Let Your Guests do the Bartending

Ok, so maybe that is not the best advice for the host. Or is it? Trust me, I love mixing drinks for my guests. I have fun, I ensure quality control and you get to talk to your guest during that time and maybe even show off a little.

But at larger parties, it can be a buzzkill for the host to be working the party the entire time. Enjoy yourself a little. There are a couple things you can do. First option is to make a house drink. Have it batched already in a large dispenser. Guests pour over ice. Done and done.

Now, a little tip on batching drinks. If you are not going to have every guest shake or stir over ice for dilution purposes, you will need to factor in adding water to the batched cocktail. Otherwise, the drink will be way too strong. All that shaking of your drink the bartender does isn’t just to look cool. I will have more on this in future posts, but for now, assume 1 oz. of water for each drink up to 1.25 oz. for boozier cocktails like old fashioneds.

Or another option, and this is the focus of this post — make signage! My buddy Dave and I had a few parties and we enjoyed “bartending”, and we would concoct all these cocktails and he would type them on cards, put them on his cabinet above us and we could use as easy reference (plus it allowed guests to point and choose what they would like us to make them).  

Recently at my own parties, I just created a menu (you can even layout in PowerPoint if you want and don’t have other software) on a PDF on my iPad of common cocktails with all the measurements and instructions. Then put it out by the bar on whatever holder you have. Don't have to go crazy — I just did some of the classic cocktails — Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Daiquiri, etc. It impresses your guests, lets them have fun playing bartender and you get to actually enjoy your own party!