Having your friends round again and want to change things up and make your night more interesting? Well a cocktail night is a great idea. Here is all you need to know about hosting a cocktail night for 6 people.
Cocktail Night Theme Ideas
The first thing to decide is a theme. You don’t need one, but it’s a great excuse to get creative with your cocktail menu and get dressed up.
A few ideas to get you started
· The ‘90s – dig out the old-school tunes, embrace the nostalgia and give your cocktail menu a retro twist
· Tropical Paradise – bring the beach to your living room with fruity flavours and colourful cocktails that have you thinking you’re on holiday
· Cocktails around the World – travel around the World whilst sitting on your sofa. Pick a cocktail from each country and see where the night takes you.
· Fiesta – have a vibrant flavour filled night and bring the fiesta to your living room.
· The Roaring ‘20s – channel your inner Gatsby with glamorous cocktails. Think shaken, stirred and well dressed.
Make life easier and get each one of your friends to bring ingredients and make one cocktail each, that way you will have 6 cocktails. Rank each other’s and keep score to find the best mixologist in the group.
Cocktail Night Menu
Say your night is going to last for around 4 hours then we would recommend 5-6 drinks each, give or take, you know your mates drinking habits better than us. Depending on which cocktails you serve you may need more or less than 5-6. So, which cocktails are you picking for your cocktail night? Will you use cocktail mixes to just add spirits, make cocktails from ingredients or use chilled canned cocktails for ultimate convenience.
Cocktail Mixes
If you want to play bartender without actually being a bartender, then cocktail mixes are your new best mate. Just add your spirit and shake with ice and you’ve got a cocktail in seconds. Finest Call mixes make it ridiculously easy to get the drinks flowing, while still delivering a delicious drink. No measuring 20 different ingredients, no frantic Googling halfway through the evening and no need to ask who knows how to make a proper cocktail. More time drinking, less time doing maths. Cheers to that.
Spirits & Ingredients
This is for those who want to get properly stuck in to making cocktails. Start with a flavoured tequila like Take Jalapeño Tequila Liqueur to give your favourite cocktails an added kick of flavour, then stock up on the essentials with Master of Mixes Cocktail Essentials Syrups. Making cocktails from scratch is half the fun, get everyone behind the bar, let them choose a cocktail to make and see who can make the best-looking & tasting drink. Just remember, the more enthusiastic the shaking, the more dramatic the night.
Canned Cocktails
Crack open the can and get straight to the good bit. Canned cocktails are the ultimate shortcut for a cocktail night. Ready to go, requiring zero bartending skills, saving you time, effort and from the washing-up that comes with making drinks from scratch. Just crack one open, hand them round then get back to the important business of catching up, putting the world to rights and deciding who’s in charge of the next round. Because no one came to cocktail night to spend two hours washing shakers.
Garnish for your cocktails
Garnishes can make or break your drink, stock up on the essential garnishes that go with the cocktail menu chosen. Master of Mixes Margarita Salt is a must have when serving margarita cocktails, the essential finishing touch designed with easy application, no more making a mess of the salt rim.
Have the right tools
When having a cocktail night there are a few essential tools that you need to make the drinks, depending on which cocktails are on the menu, your cocktail toolkit should include:
· Cocktail shaker
· Jigger (measure)
· Muddler
· Bar spoon
· Strainer
· Juicer
· Knife and chopping board
· Ice – not really a tool but it’s a must have for making cocktails, and plenty of it. Always get more than you think.
Get your snacks sorted
Cocktails on an empty stomach? Absolutely not.
You’re hosting six people, not opening a restaurant so there is no need to spend all day cooking up a three-course feast. A few good nibbles alongside your cocktails are more than enough.
Go as fancy or as lazy as you like. Empty a bag of crisps into a bowl, put some olives and nuts out, grab a few bits of cheese, or get stuck into making a savoury or sweet snack.
Serve something you and your mates actually like. It’s your cocktail night!
Keep the food easy, keep it tasty and leave yourself plenty of time to enjoy the drinks rather than spending the whole evening making food.
And there you have it, everything you need to host a cocktail night for six people. Whether you’re mixing cocktails from scratch, using a cocktail mix, or cracking open a can, the most important thing is having a good night with your friends.
