Lesson 3: Setting Up and Stocking the Bar
The Cocktail Party
Quantities :
The Basic bar selection will serve very well as a guide to stocking a party bar, except for quantities. Here are some assumptions :
- Consumption will average two drinks/guest/hour. If you’re having dinner, plan on two drinks/guest total.
- Each drink should use 1 ½ ounces of liquor, which means each 750 ml bottle of liquor will make 17 drinks. Each 750 ml bottle of wine will make 5 drinks.
- You’ll need 1 ½ pounds of ice/person.
The next question is which liquor will be most requested. Vodka is the most popular spirit sold today, followed by scotch, then gin. I have attached a file called Party Liquor Amounts which is a chart modified from the book, Bartending For Dummies. This suggests amounts of each type of liquor needed for various sized parties.
For a third opinion, or to check your calculations, there is an excellent calculator at Winebarrel on the WEB that will also estimate quantity and types needed.
Garnishing:
When serving drinks at a party, it is really nice to put some effort in the appearance of each drink, i.e. garnishing. If the drink has any fruit juice in it, it should be accompanied by that fruit. Fruit garnishes can be slices, wedges, twists, or peels.
To make good slices, first halve the fruit by cutting it across the thickest part. Then cut that part in half. Slice ¼” slices to make half moons. To make wedges, first cut in half from top to bottom (stem end to opposite end). Cut in wedges.
Twists can be a little tricky. To make these, take a small paring knife and slice off some of the outside skin from stem end to bottom, curving the knife along the curve of the fruit. It’s easier to do this if you’ve taken a small slice off the top and bottom of the fruit.
You want to avoid the white pith which lies underneath the skin as much as possible. The outside skin of the fruit has the aromatic oils of the fruit, but the white pith is quite bitter.
The strip of skin can be as wide as you like, it should be the length of the fruit. Twist in the middle; if it doesn’t twist easily make the strip narrower (1/4 inch is a good width).
Non fruit garnishes include swizzle sticks, straws, and toothpicks for olives and onions.
Party Bartending Tips:
- When using your shaker, put the ice in first. Then, put in the mix and finally the alcohol. If you make a mistake, you’re not wasting expensive alcohol.
- Stir, do not shake fizzy drinks- you lose the fizz.
- Use fresh fruit juices – especially lemon and lime juices. Squeeze in advance and freeze if necessary.
- Refrigerate all juices and mixers ahead of time.
- Use good quality liquor – some guests will want to see labels.
- If you’re making margaritas, have a shallow bowl filled with salt. Dab lime juice around the edge of the glass, then dip the glass into the salt.
- If you’re making a lot of drinks that require sweetening, either use superfine sugar (which dissolves more easily than regular sugar) or make a sugar syrup ahead of time. To make a sugar syrup, combine equal parts water and sugar in a small pot, bring to a boil, and boil until the liquid has slightly thickened (5-7 minutes). Cool.
- Crush ice ahead of time. Crushed ice is used for some drinks; otherwise crushed ice swirled in a glass and discarded will chill the glass appropriately for martinis, etc.
- If you use raw eggs, (egg nogs, etc.) use pasteurized eggs.
- Have lots of extra glasses – at least 2 per guest.
Toasts:
What’s a party without a few toasts? The simplest ones are the various versions of “Cheers” like Salud, Skäl, Prost, Prosit, A la Salute, Banzai, Viva, or the Russian, “Za Vacha Zdorovye.”
Look at these web sites for more ideas:
- For wedding toasts, try TMClark
- For Irish toasts, try St. Patrick’s Day
- For general toasts, try Into Wine
For those of you who saw the movie Master and Commander or read the Patrick O’Brian British naval books, you know that while at sea, it was traditional for the youngest officer to make the toast at the Officer’s Mess. The toast was based on the day:
- Sunday: Absent Friends
- Monday: Our Ships at Sea
- Tuesday: Our Men
- Wednesday: Ourselves
- Thursday: Bloody War and a Sickly Season (it meant more rapid promotion)
- Friday: A Willing Foe and Plenty of Sea Room (in which to defeat them)
- Saturday: Sweethearts and Wives (to which, in a low voice, there was always the unofficial addition of "may they never meet!"
