Re: In praise of wedding cocktails

Jackson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:48:37 -0000

A true story:

EXT. WEDDING RECEPTION - NOONTIME

It is a beautiful summer day, not a cloud in the sky. JACKSON, sweating in his suit, is the first to arrive at the bar.

JACKSON: I'll have a whiskey sour.

BARTENDER: I'm sorry sir. We only have champagne and Pims.

JACKSON: Oh. Well, then I'll have a beer.

BARTENDER: We're only offering champagne or Pims, sir.

JACKSON: Corona.

BARTENDER: Just champagne. And Pims. Sir.

JACKSON: (beat) There's no beer?

What meager professional bartending I've done has all been at special events, and my experience is that 98 percent of patrons want beer or white wine. The others want simple "and" cocktails: rum and coke, gin and tonic. I don't think I've ever made anything more complicated than a Manhattan in a paid capacity.

So yes, if you are hosting a wedding or other event, ALWAYS offer beer and wine because otherwise the bartenders are going to have to waste time explaining to morons like me that his choice for beverages is between sugar and bubbles or just sugar. I can see how a signature cocktail like you recommend would be a good way to make the event memorable and save money by cutting out the hard stuff but I think you need a baseline for the crowd, even if it's just some Corona and grigio.

Re: In praise of wedding cocktails

Bitter — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:32:53 -0000

I would love to serve and give away some of our own home-brewed beer should my other half and I take the plunge. The only problem with that is we're looking at doing in Virginia. I'm assuming with their draconian laws, we couldn't even give it away as favors. (Obviously, only to adults. We're some of those kid-unfriendly people and wouldn't have kids involved anyway.)

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