Holiday parties are simply incomplete without a nice drink in your hand. Be it an office event, a family gathering, or a "friendsmas" party, drinks that go beyond beer and wine bring parties to the next level - but who wants to hire a bartender or be stuck making individual cocktails all night?
The answer to this festive conundrum is pre-batched cocktails. Made in advance and kept in a bowl or a pitcher in the fridge, they'll be just as good as freshly-made with the following tips:
1. Buy three times as much ice as you think you'll need.
Make sure your guests know where it is, and that they should keep their glasses full of ice at all times.
2. If you're feeling fancy and festive, prepare garnishes in advance.
If you don't have much time to spare, whole mint leaves, citrus wedges, or olives are the way to go. If you want to make classic drink garnishes to step up your cocktail game, try orange or lemon twists, from Bon Appetit, and chiffonaded basil, from The Kitchn.
3. Math and precision are your friends.
When working with high-volume cocktails, don't eyeball. Use a recipe, and scale it up x10, x20, or x100, however many drinks you want to serve.
4. Learn the difference between shaken, stirred, and bubbly drinks when considering which cocktail to make in bulk.
This is crucial, says Food52. Shaken cocktails, like Margaritas and Sidecars, are made with a base liquor and juice. Once everything is mixed in a vessel, refrigerate. Right before serving, shake several portions at a time in a large jar and pour over ice.
Stirred cocktails, like Martinis, Negronis, and Manhattans, contain spirits and no juice or soda. When making these in bulk, dilute the batch with water, because stirring cocktails with ice before pouring dilutes the drink up to 20 percent, notes Food52. Figure out what 20 percent of the volume of your bowl of cocktail is, and add that much water. Add half the amount of bitters you think you need and taste before adding more. Serve straight from the bowl, over ice.
Bubbly cocktails, like Palomas, Cuba Libres, and Tom Collins, are made with a base liquor and something bubbly, be it champagne, coke, or soda water. You don't want your bubbly drink to become bubble-less, so mix everything but the fizzy component before the party starts and keep everything in the fridge. Serve a few drinks worth of non-fizzy base in a punch bowl, and add a few drinks worth of fizzy drink right before serving. Replenish the bowl with base and soda as you see it empty.
5. Taste, taste, taste!
Taste your pre-batched cocktail many times as you move through the prep. Have extra ingredients on hand if you want to spruce up a bowl that's been sitting out too long and has lost its luster.
