Cocktail Parties
arrived at the scene in the 1950s. Hollywood glamorized the cocktail
party as celebrities stood around in swanky smoke filled rooms with
dim lights casting shadows with the sound of ice cubes clinking in
glasses. Although the images associated with what a cocktail party
was in the 50s may not be the same nowadays, a cocktail party is
still a fantastic way to entertain.
A reason being
that cocktail parties are a great way to entertain is that they
accommodate any kind of guest list ranging from neighbors to
business associates. At a cocktail party, it is easy to mix guests
who might not feel comfortable sitting across from one another at a
dinner party. The traditional time frame for a cocktail party is two
to three hours in length held between 6 P.M. and 10 P.M.
Perhaps the best
thing about a cocktail party is the freedom to experiment with a
wide variety of food on the menu. A cocktail party is not a dinner
party so appetizers and hors d'oeuvres are served. Most catering
services offer complete cocktail party menus with a wide range of
appetizers and hors d'oeuvres to choose from.
Hiring a caterer
to cater your cocktail party will allow you the freedom to mingle
with your guests and relax. The going rate for catering a cocktail
party is about $12 per person. Talk things over with your caterer in
regards to food selection and the quantity of food offered to your
guests.
Consider these
bits and pieces while planning for your cocktail party:
1. Stock up on
plenty of ice. You'll need it for chilling bottles of wine or
champagne as well as serving in drinks on the rocks. A good rule of
thumb is planning to have 1-pound of ice per guest.
2. Be prepared
with an assortment of glass styles to cover the type of drinks you
plan to serve. These include wine glasses for wines, juice and
water; straight-sided highballs for tall drinks; tumblers for
spirits and juices; and martini glasses.
3. Have twice as
many glasses on hand as guests.
4. For a 2-hour
party where you only plan on serving wine and/or champagne, you'll
need to have one bottle for every two guests. Have a mix of white
and red varieties.
5. For a basic bar
you'll want to stock up on vodka, whiskey, wines and beer. For a
more complete bar you can add gin, tequila, rum, bourbon, vermouth,
sherry, and brandy.
6. Don't forget to
stock up on mixers including orange juice, soda, tonic, ginger ale,
cola, tomato juice, Tabasco, lemons, limes, horseradish,
Worcestershire sauce.
7. If you
anticipate your guests will be wine drinkers, you can prepare by
uncorking a few bottles in advance, and then replacing the corks.
8. Have coffee
available for any guests that may need a little assistance at the
end of the party. Your local taxi company phone number should also
be handy and offered to any guests you believe shouldn't be driving.
Consider hiring a
caterer or bartender ($15-$20 per hour) to mix the drinks for your
party. Hiring a caterer will allow you much more time to socialize
with your guests. There are even caterers that specialize in
bartending services only. If you hire a caterer to handle the drinks
at your party, the caterer will be responsible for the above
mentioned alcohol, glasses, ice etc.
A cocktail party
suggests a grown-up party. Find a babysitter for the babes, dust off
your high heels, and turn the volume up a notch on the stereo.
Clink-clink, have fun!
Shelly Phegley is a staff writer for
the National Catering services Directory located at
AtDrinkStuff.com,
their slogan says "Just Add Alcohol !!" with the aim to offer
the widest range of drink related gifts and gadgets on the net
from the United Kingdom.
And for a variety
of books on hosting cocktail parties, just click on Party Hosting
All
beer MUST be kept ICE COLD! One rule to always remember is
to have three times as much light beer as regular beer.
How
much liquor is enough? Have enough liquor on hand to serve
at least one drink per person per hour.
Always
keep your mixers refrigerated. This will help you save ice
and make the cocktails mix better.
When using cheap liquor to keep your cost down, try to only
use them in cocktails containing fruit juices or cream. This
tends to hide the harsh taste.
• People get drunk faster when sitting down rather than
standing or walking. Keep this in mind when making your
guests cocktails and adjust the alcohol content accordingly.
Buy
your alcohol based on the type of crowd that will be there.
As a general rule, younger guests will tend to want a variety
of liquor and imported or specialty beers. Older drinkers
tend to stick to one type of cocktail or beer.
Successful
parties always cost more than expected. Plan to spend at least
1 1/2 times your original estimated cost.
Here is a
tip for making cocktails in quantities
Understand that if you can make one drink with proper proportions in a glass,
then you can make the same drink in proper portions for a swimming pool.
If you were making a drink in a glass, then the alcohol portion of a cocktail
(most cocktails) is about 1/3 and the mixer will take up 2/3. So you simply
look at your container be it an empty gallon milk jug, water cooler, ice
Also, depending on preference you can add less alcohol or more alcohol. Just
decide what drink you want to make in quantity and make it in a glass and take
note of how much alcohol you use and how much mixer you use and you then
know how much to put in your container of choice
And if you need some more tips, please click on
Party Hosting
By the way,
when you’re in
need of creating free
new or updated cocktail menus for your next party, be sure to
check out Barmenus.com
Good
hosting calls for responsibility. Entertaining friends and family
at home is a great way to celebrate a special occasion or holiday.
Below you will find some more great tips for hosting to help everyone
enjoy the function responsibly:
Designate a bartender who can server your guests and keep
an eye on how much everyone is drinking. This way if someone
has had a lot to drink, the bartender will keep count and
cut him off.
It
is important to understand that a standard serving of beer
(12 ounces), wine (5 ounces) and a cocktail (containing 1
½ ounces of distilled spirits) each contains the same amount
of alcohol. Most people out there either forget about it,
or didn’t know it to begin with.
It
is a good idea to provide food with your cocktails. Research
food pairings to enhance your chosen cocktails; fresh seafood
goes with vodka and heartier meats and cheeses complement
scotch and bourbon well.
Each
drink has its own unique food to complement the taste. Proper
research, will tell you everything you need to know.
Make
available non-alcoholic beverages for your guests. Try creating
a festive non-alcoholic punch for those guests who choose
not to drink beverage alcohol. Not everyone likes to drink,
and some are underage. Some people out there think alcohol
will ruin a good time, while others feel it will enhance it.
Always make sure your guests have a safe way home either through
a designated driver or a taxi. Make sure the local cab service
numbers are handy, so you can call them whenever someone has
had enough to drink and is ready to go home. The
last think you want, is your buddy to try to drive home under
the influence. If someone drives away from your party drunk,
you’re just as guilty as the driver. It is your job as a host
is to make sure that anyone drinking doesn’t drive themselves
home.
Cocktail
parties can be a lot of fun, no doubt about it. Getting together
with friends and just hanging out makes it worth it alone.
Drinking your favorite drinks, talking about your favorite
hobbies, seems to go together.
Even
though this may be what you have in mind, you still have to
watch out for the party pooper. The party pooper is someone
who starts drinking, drinks too much, and then can’t handle
their alcohol.
The
individual will usually start trouble, and make everyone around
him mad. When hosting your next party, keep the above tips in
mind. This will help you next time when you’re hosting a party,
and remember that it calls for a lot of responsibility.
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And to
go along with your next function the following recipes
should fit in quite well:-
In
addition to the above recipes, there are few more popular
ones on my recipes page to assist you with your next party as well.
However,
when you instantly need the ingredients of a drink that you
don’t know, just enter the name it into the search box of Your Free 25,000 Recipe Guide
