As a party creator, you should never pass on the chance to make a lasting impression on your guests. Whether it's a dinner party or a casual get-together, serving cocktails is an excellent way to show your hospitality skills. However, making cocktails can be time-consuming, complicated and expensive, especially if you don't have access to a seasoned mixologist. Fortunately, we've got you covered with four simple cocktail recipes that are easy to make and sure to impress your guests.
1. Gin and Tonic Buffet
Selection of gin garnishes for your gin buffet
A really effective way to offer a wide cocktail menu while keeping the list of ingredients down is to provide cool variations of the same drink. Gin and Tonic is perfect for this since there are many ways to put a twist on it, and it's easy to make. Our three choices for variations, all based on gin and tonic, are: the classic with lemon or lime, the Hendricks-style with cucumber and black pepper, and the Mediterranean with rosemary and orange zest. This is a guaranteed conversation starter, as everyone has strong opinions on this classic cocktail.
2. Matcha punch in a drink fountain
The matcha drink fountain we had at our release party
Basically, any drink works in a drink fountain. However, in this case, we chose to make it with matcha tea that we got from YOKO. Trust us, it's great! We mixed two parts matcha with 1 part gin and topped it off with lots of freshly squeezed lime and lemon. Why not add some antioxidants to your cocktail, right?
You can rent drink fountains from our friends here.
3. Label your own beer
Here we have draped our own branding over Lövnäs' branded
white label beer
Our buddies at Lövnäs Bryggeri supply us with white-labeled beer that we can brand ourselves, and they can do it for you too! Here, we have a canned pale ale that we put our logo on for our release party. We showcased it in a silver-on-silver-on-silver setting, which was nicely captured by one of our partygoers here.
You can find out more about their own labeled beer here. Or contact us directly for help with branding and etiquetting.
4. Frozen Margarita
It's much less complicated than you might think. If you have a slushie machine, you simply need to pour in the ingredients. We prefer to use a mixture of 6 parts lime, 3 parts tequila, and 1 part triple sec (Cointreau works fine!). Let it sit for a couple of hours and then have your guests line up with salt-rimmed glasses in hand.
Here is our favorite supplier of slushie machines for Margaritas.
5. Sourbeer raspberry floater
We can't guarantee that your floater will look exactly like
it does in the picture!
Surprisingly delicious, we have made this on several occasions now, and it always turns out to be a crowd-pleaser. Mix one part vanilla ice cream with two parts raspberry-flavored sour beer, which we, of course, get from our partner supplier, Lövnäs Bryggeri, and top it off with raspberry coulis. If you have access to paper cups, that's an excellent, fun way to serve it for an authentic American vibe.
You can find out more about Lövnäs and their assortment here.
And there you have it, friends – our top 5 picks for simple but creative party drinks. Of course, you could always just grab a case of beer and call it a day, but where's the fun in that? So go ahead, try out one (or all) of these drinks at your next party or event, and let us know which one gets the most compliments. And if all else fails, just remember: when in doubt, add more alcohol.