Throw a party in style

Everyone loves a good cocktail party. But planning a perfect party needs more than just a home bar. Throwing up a soirée — whether large or small — can be as simple or complex as you make of it.

One highlight of the party is setting up the bar. It would help to survey your home and set up a bar in a space that can be easily accessible. To set this up, all you need is a table that is sufficient enough for you to place a few things that are required. First, hunt down for enough glasses and ice, which you will always need more than you anticipated.

For a quick last minute drinks menu, any white spirit of your choice should do. Don’t forget to line-up the bottles to give a dramatic effect! A few cocktails can be made in a jiffy.

Fill up a few jugs with water, leaving a quarter of the space of the jug and dunk ice right into it. You could add one fresh slice of an apple in one of the jugs, mint leaves and cinnamon in the other, beetroot along with kaffir lime, lemon zest cucumber and lime juice in another jug. You could also add coriander with the stem, fresh orange wedges and aniseed flower. Add any white spirit of your choice in the jugs. Sugar syrup is optional. These mixers work because the ingredients are the most commonly used ones in a bar for any cocktail and blend in with almost anything.

Vodka and whisky are majorly a preferred choice of drink. Vodka is a relatively tasteless spirit, which goes well with almost every mixer, right from Coke to cranberry juice. People who like their spirits strong and rich in taste and aroma, generally prefer whisky.

If you decide to keep wine at the bash, choose it according to the general palate choice. Ideally, Indians do not like dry red wines, so we would recommend semi-dry wines. When it comes to white, we recommend something that isn’t too tangy or fruity. These wines can be utilised to make some amazing sangrias.

Now that you have your drinks in place, watch out for your glassware. For cocktails, straight drinks, martinis and margaritas, we use the Tom Collins glass, which can also be used for your normal drinks as well. Even rock glasses are used for these, but they’re mainly only used for whisky.

Lavaash, hung curd dips and olives on a cheese platter work well as starters, as these are easy to chew and oily since they go well with drinks.

Binny Dhadwal is the founder of The Flaming Trio and Drinq Barmen and Academy