchDrinking I landed a job with Ratio Beerworks where I served as Marketing Manager for the previous four years, but when the pandemic hit and we were all furloughed for an extended period I felt it was the perfect time to launch my own marketing consulting firm for the hospitality industry as a whole. Through the Porch Collective, I was able to bring together talented freelance creatives that I’ve loved working with through the years. Now my clients have access to a well-curated group of experts in graphic design, photography, videography, social media, strategy, etc, without having to go through a traditional agency model.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Denver is such an incredible place in that it’s a big city with a smaller town feel. It still offers everything a big city could offer, but also has such great access to the mountains and outdoors. For attractions, I’d highly recommend exploring the Museum of Contemporary Art, Union Station, and food halls like Denver Central Market, The Source, Dairy Block, and Zeppelin Station, but Denver has truly become a destination for its status as one of the best beer cities in America. The most obvious starting point would be the River North Art District which houses over 12 craft breweries within a half-mile radius including standouts like Bierstadt Lagerhaus, Our Mutual Friend Brewing, Ratio Beerworks, and national outposts for Great Divide, Odell Brewing, and New Belgium. For cider fans, Stem Ciders has grown from its humble roots in RiNo to become a national player with an additional stunning outpost in Lafayette called Acreage. RiNo is also home to one of the largest celebrations of street art in the country, so exploring all of the stunning walls and alleyways can easily take up a few days. On South Broadway, breweries like TRVE Brewing, Baere, Novel Strand, and more are a must, but you can also explore more niche shops for vintage apparel. Denver’s distilling scene is also a burgeoning attraction with Laws Whiskey House, Leopold Brothers, Stranahan’s, Bear Creek Distilling, and The Block Distillery. Denver’s culinary scene is also on the rise with local standouts like Hop Alley, Tavernetta, Sushi Den, Mercantile, El Five, and the second US outpost for Austin-based Uchi. Also, more casual standouts like Illegal Pete’s, Steuben’s, Denver Biscuit Company, and Biker Jim’s, are all worth trying. Just outside of the city is Red Rocks Amphitheater which is open to the public to visit during the day. There is no better music venue in the country to catch a concert. Just up the road ar the cities of Boulder and Fort Collins, both cities offer unique experiences that are absolutely worth checking out with incredible hikes just minutes away from the action downtown. Just a short drive away from Fort Collins you can hit Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park to fully immerse in nature. I also recommend getting away to a mountain town while in Colorado. Telluride might be the most picturesque mountain town in the state nestled in a box canyon with a view of a waterfall from downtown, Buena Vista and Salida are also equally impressive with a stunning view of the Collegiate Peaks, and farther north, Steam Boat Springs offers incredible hot springs and tremendous skiing terrain as well. Speaking of skiing Colorado obviously is home to world-class resorts like Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, and more!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to my partner Brittany Werges, Editor-in-Chief of 303 Magazine. She is so incredibly talented, driven, hard-working, creative, and pioneering in how she’s built a publication from the ground up to become one of the most relevant publications in the state.

Website: www.porchdrinking.com & www.porchcollective.com

Instagram: @porchdrinkingco @porch.collective