We were delighted to be invited by the ladies of the newly formed Market Harborough W.I. to attend their first monthly meeting as guest speakers. We ran the presentation “Everything you wanted to know about the fascinating world of spirits, liqueurs and cocktails …….. but were afraid to ask.”

And now that we’ve got the presentation written…………… well, we’re keen to use it for other groups. So if your company, group or association is looking for guests speakers, bear us in mind. Thank you! 

We’ve now got a little liquid alchemy to do…… laters

Cocktail Shaker Boys make the headlines - sort of !

We’re doing cocktails in Northampton over the weekend and we’d like to officially welcome our newest recruit to the team. More details will appear soon of some amazing new flavour ingredients we’ve acquired this week. Details will appear first on Twitter @Cocktlshkrboys (www.twitter.com) and Facebook (Cocktail Shaker Boys.) So if you follow us or like us, you’ll get the updates quickly. Ok, so now off to prepare for our weekend gig.

We now also run cocktail making workshops at your venue. This can be complete with a full stand up presentation on some interesting facts about the major spirits and liqueurs of the world, the secrets of how to make your own yummy, scrummy cocktails and a plan of the key ingredients, the flavours and how they fit together in your collection.

So if you’re part of a group, and you think your group would be interested in the world of spirits, liqueurs and cocktails, then let us know.

Cocktails - we'll show you how to make your own - simples!

You can now book us to come and run a presentation to show you how cocktails are made. This could be an ideal subject to offer your company conference delegates as a contrast to all the business ‘stuff.’ We can also run it as an interactive workshop too, giving your staff the opportunity to ‘get involved.’ (This does depend on numbers though of course!)

Alternatively you may be looking for a refreshing and different subject at your group, association, networking group or club’s forthcoming meeting. 

We can tell you about ;

• the difference between spirits and liqueurs
• where they started (we’ll keep it general!)
• why whisky / whiskey has 2 different spellings
• Why cocktails are associated with prohibition and the United States

And then we’ll tell you a bit about ;

• The basic structure of a cocktail
• How you can use it to develop your own cocktails (we do this regularly – it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it!)
• Top tips on making cocktails
• Top tips on where to buy your ingredients

Our presentations on things relating to spirits, liqueurs and cocktails are of course orientated around the size of your group, the time allocated and of course what your group wants out of our presentation.

If you think a presentation on spirits, liqueurs and cocktails would hit the button for you, send us an e-mail to fun@cocktailshakerboys.co.uk with a few details about your plans. Alternatively, pick the phone up and give us a call on 07890 103172.

We run cocktail parties at your home of course or hired venue and can run presentations around the Midlands : in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Thrapston, Daventry, Loughborough, Coalville, Oakham, Uppingham and Rutland.

Many Grasshopper cocktails were served in Harborough at 40th party

And that’s in addition to the joint 40th party we ran with a full team of 4 at Kibworth Rugby Club, serving cocktails to 140 guests. It seems the fantastically minty chocolatey Grasshopper is a firm favourite : liquid Aero is how most people describe it. However the Nigella Lawson Green apple Martini which we make with Gin also has many converts.

However with last night’s party we also served up lots of our classic 2 mocktails – alcohol free cocktails : the Merry Berry Cherry and the China Blue.

Party host with a cocktail shaker boy - summer cocktails at your home

So what’s next in the experimental world of the Cocktail Shaker Boys? Well, we’re interested in developing an idea to provide cold shots to guests on arrival. However we need some portable way of transporting glasses in something freezing. Anyone got any ideas? info@cocktailshakerboys.co.uk if you have.

We have access to an elegant range of Martini glasses, champagne flutes, superb Sling glasses and plain old Highballs. You’re welcome to hire our glassware even if you’re not commissioning us to make cocktails for you.

Market Harborough cocktail glasses for hire

We can support large parties and you can even rent some cocktail glasses for say a dinner party for 12. We’ll deliver them for you too (there may be an additional charge – depending where you are.)

For more details about cocktail glass hire in South Leicestershire, contact us fun@cocktailshakerboys.co.uk . We’ll help if we can!

And we know you want to know what the drinks are featured in the picture on the left. We are a cocktail making tips site after all, so here goes. From left ;

- Jacaranda afternoon (in the Martini glass)

- Merry Berry Cherry (in the Highball) our top mocktail at the moment

- China Blue a non-alcoholic version of a popular classic the Blue Lagoon

- The Ottoman – a great alternative to the Kir Royale.

So get yourself some glasses, remember to book the sunshine, mix yourself some stunning drinks and be happy.

Let's make some new cocktails then

We’re planning on developing some fantastic new cocktails based around these unusual syrup flavours. They do something like 65 flavours and we’ve noticed a few coffee shops use them to make flavoured coffee.

We bought Ginger, Green Apple, Butterscotch, Lavender, more Green Apple, Cherry, Raspberry, Rose and Blue Curacao (non-alcoholic.)

We’re already using Monin Green Apple Syrup in the highly popular Green Apple Martini.

We use Rose in the in-house developed Belly Dancer, which has been compared to liquid Turkish Delight.

Stand by for some new cocktail recipes featuring these products, and we’ll post them on Twitter too. In the meantime we’re off to engage in a little liquid alchemy !

Cocktail Shaker Boys can be found on many of the social networking sites

Well the truth is that we’re putting ourselves about a bit on the social networking sites. We’re already on Twitter, so if you tweet and want to connect follow us at  http://twitter.com/CocktlShkrBoys .

We’ve also created a profile on Facebook, which has pictures and even video clips of some of the stuff we’ve been up to. You do need a Facebook account though in order to be able to access this. But if you’re an avid Facebooker, just key in Cocktail Shaker Boys in the search field and you’ll find the pics. You can add us ‘a friend’ and that way you will have access to all our info.

Finally we’re also now starting to post videos to YouTube – again under the name of Cocktail Shaker Boys. Honestly ! All this social networking is keeping us away from developing new cocktails – which isn’t such good news. So better get back to the bar ! See you soon, and enjoy yourself !

Cocktails in the office - only at Christmas !

We got the team making a cocktail each, and then they marked each of the 10 drinks made. We’ll update you on the final league table in the more detailed article you can find by clicking on the link below http://www.cocktailshakerboys.co.uk/index.php/home/latest-news/christmas-office-party-with-cocktails/

The 10 we made were the Tequila Sunrise, Pina Colada, Grasshopper, Green Apple Martini, Brandy Alexander, B52, Belly Dancer, Sicilian Kiss, Long Island Iced Tea and Mojito. So some old classics combined with some of the new kids on the block. 

And Rob Webb said of the cocktail event he commissioned “Thanks so much for the event yesterday – it was absolutely fantastic and a very good start to a most enjoyable evening.”

We look forward to working with other organisations over the coming months. <object width=”480″ height=”385″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/xleV8YT4WSU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB”></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/xleV8YT4WSU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_GB” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”480″ height=”385″></embed></object> Click on this You Tube link to see some of the action!

Party goers with Kir Royales - Christmas at the Angel Hotel

We served Grasshopper (one of our favourites as you know), the classic green apple martini, Tequila Sunrise and Kir Royale. Plus we offered our in-house developed mocktail the Pacific Sunrise for the drivers. Not that there appeared to be many of them. More details follow here  http://www.cocktailshakerboys.co.uk/index.php/home/latest-news/christmas-cocktails-a-bit-of-an-office-party/     

And we’re even going to try adding a short movie too of some of the action ! Though we’re having some technical issues with this at the moment.