Cocktail Shaker Boys

Cocktail party in Derbyshire at the weekend. Great time had by us Cocktail Shaker Boys helping the 18 guests make the first round of cocktails. We then served cocktails for 2 hours before their sit down meal at 8:30. So it was us with the cocktails + outside caterers with the food. A great plan. We also had a prize for the person who made the most popular cocktail. So we’ll give you details of the top 3 of the 10 in a future news update. Meanwhile we’ve got more parties to plan and run. It’s all go …… hardly a minute to even drink a cocktail ourselves.

Cosmopolitan and Tequila Sunrise both made an appearance

40th birthday party cocktails in Coventry is what the Cocktail Shaker Boys were mixing up on Saturday night. It might have been flippin’ freezin’ outside but the cocktails complemented the fantastic canapes – sushi, shellfish and the like -  perfectly.

Cocktail party guests - Coventry 40th birthday

Slightly different menu which featured the following 5 cocktails and 2 mocktails ;

• Mojito – which frankly looks like a glass of fizzy water with a tree growing out of the top but a great summer (!) refreshing drink. We’ll post our recipe in a future article.
• Cosmopolitan – by special request of the hostess and the most popular drink on the menu we’d say
• Grasshopper – a regular of our menus as it is sooo popular
• Green Apple Martini – again one of the very favourites
• Tequila Sunrise – still one of the most dramatic looking drinks and a real fruity classic

Our picture features from left : Tequila Sunrise, Green Apple Martini and Grasshopper

Plus the mocktails

• China Blue - blue gorgeousness in a sling glass with an unusual and exotic flavour.
• Merry Berry Cherry - featured heavily on this site.

Many more gigs coming up, a busy time – need to get practising. Also some new cocktails will be featured in some of our future parties. Recipes will appear here – eventually once we’ve tested market reaction!

Cocktails – the presentation. Well we eat, drink and breathe cocktails – well not completely, but you know what I mean.

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.

30th birthday, 21st birthday & wedding reception cocktails are what is happnin for the Cocktail Shaker Boys at the moment. September is the busiest month so far for the boys. We had a great night out in Northampton providing cocktails at a clients 30th birthday.  

Let's get your party started - with cocktails in your kitchen

Her new flat was the venue, the music was pumping “everybody wants to be famous, ain’t nobody want to be nameless” was da lyrics and the most popular drink of the night was 

Sex on the Beach – the absolut most popular combination of vodka, Archers peach schnapps, cranberry and orange juices. The link above gives you an idea about how to make it at home – and remember when he mentions peach schnapps, we of course mean Archers here in the UK. You can watch this video clip to see how it’s made Stateside. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x312oh_sex-on-the-beach-cocktail-drink-rec_school

We also served Grasshopper, Tequila Sunrise, Sandbar, and Kir Royale. The 2 mocktails were our old classics the Merry Berry Cherry and China Blue.

We’ve also run a 21st party at a house in Leicester. We’ve taken our first cocktail enquiry from one of the large salubrious wedding venue hotels in rural Leicestershire too. So we’ll be working on a corking cocktail menu for the bride. She’s got a few green things going on in her wedding colouring – so that gives us a few ideas.

We also feel the need to give you more cocktail recipes soon, as we guess this may be what you’re visiting this site for. Let us know at fun@cocktailshakerboys.co.uk

Summer cocktail parties. They are certainly popular at the moment. And we must admit the weather has helped out with long warm balmy evenings. Cocktails out on the decking last night for a client’s 40th birthday. We also did a corporate summer quiz and cocktails night in Great Bowden on Friday night. Yes, you’re right – we weren’t the quiz bit!

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.

For cocktail glass hire in South Leicestershire – contact the Cocktail Shaker Boys. We are now able to offer a great range of cocktail glasses to help you with your special party or event.

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.

Special cocktail party at home – Birmingham. A client commissioned us to provide a range of cocktails for them at their home between Coventry and Birmingham, as they celebrated a significant birthday.

Cocktail party at home - happiness in a glass

She’d hired in 2 games tables too : black jack and a roulette wheel, and we supplied the drinks. We offered a range of 6 cocktails and 2 mocktails ;

• Green Apple Martini – Gin, apple sourz and apple syrup
• Margarita – Tequila, Cointreau, lime juice
• Rusty Nail – Whisky, Drambuie
• Sex on the Beach – Vodka, Archers, cranberry, orange juice
• Sandbar – Malibu, golden rum, pineapple juice
• Kir Royale – Creme de Cassis, champagne

Plus mocktails

• Blue Lagoon – non-alcoholic blue curacao, lemonade
• Merry Berry Cherry – orange juice, cranberry juice, cherry syrup

Seems the Sandbar and the Merry Berry Cherry were the ones in each category which proved most popular, though many party guests determindly worked their way through the menu.

Next event is a surprise 80th in Leicestershire - ooh, there’s never a dull moment !

There’s nothing the cocktail shaker boys like more than to develop new cocktails. Well in truth we also like to drink them and share them with our friends and clients. It’s often said that “2 cocktails is too many but 3 isn’t enough !”We understand this. We are looking to produce a steady stream of new cocktail ideas that you can try at home or out, and we like to share these with you.

Woo Woo cocktail in the foreground and our own developed cocktail the Sandbar

We have found that we can add these to Twitter easily, so if Twitter is your thing, have a look for recipes, tips, buying advice and all sorts of random information about cocktails by following us http://twitter.com/CocktlShkrBoys. We add pictures where we can on Tweetphoto too. http://tweetphoto.com/19015213 shows you these 2 new ones.

The Woo Woo appears to be a modern classic, but it doesn’t appear in any of our cocktail books, and the Sandbar is one we’ve developed specially for a client’s 50th party celebrations in Birmingham soon.

Recipes

Woo Woo   :    1  1/2 msrs vodka, 1  1/2 msrs peach schnapps, 3 measures cranberry juice. Shake with ice and pour.

The Sandbar   : 1  1/2 msrs Malibu, 1  1/2 msrs golden rum, 3 msrs pineapple juice. Again simply shake with ice, pour and enjoy.

The Sandbar has a real lazy Carribean feel to it. Remember “the sun always shines when it pours !” It’s summer so try some recipes and make yourself some delicious cocktails. You’ll be amazed how popular you become !

New cocktails to be developed by the Cocktail Shaker Boys. We’ve taken delivery of our latest batch of Monin syrups.

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 !

30th birthday party cocktails in Milton Keynes. A great night had by all at a fantastically extended house in Milton Keynes. Well certainly the large island made a great serving area for the Cocktail Shaker Boys.

The theme was an 80s night so we got all Bananaramary, topped off with a dash of Foreigner, mixed in with a bit of Nik Kershaw. You just know it was gonna be good.

The Cocktail Shaker Boys offered a range of 80s classic cocktails for the event including Pina Colada, Tequila Sunrise, Harvey Wallbanger, Kir Royale and this the Blue Lagoon…..

Blue Lagoon - Big at 80s night in Milton Keynes

We’re always interested in which drinks are popular, and although other drinks were popular early on, we were serving lots of Harvey Wallbangers and Blue Lagoons later. The amazing blue colour and the light flavour helped make this a popular choice.

This will make an appearance again soon !