‘Make-it-your-own’ never goes out of style and with the recent trend toward home beer brewing, it makes sense to parlay that trend into bottling your own custom cocktails. We often use this idea for offsite events and at our venue The One Eighty in Toronto, where we offer an entire ‘Shaken & Stirred’ collection of house-bottled cocktails—not only for our regular customers but also customized versions for our private events. For example we created a fruity Maybellini for supermodel Gigi Hadid when she hosted Maybelline’s 100th anniversary event with us. You can have fun with it and create your own custom labels, and really impress your clients with this innovative take on the classic cocktail presentation.
What you’ll need …
If you wish to store the cocktails rather than serving them instantly with a straw, you’ll need a handheld bottle capper. They are made to fit a standard beer bottle and if the cocktails are carbonated, they will last two to three days in the fridge before the quality of carbonation drops.
Supplies you will need on top of the bottle capper are bottles (clear is best) and caps (which come in plenty of colors).
American residents can order their supplies from www.homebrewsupply.com
The ‘Emily Bottle Capper’ is $15.95 USD plus a wide range of bottles and bottle cap colors are offered online.
Canadian residents can order their supplies from www.homebrewsupplies.ca The ‘Emily Bottle Capper’ for $25.95 CAD. The bottles featured in the photos are clear champagne bottles.
Now, for the cocktails!
Citronade
Yield: 1 (batch a higher volume by multiplying the quantities below)
Ingredients
1 oz citrus vodka
1/2 oz limoncello
1/2 oz blue curaçao
1 oz lemonade
Method
1. Combine the below ingredients into a vessel and stir to combine.
2. Pour into the bottle and top with soda leaving 1–2 inches from the top. Secure with a bottle cap and store in fridge until time to serve.
Summer Punch
Yield: 1 (batch a higher volume by multiplying the quantities below)
Ingredients
2 strawberries, de-stemmed and diced
1.5 oz vodka
.5 oz Alizé gold
2 oz iced tea
1 oz lemon juice – fresh
Club soda to finish
Method
1. Muddle the strawberries in a shaker. Combine the remaining ingredients and shake.
2. Strain into the bottle and top with soda leaving 1–2 inches from the top. Secure with a bottle cap and store in fridge until time to serve.
Sebastien Centner is the director of Eatertainment Hospitality and Eatertainment Special Events & Catering, Toronto, Ontario, CA. He can be followed via Twitter @sebcentner.
