MARTIE PARTY TIP: BAR ESSENTAILS AND TIPS FOR SERVING DRINKS AT A PARTY

“Where’s the bar” is the first question arriving party guests will ask as you greet them at the door. The bar is the central gathering place for many parties—even if alcoholic beverages aren’t served. Every bar should be equipped with basic tools, mixers, and spirits; when tools are not handy, it is difficult to get drinks out quickly. Lines begin to form and guests stand empty handed—a big party foul. Here’s a guide for building your bar. The quantities you will need will depend on how many guests you are serving, of course. If you’re not offering a full bar but serving a signature cocktail or just beer and wine, you certainly won’t need this extensive set-up; pick and choose what suits your needs from the list below. 

Here are a few secrets I’ve figured out over the years….

• Put something under your ice bucket or iced down beverages so you don’t end up with a wet tablecloth.
• Get two back up bottle openers and put them away. Bottle openers not only break, but they seems to walk away at most parties, especially at outdoor parties and tailgates. If possible, tie the bottle opener or wine opener to your ice chiller or cooler using a pretty ribbon or twine. 
• I often put an inexpensive plastic backed painter’s dropcloth under my nice tablecloth for the bar just in case there’s a spill. Some dropcloths have a cloth surface so they look great for casual settings.
• For casual occasions, it is perfectly fine to use or rent one type of glass or stemware to be used for wine, iced tea and water.
• When serving a signature cocktail, I often mix the base a day in advance and freeze it. Remove it an hour before guests arrive so it can slightly thaw. Add chilled liquor just before serving and stir well.
• I get large multi-gallon plastic jugs from the restaurant supply store to pre-mix all of my beverages. Store these in the refrigerator, freezer or in a cooler to keep them cold and you won’t need as much ice.
• Estimate 4.5 glasses of wine per bottle and 4 glasses of Champagne per bottle.
• Estimate guests will drink approximately 1 drink per hour.
• Have plenty of water and sparkling water available; pass glasses of chilled water on a tray to make sure guests don’t overindulge.
• Make sure you are not cooling cans or bottles in the cooler with the ice for beverages. Have one cooler just for “clean” ice and provide a scoop and an ice bucket for service so guests won’t be tempted to scoop with their glass.

TOOLS

Ice Bucket

Tray

Ice Tongs

2 Bottle Openers

2 Wine Openers or Corkscrews

Blender

Juicer

2 Martini or Cocktail Shakers

2 Double Jiggers- the dual cone shaped measuring device

Shot Glass

Measuring Spoons

Muddler- essential for drinks like the Mojito

Cutting Board

2 Paring Knives

Zester

Stirrers or long cocktail spoons

Cocktail napkins

Assorted glassware

MIXERS

Club Soda

Tonic

Sour Mix

Water

Coke

Diet Coke

7-Up or Sprite

Ginger Ale

Orange Juice

Grapefruit Juice

Cranberry Juice

Pineapple Juice

Tomato Juice or Bloody Mary Mix

Horseradish

Tabasco

Worcestershire Sauce

Lime Juice

Lemon Juice

GARNISHES

Lemons

Limes

Oranges

Celery

Olives of all types, stuffed, etc

Maraschino cherries

Bitters

Fresh Mint

Salt

Pepper

Margarita Salt

SPIRITS

Vodka

Bourbon

Scotch

Rum

Gin

Tequila

Triple Sec

COCKTAIL RECIPE: COSMOPOLITANS

You can never go wrong with a classic cocktail and the Cosmopolitan is always a hit. Made popular again in the early part of the decade from frequent appearances on the popular show, Sex in the City, the Cosmo is one easy to make, easy to drink cocktail which easily doubles or triples for a party.

CLASSIC COSMOPOLITAN RECIPE

Makes 5 servings

5 ounces premium vodka
2.5 ounces Grand Marnier
2.5 ounces fresh lime juice
2.5 ounces cranberry juice

Shake vodka, Grand Marnier, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glasses garnished with a lime. Serves 5. Double or triple as necessary for a party.

For a crowd, simply make the cocktails in advance and pour into a pretty pitcher. Keep chilled until serving time.

GET MY PARTY PLAN FOR A GIRLS NIGHT IN PAJAMA PARTY!

HOW TO BUILD A BLOODY MARY BAR

Perfect for Sunday Brunch, game day, bowl games, or Super Bowl Sunday, or even for New Year's Day, this Build-it-Yourself Bloody Mary Bar is a hit every time! The best Bloody Mary I have ever had was in New Orleans at the Super Bowl. Since then, I've always kicked off Super Bowl Sunday with a Bloody Mary.

Part salad bar, part drink bar, the Bloody Mary bar is becoming a popular interactive addition to parties and restaurant bars everywhere. Every region has their own mix-ins and flavorings but one thing is consistent; everyone thinks their version is the best.

Let your guests build their own Bloody Mary with garden fresh veggies, swimmers like shrimp or oysters and a variety of different ways to add heat- from hot sauce to peppers.

As a Southerner, I would lose my membership card if I didn’t know how to make a good Bloody Mary. Southerners like a Bloody Mary to be spicy, heavy on the horseradish and loaded with fresh vegetables —a garden in a glass. To set up your own Bloody Mary bar, a cleared kitchen counter works well. You’ll need to keep your veggies chilled so put them in glasses, place in a low container or bowl and fill around the glasses with ice. Use large glasses for serving since it will be packed with veggies and mix-ins until the flavor is just right. Long teaspoons are best to mix up the goodies—a plastic stirrer just won’t cut it. Have lots of wipes or towels on hand for spills and don’t use a white tablecloth for this one. I often get a painter's drop cloth at the hardware store; they are usually made of a taupe material and have a stitched hem so once pressed, they work very nicely. Get my Bloody Mary recipe... 

If you don't want to make your own Bloody Mary mix like I do, my go-to favorite is Zing-Zang. You can find it at most grocery stores. 

Set up a rimming station and let guests rim glasses with a mixture of Old Bay seasoning, Kosher salt, and a dash of pepper.

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BLOODY MARY BAR SHOPPING LIST

VODKA:  Use your favorite vodka. Sometimes I use Absolut Peppar and rim glasses with a pepper and sea salt mixture before adding liquids and mix-ins.

MIX: Get one or two types of bottled mix or good organic tomato juice for the base or you can make your own Bloody Mary base using my recipe.

FLAVOR AND SPICE: Almost anything can add extra flavor to the base. These are some of the traditional flavorings.

Lea & Perrin Worcestershire

Celery salt

Old Bay Seasoning (look at the fish counter if you can’t find it with the seasonings)

Cocktail Sauce

HEAT: Offer guests several types of hot sauce, everyone has a favorite.

Tabasco Original

Louisiana Hot Sauce

Fresh ground pepper

Red pepper flakes

Fresh ground horseradish

CONDIMENTS: Pick and choose several of these. Celery and lemon and most traditional but a squeeze of lime and pickled okra are other favorites.

Celery stalks

Lemon wedges

Lime slices

Olives

Pickled okra

String beans

Cocktail onions

Cherry tomatoes

Pickled asparagus

SWIMMERS: Take it up a notch by adding fresh chilled seafood.

Boiled shrimp

Raw oysters

Clam juice

Having a DIY Bloody Mary Bar for Easter Brunch or Mother's Day will become a tradition your guests will love year after year and because you can set it and forget it, it makes very easy work of bartending duties.

FOOD SAFETY TIP: Remember to keep cold foods and seafood chilled to 140 degrees or colder for the length of the party.