First, there was coffee. Then, there was craft beer. Now, there are spirits.

Washington state's insatiable thirst for unique and homebrewed beverages is driving a growing distillery scene throughout western Washington. The first annual South Sound Spirits Celebration is a sign of how successful distilleries in Washington are, and it gives attendees a chance to jump feet first into tasting and exploring distilled beverages. The event takes place Saturday, March 12 in Olympia.

"The event will have eighteen distilleries, supported by some great local bites," said Holly Robinson, vice president of the Washington Distillers Guild. "Distillers will be on hand to answer questions, offer folks tastes on some of their great offerings and hopefully shed some light on this booming industry, (which is) ripe with opportunities for tourism growth throughout our state. The event is held at the Olympic Flight Museum, which in itself is a huge draw. The setting will be against some of the restored planes, which is sure to be incredible."

Distillers at the event will include local favorites like Heritage Distilling Company, Inc. from Gig Harbor, as well as Seattle major players like Copperworks. Other participating distilleries include 3 Howls Distillery, Batch 206 Distillery, Black Sam Distillery, Blackfish Spirits Distillery, Blind Pig Spirits, Captive Spirits Big Gin, Letterpress Distilling, Salish Sea Organic Liqueurs, Sandstone Distillery, Seattle Distilling Company, Skip Rock Distillers, Sound Spirits, Temple Distilling, Hardware Distillery Co., Whiskey Gap Distillery, and Wishkah River Distillery.

Lucky Eagle Casino, Dillinger's Cocktails & Kitchen, and The Tailgate BBQ will provide food to help balance out the drink offerings. And Red Lion Coffee Truck will provide necessary caffeine where needed. A local DJ will provide tunes to keep the atmosphere lively.

With the Olympic Flight Museum as the setting for the event, attendees can take a stroll among the vintage aircraft as well.

Headed up by Washington Distillers Guild, which works to promote and make possible distillation throughout the state, the South Sound Spirits Celebration is the first event held by the Guild in which 100 percent of the proceeds will go back to the Guild to help it build and grow Washington's distilleries and tourism industry.

This also means bringing more distillation out of Seattle and into more communities, including into the South Sound. Drinks for all!

Tickets are $40 per ticket and available at Brown Paper Tickets. (www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2495620)

THE 1ST ANNUAL WASHINGTON DISTILLERS GUILD SOUTH SOUND SPIRITS CELEBRATION, Saturday, March 12, from 4-9 p.m. at the Olympic Flight Museum, 7637 Old Hwy. 99 SE, Olympia, www.washingtondistillersguild.org