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Bartending.
(always remember to dress appropriately when bartending)
So I'm not a bartender,but I play one when I go to parties. And this past weekend I was at a friend's house for burgers,music,and of course cocktails. He enlisted me to be his bartender,and I did two drinks batched style in pitchers for the guests.
As per usual,my drinks got rave reviews. Here's what we served:
Mix #166 Don's Special Daiquiri
1oz gold rum 1/2oz light rum 1/2oz passion fruit syrup 1/2oz honey syrup 1/2oz lime juice
Shake with ice and strain into chilled glass.
Sweet,but no too sweet,with a honey finish. This is the '70's version of Don's 1934 Mona Daiquiri. His used a special thirty year old rum,but it works just fine with regular rum.
Mix #22 Remixed Zombie
1.5oz gold rum 1.5oz dark rum 1oz 151 Demerara rum 3/4oz lime juice 1/2oz Don's mix * 1/2oz falernum 1tsp grenadine 6 drops absinthe dash Angostura bitters 6oz crushed ice
Blend at high speed for 5 seconds. Pour into tall glass and add ice to fill.
*Don's Mix is 2 parts white grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon syrup,I've used regular grapefruit juice with good results.
Spicy,cinnamon-y,citrus-y,this drink is legendary for its kick. With four ounces of rum,one of which is 151,there's a reason Don would only serve you two of these. More than two and you'll feel like the walking dead the next morning. We did small cups that were about equal to a triple shot,and limited the guests to two since our host didn't want to hurt them.
On the subject of bartending,here are some of the tools I use for my mixings.
The Difford's Easy Jigger is great for mixing cocktails due to the markings in many sizes and measurements. It does ounces,milliliters,and even tea and table spoons. It goes up to two ounces and all the way down to 1/24. It allows you to get precise measurements to ensure your cocktails turn out right.
Bee Chill ice cube trays. Tiki drinks are best made with pebble or cracked ice,but ice makers are expensive and a pain to clean. These silicon trays make hex cubes about as big around as a nickle. You can find them for cheap at TJMaxx or Marshalls. They also have these mini trays:
These make proper pebble ice,but are a pain to use. I bust these out when I'm feeling fancy.
A jelly jar. What's Tiki about a jelly jar? Well back in 2020 Trader Vic's did a jar for Mai Tai day. The idea was to pour the ingredients into the jar with ice,screw on the top and shake,then remove the top and drink from the jar. Brilliant! A shaker and glass in one,so you only have to clean two things(jigger,jar) instead of three(jigger,shaker,glass/mug). This appeals to the bachelor in me. And it's classy as long as you hold up your pinkie while drinking. That jar is in my collection,but for a user I picked up a fancy Italian one at the Container Store.
So if you need a bartender for your party,I only charge in food and rum.