Casino Night 40th Birthday Party

It's party season here in Phoenix!  Bartender Angila and I are staying incredibly busy.  This past weekend we worked a Casino night themed 40th birthday party.  We arrived decked out in our finest dealer garb including black vests, bow ties and red garters on our arm.

 

We always arrive at least 2 hours early to ensure there is plenty of time for set up and cooling down anything that should be served chilled.  It's helpful if the host has that part taken care of ahead of time but that's rarely the case.  Most of the time it's just due to lack of cooling space.  Also, we like to give ourselves enough time to correct any errors or retreive any forgotten items.

The hosts Rosa and Manny were awesome!  They were very accommodating and made sure we had everything we needed for a smooth night.  All of the guests were friendly and fun!

Rosa and Manny had Vegas style card tables set up in their home.  It was incredibly authentic down to the hired professional card dealers!  The DJ they hired rocked!   He played a great mix of 70's, 80's and current popular music which was great for the 40 and older crowd, but most of what we listened to was Latin music so of course Angila and I had to get out on the dance floor a couple of times and show off our Salsa moves!  Too fun!

The night went off without a hitch and the cocktails were a hit.  Once we had consulted with Rosa and Manny and got an idea of what cocktails they had in mind and what they thought their guests would enjoy we created a menu based around the theme of the night.  The menu consisted of mostly mainstream drinks but we gave them clever Casino related names.  It was great watching the guests discover the fun new name for their favorite drink!

We were set up outside where there was guest seating beautifully decorated with deep purple linens and candelabra under a large canopy.  Keep in mind it's now the middle of December, and while yes...we do live in the desert it still gets pretty darn cold at night. The cold did lend itself to a few hiccups, such as shakers that got away from us due to cold/sticky/slippery fingers.  It's difficult to pour and shake drinks when your fingers are frozen, and shaking a metal cocktail shaker only makes it colder.  One thing we thought of to correct this problem is to purchase some pocket hand warmers to help keep us defrosted between customers.  But what if there is a line of people and we don't have time to warm up between drinks?  One thing we thought we might try is to attach grips on the shakers (think...grips on a football), just some kind of raised surface to give our fingers something to hold on to.   We're mulling over few ideas, we'll definitely keep you posted as to whether they work and which ones work the best!  

Now to address the slick/sticky/slippery fingers.  Because our bar is portable and breaks down into basically a suitcase-like package, we do not have running water.  How do we keep our hands and tools clean between drinks?  Well...be less messy!!  YES!  That's certainly one way, and clearly every effort is made toward perfection, but let's get real...with all the delicious ingredients that go into a great cocktail....slick happens!  I know, horrible pun, but "stick" with me here (make it stop!)!  So, we have used two different methods to clean shakers and jiggers.  One way we do it is to pour club soda into the shaker and swirl back and forth between shaker and glass then dunking the jiggers in the shaker to give them a good rinse.  Works great!  Another effective method was to fill a container with club soda deep enough to submerge the shaker and glass sideways and give them a few spins, and a few swishes with the jigger and everything is clean!  We found that neither way is better or gets tools cleaner, we just use whatever method is our personal preference.  As for our hands, without running water we've found that simple hand wipes are awesome!

At every event we encounter something new and different.  Whether it's issues due to things like lack of space, weather conditions, or service challenges or on the opposite side of the coin, even ideas we've put into motion that worked exactly the way we imagined you can be sure we'll keep you up to date and share our experiences to help you with yours!  Please share any suggestions, improvements, or comments  you have in regards to anything we've shared with you, we love hearing new ideas!