Chris and Julia Tunstall

If you have the inclination, pop on over to the Craft Cocktail Club Facebook group, where the Clear Ice King and originator of this directional freezing at-home method, Camper English, hosted a “Q&A” Citrus is not only a main ingredient to many a sour, but is low-hanging fruit… so to speak… when it comes to preparing garnishes for cocktails. Citrus rounds (fresh or dehydrated), wedges, or a nice swath of peel are quick and easy garnishes for cocktails that will work well with any citrus-based drink. Shaking a cocktail with egg white or aquafaba (chickpea water) gives you a beautiful foam layer that not only adds great texture, but gives you a canvas to be able to create some cocktail art. Fresh ground nutmeg or a dusting of cocoa powder can transform a cocktail as they sit on that fluffy layer, but for a professional-looking cocktail garnish, you can take it one step further by making a stencil with a piece of paper or a coaster.

A mixing glass for cocktails is a key fixture of any craft cocktail bar for many reasons. Shaking a drink achieves a few different outcomes, such as: Enhanced dilution (the liquid crosses the surface area of the ice more frequently) Creating aeration or an emulsion (such as an egg white or aquafaba foam), and Marrying ingredients of varying densities (like fruit juices or muddled components). Straight-up SidesThe sides of a mixing glass are tall and straight, which provide a constant guide for a long-handled bar spoon to follow while stirring, providing a more even, measured stir. For dark spirits, the color of the drink will grow lighter as more dilution is achieved; for all liquors, the liquid level will rise as the ice melts, thus providing multiple visual cues to signal the drink is ready.

Lastly, you can find corporate event planners online and through social media (Facebook, Linkedin) who already have client lists and may be able to incorporate what you’re offering into what they’re already doing. So look for companies that have marketing departments– particularly “field marketing” departments– and pitch your work to them as a way to engage people in an unexpected way. As Sarah from A Couple of Cocktails notes, if you’re working off of everyone’s home bar, it’s almost always better to teach a type of drink rather than one particular drink. We are adapting to the New Normal; but even when that starts to look a little bit more like the Old Normal, we’ll still have the new skills, experiences, and connections we built during this time.

and you’ll be making cocktails, a party and event planner may find a host exceptionally useful for this specific Zoom gathering. The logistics of the holiday party might look a bit different (just like this whole year), but we’ll figure this one out, much like we have since March. Make things easy for your guests by sending them the specific equipment they’ll need, like a bar set or must-have bar spoon from A Bar Above. Before the guests do sign off (or get to enjoying their cocktails a little too much), leave some time to communicate your holiday message from the company.