DIY Cocktail Station For Women's Day Parties: How To Set Up A Drinks Bar
International Women’s Day is held on March 8 every year. One of the most popular ways to mark the occasion is to organise a gathering, at homes, restaurants, workplaces or otherwise, replete with good food and even better drinks. Home-hosted brunches, lunches and dinners can also be set up to celebrate a small, intimate circle of women from various walks of life or within families. Setting up an engaging cocktail station that is decked with all ingredients, garnishes, and more for these women to explore can be a great feature for home-hosted Women’s Day gatherings.
Here are the key elements of a DIY cocktail station that should be on every host’s checklist for a Women’s Day party.
A Dedicated Space:
A cocktail bar specialises in making diverse, top-quality cocktails, from classic to customised drinks. Enough space is needed for bottles, mixers, shakers, and other items. So, get a dedicated space, like a bar cart, table, or countertop, to accommodate all equipment. While selecting the location, creating the cocktail station near a sink will be good so all used utensils can be put there. Adding some dim light, some personalised decorations or creating a theme-based cocktail bar can create a memorable experience for the guests.
Base Liquors Arrangement:
While preparing for a cocktail station, various base liqueurs are needed. Keeping some of the following to mix and match with different mixers is needed. Base alcohols like rum (white and dark), gin, vodka, tequila, whisky (bourbon and rye), and liqueurs (triple sec, amaretto, vermouth, etc.) can be used as the base alcohol for any cocktail.
Mixers and Juices
Adding classic and innovative mixers and juices helps in creating flavourful cocktails. These mixers and juices include club soda, tonic water, ginger beer, cola, fruit juice (pineapple, cranberry, orange, lime, lemon, etc.), syrup, and grenadine. To add flavour and complexity to the cocktails, mixers are essential.
Garnishes to Make the Cocktail Presentable
Presentation is as important as the actual recipe for cocktails. Some of the most popular garnishing items include citrus fruit wedges (lemon, lime, orange), slices of cucumber and other fresh vegetables, dried flowers, fresh herbs (basil, mint, rosemary, etc.), cocktail onions, olives, cherries, etc. Some of the tools required to make these cocktail garnishes are the Y-shaped peeler, sharp paring knife, and sharp kitchen shears. Proper garnishes add the perfect flavours to the cocktails, along with the visual appeal.
For example, garnishing cocktail glasses with citrus fruit peels can enhance flavours because the bitter oils fuse with the rest of the cocktail ingredients. Lime wedges can be used for margarita cocktails to enhance the look and citrusy taste. For tropical rum concoctions or while creating creamy dessert cocktails, adding flaming cinnamon sticks is good for both looks and flavour. Other types of garnishes include vegetable ribbons for gimlet cocktails.
Setting Up of Glassware
Cocktails are served in particular types of glasses. Any cocktail’s colour, flavour, temperature, etc., is enhanced only in a specific type of glass. Some of the cocktail glasses include Collins glasses, often referred to as Collins glasses, which are used for cocktails like gin and tonic cocktails, mojito cocktails, etc. Lowball glasses should be available for cocktails like Negroni. Martini cocktail glasses are used to serve cosmopolitan cocktails, Manhattans and gimlets. Bellini, mimosa, and French 75 are all served in champagne flutes. Finally, the coupe cocktail glass is great for serving gin sour, daiquiri, or boulevardier. Just make sure there are enough varieties of glasses at the cocktail station so that the guests can help themselves. Don’t forget about keeping more fresh glasses handy nearby.
Cocktail Tools
A few types of cocktail tools are needed to help guests try mixology techniques and explore options. It is always good to keep a variety of shakers, strainers, muddlers, stirring spoons (with clean ones to spare), ice buckets, tongs, citrus juicers, and jiggers (for handy measurement) readily available at the DIY cocktail station. A mixology enthusiast can also take this occasion to explore the following tools. For example, a cobbler shaker is normally used to make cocktails at home. However, Boston shakers are versatile and are normally used as bartenders’ choice.
So, keeping in mind the number of guests attending the party, shakers should be selected. Bar spoons can further be used to do more than just stir cocktails and mocktails. Pouring drinks along the spoon can help in creating layered cocktails. Muddlers are the best options for processing the herbs in mojito cocktails, but one can also use them to muddle spices, herbs and berries for more flavour-packed drinks.
Display And Recipe Cards
Cocktail display cards are usually of the size 89x63 mm, but cocktail recipe cards can be bigger. You can also opt for items like whiteboard, chalkboard, tissues, and white or coloured cards to feature the cocktail names and recipes. In some cards, mention the name of the cocktails and the ingredients so that the women who are new to cocktails can get an idea regarding the components of each cocktail. For example, if mojito is one of the cocktails available at the party, then keep a card mentioning the ingredients and specific amounts of white rum, fresh mint, lime sugar, soda water required. This simple way of mentioning the cocktail name and ingredients will definitely help the invitees to create their preferred drinks.
Organise For Ease Of Use
Organising the cocktail bar in the right way is essential as not all guests may be familiar with what’s what. Different types of glasses should be displayed properly, similar types of alcohol should be in one place, mixers and garnishes in another, and of course, the tools nearby. Place the display and recipe cards with proper naming at the front of each section. Creating some cards with step-by-step guides and some cards with recipes can add some extra appeal to the bar.
Setting up a home cocktail bar for any occasion, especially Women’s Day, is not as difficult as it seems to be. It’s all about creativity and hosting the party in a unique way where the guests can explore some rare, personalised time while experiencing the art of mixology.
Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.
