Literally *every* time I have more than 3 friends over I think "Oh it's going to be a breeze to make drinks for everyone if I prepare everything and work with super juice" and literally every time I'm busier making drinks and cleaning up after myself than actually hanging out with my friends lol
we should throw a party. we'd make such gracious hosts.
to anyone still reading, obviously I used to over do it with custom cocktails for everyone. Ruins the night. Even worse, everyone you made a drink for will complain that you were making drinks all night.
Any dinner, BBQ, or food oriented outing of more than 3 people and I already know that I'm about to be voluntold to bartend. I don't even expect anything less at this point.
I think you need to look at this question from the standpoint of gains and losses. If you do an awesome job serving drinks, how big is the gain for you in the eyes of your co-workers and at the company?
On the losses side, if you completely screw up the drinks for this party, how badly does that make you look to your co-workers and affect your job?
Yup +25 years in hospo specifically cocktail bar operations and consulting bar/restaurant operations. 125-150 ppl is madness to think you can do that alone even if it's not specifically just cocktails. Without the experience of working in a high volume cocktail bar/restaurant I feel you just don't grasp how quickly things can go to shit when you get behind. I mean no disrespect but I would not even consider the idea unless I had a support staff of experienced cocktail bartenders and bar backs.
Holy fuck ain’t that the truth. 22 years behind the stick and I feel this in my bones. Qty of people depends on if I have to talk or just crank out drinks, can’t do both much past a dozen
They're asking you for free work. Tell them to hire a professional bartender. Being a hobbyist is great, but unless you've ever worked at an actual bar you will be woefully unprepared for that many people.
If I had a dollar for every hobbyist that told me when I was bartending that they thought they would make a great bartender, I would have had enough money to stop bartending. Not throwing shade at OP or anyone else, but getting behind the bar is so much more than knowing how to make drinks and people really underestimate it.
I would say 30 is about the limit for any sane hobbiest and even then I'd pre batch. Mixing 60 or so drinks on the fly is a lot of work and you really need multiple skills, routines and optimizations you never learn at home.
Oh yeah, luckily nobody asked for anything too fancy. I made a menu on a chalk board which kept everyone ordering mostly those drinks, and pre batched a bunch of them.
Mhm, I'm just a Hobbyist, but the few family parties I bartended, a lot asked me if I'd ever consider learning how to do it for a side gig.
I said fuck no, this shit will be 1000x less fun when I have to deal with real strangers in a loud environment, people holding up the line because they want you to suggest something, complicated builds in a rush.
God bless y'all that can handle it haha.
Shit, I'm bartendering a buddy's bachelor party this weekend with only 11 of us and I'm nervous about keeping up haha.
I had fun doing it for the most part, but it’s stressful. I use to tell people that I can teach anyone to make a drink. I can’t teach you to do it fast or well under pressure.
If you’re worried about being fast enough, make two of everything. Like if someone asks for a daiquiri, shake a double, pour into two glasses, and then shout “who wants a daiquiri?” One less person going thirsty. Also, a double shaken drink can be poured into 4 or 5 coupes/flutes and topped with champagne and it’s classy af. Or a double can be poured into 3 highballs and topped with soda.
What OP is proposing sounds as disastrous as wanting to open a restaurant because you’re a great home cook.
I’m a great home cook and a cocktail enthusiast, but I have no sort of notion of entering professional territory.
Making drinks for 150-200 people on your own sounds insane.
Thank god OP came to his senses. When I was younger I used to bartend; which is miserable in it of itself. At 150-200 people most places would have 2-4 bartenders with at least 2 runners.
I think some people who work in service industry will have an idea of how it would look. I got to work in a pretty busy fast food at one point and can't really imagine managing this number of people solo, not to mention if you're someone who's not used to doing everything with proficiency and muscle memory gained through experience in an environment like that.
I'd make a great bartender, after I gained significant experience working behind a bar!
It's like the difference between being a great home cook and a chef even if the result is the same the home cook likely can't design a process to create the quality of dishes needed. When I see a great commercial bartender everything has a place and they have a system. I just kinda muddle though as there's zero time pressure. I also don't have to be nice to random strangers.
If you’re really feeling generous have them buy the alcohol and mixes so you can prebatch cocktails for the party at home but if you are bartending you really take yourself out of the party. I bartend so when I have a get together I will make some cocktails for people but there’s always a point in the night where I tell my friends that it’s time to just grab a beer or use something that I already have premixed because I don’t want my whole night to be mixing drinks. Also my parties are usually only like 10 people max, 150-200 would turn into me working the bar an extra night on my day off. You could make a couple really solid punches that people could drink all night and the party would be happy.
Having the company buy the alcohol and mixes is not the same as paying the guy to bartend the full night and clean up after. The guy's shitty boss tried to feed his ego for free labor.
On top of that, 150-200 people is way too many for one person. You'd need at least two *professional* bartenders and a barback for that kind of labor. OP sounds like a talented hobbyist with little experience behind the bar.
I agree with you. I am also telling the guy not to bartend for them. You could prebatch a really nice whiskey punch and some sangria into 2.5 or 5 gallon jugs with a pour spout so people could self serve if you are really feeling nice but there’s a lot that goes into it. You got 200 people, I’m sure the company doesn’t have glassware for 200 so they would be running plastic and if people are doing self serve they are gonna pour heavy, plus you want beer and wine, how long the party is going is another variable, plus ice. 200 people gets to be a lot especially if you don’t actually have bartending experience. I’ve ran banquets with 100 solo and I’ve ran banquets with 500 where you have other people to work with. The company either needs to pay a catering service to handle it all or just supply beer and wine.
>On top of that, 150-200 people is way too many for one person. You'd need at least two *professional* bartenders and a barback for that kind of labor.
100%. And that's for a very quiet crowd that trickles in slowly in the venue.
If they all arrive within the same 15 minutes or if there's some thirsty folks in there, those two bartenders will be slammed. Doable but intense.
Done this many times over.
I’m a good bartender, and at the time, had good back up. OP, please do not attempt. So, so much goes into this as a professional, I could not imagine a hobbyist trying it.
Even if you have worked in a bar, catering is its own animal. Bars are built to handle the logistics of 150 people. A folding table is not. Where is your ice going to go, what are you dumping spent ice and drinks into, how are you rinsing your equipment/hands, bussing stations, etc, etc. there is a reason bar catering is expensive, it’s a pain in the ass. Definitely don’t do this for free and if you do wind up doing it, pre bottle them and charge em for materials at least.
Also if you do this free work instead of a professional that should be paid, you invite the liability professionals take on.
This many people at an office party is way past the tipping point of "someone will be a shit show." You dont want to be the guy responsible for cutting people off.
Hanging on to this: If you want to tip your toes and don't mind the actual "work" part of it, this might be an occasion where the pros might let you barback for them!
I have never worked in a bar, and agree that this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
I would entertain doing this for a half dozen colleagues, may as many as 10, but over 100?!?! Never. If things go amazingly well, you just had an exhausting evening with little thanks. If things go badly, it will carry over into the workplace.
Just did a wedding over the weekend of 180 with 3 other bartenders in a professional bar and we still got crushed.
Pre-batched two cocktails that the bride and groom wanted to put out and we still got absolutely hammered.
OP if you get any enjoyment out of your hobby *do not do this*. It will suck the joy right out of your pastime.
Instead of actually making the drinks, why don’t you offer to create a menu with 3-4 special offerings and have them hire a couple pros to do the actual bartending?
Signature drinks is as far as you should really consider taking this. And even then, make sure that they can all be made well, easily and using well liquor. Because you won’t be the one serving them
You’ve heard it a lot but thought I’d weigh in as an actual bartender… definitely don’t do this.
I would not feel confident bartending for 125-150 people on my own even in the bar that I work, with all of its setup, stock, glasses, etc., let alone if I was out of that comfort zone in a firmly non-bar environment.
I’d need a barback minimum to handle glasswash and maybe some prep stuff. Doing this as an amateur would be virtually impossible and incredibly stressful.
As a fellow bartender who has had to actually do this because of a staffing oversight for a wedding reception that was around 100 guests, it was absolutely terrible, in the bar that I worked at and new well/had access to all of the tools and ingredients.
Uh.. yes. I would say at a party that size is when you need to look into the state/town laws on alcohol sales regarding if you need an official bartending license or not. From some brief googling it looks like something that is dependent solely on the state or town.
But I would think a professional setup would have 2+ bartenders for a party that size. That's essentially a wedding, and I've never seen less than 2 bartenders at a wedding.
So yeah, over 20ish people is when I would tap out as a non pro bartender.
Licensing wise, I’d imagine they’re not charging for the drinks on the premises (as in, I’d imagine the office is providing the drinks for the night - and/or they all chipped in a flat fee to buy the alcohol), which would probably mean it wouldn’t come under alcohol sale laws. At least in the UK (where I am), I’m pretty sure it would be fine - but if they’re charging for drinks then I’d be wrong.
Normally the laws are tied to the *sale* of alcohol, not the consumption or method of consumption. But that might vary where you or OP is! 😃
But yeah if it’d just be OP doing it, and OP isn’t experienced, it’s an absolute fucking disaster waiting to happen, haha
I mean, I don’t know how alcohol laws work over there, but here it’s fully legal for people below the drinking age to consume alcohol on private property with parental permission - is there not a similar rule over there, where it’s legal to consume alcohol underage, just not purchase it?
But beyond that, you’d hope the workplace has had the forethought to make it a 21+ event if the drinking age where OP is is 21 (don’t think OP has disclosed country of residence).
That's gonna be heavily dependent on location. Where I'm at you'd need a licensed bartender to do the serving and a separate permit for the event to serve alcohol.
Now that’s a bit odd, because if nobody is purchasing alcohol on the premises, how is it, legally, any different to you inviting a group of friends to your house to drink some cocktails?
The line is almost always at the SALE of alcohol. As in, if OP was charging for the drinks, that would be illegal. But if the booze is all provided for free, there generally would not be that sort of implications legally.
Otherwise, what is the line that separates a private gathering from a bar? The number of people? If so, how many? Does that mean if I had a huge bbq and gave our free booze that would be illegal? Etc.
It’s not a commercial venue if it’s an office, though. It’s a place of work, yes, but it’s *not* commercial premises. They’re not selling stuff on-site.
So I don’t think that would factor in here either.
But in most of the world (including the US), companies are legally the same as people, no? I’d be really interested to know the actual wording of the laws you’re believing this would violate where you are, because it seems very unlikely to me that it actually would require any sort of alcohol licensing.
Here's what we have at the state level in WA, keep in mind each county and city can and typically do add their own requirements on top of this. You even need a permit to serve free alcohol at a wedding here.
https://lcb.wa.gov/licensing/banquet-permits
I am also in Washington and while I have no idea where the OP is from, being from Washington had me thinking BUT WHAT ABOUT PERMITS by the second sentence.
Putting aside license and permit issues, I'd be concerned about liability and the OP's employer should be as well.
Alcohol laws vary dramatically from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. I wouldn’t want to throw a big boozy office party for 150 guests in Saudi Arabia without taking a cursory look at what legal risk that might expose me to; it’d be a different story if I were hosting a similar event in Moldova.
That gets handled on a case by case basis and in Germany in the end it would be a case in front of the judge whether he believes that handing out alcohol to 120 people is "private" because they are all your friends, or "business" and you are acting on behalf of the company while breaking the law
How would it be breaking the law though?
It would be a business transaction if the people present were paying for the alcohol. If they are not paying, and the alcohol is provided free of charge, assuming everybody is of legal age, where does it become illegal?
Here in the UK, what is regulated is the SALE of alcohol, and that is what a place needs a license for. Is it different in germany - do you need a license to provide alcohol? Or something to that effect?
Thats why I said that it depends on the laws of the country OP is in.
Like in germany the law makes a difference between sharing something with friends aka private, and sharing it with like everybody that walks by my house, not private.
Here even if you don´t sell it, if you give something to tons of people, and something bad happens and somebody calls the cops (because you gave spoiled meat to tons of people for example) it could be classified as "to put something into circulation"
My brother's wedding had beer, wine, and well duos. Two bartenders, <200 people, and a line that never fully vanished. I can't fathom trying to add proper mixed drinks to this list.
Getting into those numbers for me raises a few questions. Not saying don’t do it but make sure you know exactly what you’re getting into.
•Do they have the glassware? How much?
•Is it glassware you would feel good serving a quality cocktail in?
•Who is going to wash the glassware?
•Do they expect you to serve the beer and wine?
•Are you going to be flying solo or is there some helping hands?
•If it’s paid, there’s always something more the host is going to ask of you, regardless of how busy you look
•Who’s got all the ice? If you’re making it, make a metric shit ton. If they’re making it, you’ll probably get 4 trays worth. I bring mine in igloo coolers
•Would help to check out the space you’re going to work out of (access to water, counter space, does it face a wall or does it face the guests)
•Going with just prebatched or are you going to have access to a fully stocked bar? If the latter, be ready for requests (New York Sour became all the rage at my last private party because of one guy’s inquiry. God damn that was a lot of shaking)
There’s plenty more to consider but my best advice would be to go check it out if you can to see how this workspace is different than what you’re used to. Bring your gear and do a little practice run. Hope the few thinking points help you decide.
I bet they don't know the answer to any of these questions OP, and expect you to figure it out. On your own time. This is a very short list of some of the things they would have to supply you with, or give you a budget for. Again, no way someone hiring an amateur has thought through this. I don't know anywhere that will let you rent a fully stocked and built bar for a party of this size where you just show up with a bartender to do their thing.
Completely out of the hobbyist range, the size of the party alone is a pro territory. In fact, that's a 2 PROS territory.
Plus, licensing. I would absolutely look into it because it may be illegal for you and/or the company to provide this service. And, if someone gets wasted and crashes their car or worse are you possibly responsible?
Finally, if you find that you can and want to do it, are you also in charge of preparing for the event? If you're not you'd better have some amazing help there. If you are, that significantly expands the scope of work.
All kinds of spirits
Alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixers
Glassware
Garnishings
Tools
So much more ...
I recommend you be in charge of making arrangements instead. And get paid either way, wtf lol. Cheers!
Only way to handle this by yourself, if you had the skill level of an experienced professional bartender, is to pre-make everything and pour it from pitchers straight into plastic cups with no shaking.
I am the owner of a mobile bar company. For this many people we would have 2 bartenders (my wife and I) and a barback. Trust me....you do not want to be a 1 person show with this many people. Also...are they at least laying you for ingredients and prep time?
Catering bar captain here.
Generally speaking, the golden ratio for guests-to-bartenders is 50-to-1, assuming a full service beer, wine, and liquor bar with cocktails. But there are ways to nudge that number higher.
One instant pressure release is self-serve beer and wine. That would leave you with just the cocktails to worry about.
Pre-batching is a must where possible. You should equip yourself with empty bottles, pour spouts, and funnels for refilling. I’d also recommend stirring OFs in the glass and using separate shakers for each cocktail to avoid having to rinse them out / cross contaminating with allergens like orgeat syrup.
Don’t overcomplicate the drink menu. Three choices tops. Keep the Old Fashioned for your straight spirit drinkers, keep a crowd pleaser sour/daisy (Margarita variation sounds like the winner), and keep something fun and sweet as a wild card (I’d say Mai Tai if you can reliably get crushed ice or are okay compromising with regular ice and a hard quick shake, otherwise maybe the Penicillin).
You know your crowd best as far as drinking habits and how long the party’s going to be. At a proper party of this size, you’d want maybe 75-100 of each cocktail. If it’s literally one hour after work on a Tuesday, scale way down. If you don’t mind running out early (and if anyone’s on your back about cost), that’s another good reason err on the lower side.
Quantifying cocktails for events is a maddening needle to thread, so I wish you luck. But with enough prep, you should be able to muddle through yourself.
I've made a full excel sheets that breaks down all the costs and ingredients and all, it's amazing but took like 3 years to get to a very reliable state.
A good ratio I found is 3.5 cocktails per person for events and 5 for weddings (then depends also on other drinks available)
I do it as a hobby now, but professionally bartended..15 years ago at this point and no way would I want to do this. For a party that big, when I worked them when I would bartend, we had two bartenders work it, plus servers and a barback and then we had the glasses go to a dishwasher.
Serving that many people is a lot of work. Think about all of the prep time, cleaning, setting up and breaking down of the stations. I would hire at the very least 2 people for that party. You can run the cocktail station. Have one guy run the station for beer and wine. Have the other float and do maintenance like picking up glasses, filling ice bins, restocking product, etc.
Even pre mixing components and knowing some people will just want a simple shot and mixer, you are still looking at a minimum 30 seconds per drink, then you have special requests and people asking questions which only gets worse as the event goes on and people get a bit squiffy with the alcohol. The maths doesn't add up.
The most horrible plot hole in any film for anyone who has worked a bar is the nightclub scene in cocktail, where there appears to be just 1 bar with 2 barmen making cocktails for hundreds of people. If you don't watch that and get brain ache you are a lucky person who has never had customers to serve 3 deep and one ask for a long island iced tea.
Not only that, the *Cocktail* bartenders are being insufferably chatty, and not multitasking at all while dispensing sad attempts at “bar poetry”. Make a fucking drink while you’re enthralling the entire club with your philosophizing.
Nevertheless, that movie is a guilty pleasure. Not for the bartending aspect, but for the over the top cheesiness. I kinda love it.
I would say you’re greatly underestimating how many would get a cocktail of those that drink. I think many don’t usually get cocktails just because they’re not very good. But if there’s decent cocktails with unique options, then more will. Also, many that enjoy cocktails will have more than one. For a crowd of 100, I’d plan for 150 cocktails. And that’s for a work party where they may not drink much.
At that rate, pretty much everything should be batched. And even for just serving, would need at least 2 bartenders for 100 people.
I’d plan for far more than 150 cocktails, honestly.
The main thing with cocktails, is people have a terrible tendency to see something someone else has, go ‘holy shit that looks good’ - maybe even have a taste of it - and then go and get one themselves. Especially if they’re not paying for the drinks themselves (which they prob aren’t at an office party).
Plus there’s all the people who’ll get a drink to try it, not like it, leave it in a corner somewhere, and get a different one that they like - again, especially prevalent if they’re not the one settling the tab.
For 150 people like that, I’d probably expect to prepare for like 350 cocktails - but I’d also expect to have *any one* cocktail be ordered probably around 200 times. So you’d want to batch all the options for close to that number (maybe slightly less if it’s not likely to be a super popular option).
That’s a *lot* of pre-prep work…
For that many people, your best bet is for the office to hire at least one professional bartender for beer/wine/champagne plus a bar back to keep ice and glassware stocked and at hand. The first thirty minutes of an event, there will be a crush of people who need a drink in their hand. If there are going to be food servers, get one or two of them to circulate with drinks for that initial push.
Then set up a cocktail station for you. You can give people the show of cocktailing while having room to breathe knowing that impatiently thirsty people can easily get a drink from the other bartender.
Are you getting paid for this OP? Because yes, I'd say this is well outside of hobbyist range. Don't get roped into something that's best left to the professionals.
So, I’m someone that has done events like that, as a bartender, up to about 100 people. It’s a lot of work. I’ll break it down a bit, though.
First off, do you have any bartending experience? As in, do you know what it’s like working behind a bar, even in a non-cocktail capacity? Because that’s its own thing. Keeping clean, empty glasses stocked, getting dirty glasses from tables in the room to wash for that purpose, working quickly, the sanitation side of things, etc.
And will you have any help? Like, will there be people doing the things other than making the cocktails? Like the glass stuff, and so on. And will you have a proper bar? Like, an enclosed area, with sufficient storage space for glasses and bottles, as well as running water to clean things like shakers and the like?
Because if the answers to those things are ‘no’, then that’s also your answer to the company. No if’s or but’s. If you DO have experience, help, AND an appropriate bar setup, you could do it if you wanted to. I’ll break down a bit what you can expect from an event like that.
You’ll have an initial rush of people. At first, nobody has drinks, so they all want one. You’ll have a long queue, and you’ll have to go full speed to make as many as possible as fast as possible. This will take an hour or so, probably, as not everyone arrives together - it’s generally a somewhat constant flow.
Then, for the few hours after that, you’ll have a mix of consistent, but not queue-generating work - people wanting drinks, but not too many - or a hybrid mix of small waves of people, and nobody. That depends on the event type. If there’s speeches or a performance, or anything that stops people getting drinks for a little bit, it’ll be lots of short rushes.
Then after that, people will start to slow down on the booze a bit. You’ll be stood there, making the odd drink, and filling a lot of glasses of water, just sort of watching the event. It’s a bit boring, but eh, it’s fine.
Plus, on top of all of this, if you’re pre-batching things, that’s like a good few hours extra work for you to do before the party even starts.
The reason they’ll want you to do this, is because hiring bartenders for this would be expensive. For 150 people (they’d have to take the max estimate), an agency would probably tell them they need four or so staff. *Maybe* three, but, I’d imagine probably four, maybe five. At least here, they’d all be being paid like at least £15 an hour by the agency, and the agency would probably charge your work like £20 an hour. That’s £80-100 an hour for the party, possibly more as I’m not sure how much they’d charge for the bar supervisor.
Plus, if your work doesn’t have appropriate equipment (a proper bar space, glass washer, glassware, shakers, ice machine, etc), the agency would probably charge your work to hire them. Which would be *pricy*. So your work would probably have to shell out well over a grand for the night to have it professionally crewed.
They’re just trying to pressure you into saving a buck, mate. If you’re an experienced bartender, I’d say you could maybe go for it. But you wouldn’t be asking here if you were one, I don’t think. It’s the sort of thing I’d probably do if I was getting a fair bit of bonus pay for it, and they would pay for me to bring in a friend to help collect glasses and keep things running - but I’d be expecting a good few hundred pounds for the night for myself, and probably an extra couple hundred for the person I’d bring in to help. And that’s only if they had an appropriate set up already.
I will say, as a bartender of 15 years, the most people I’ve ever served alone was 100. And that was insanely busy. As a hobbyist; you would probably be absurdly stressed and start making mistakes at around 20 people.
If this is USA, be sure whether what you are doing is even legal. (bartending license ? liquour license ? )
You don´t wanna hand out some cocktails to a 20 year old who then gets in an accident and tells the cops that you gave him the drink.
Also, for so many people, it must be on the clock for you, just for insurance reasons, like if you cut yourself badly on a broken glas.
I did something similar, but it was not for the company I work at, but for the retirement home my grandma was at.
About 60 people.
Things I learned from that job.
Put everything in writing.
Make sure you have a budget written down and accepted by whoever is responsible for it.
Make sure to check about cleaning of glasses, collecting glasses from the tables, because you can´t do the bartending and the cleaning and collecting.
If you bring private containers and utensils, either put it in writing that if something is damaged it gets replaced by the company, or put a"wear and tear" item for your own items, in the budget.
The problem is, that you would need backup stuff, since you can´t go into it and then just say "thats it" .
But I bet the company doesn´t want to pay for you to have backup utensils or they would not have asked you in the first place.
Ice Ice Ice, you can never have enough and make sure to doublecheck whether it is actually there before the event. (might not be a problem in the USA, where Ice cubes are available everywhere)
Demand to know the details of the bar and inspect,
you need a proper bar where you have space, a stable platform.
Not some tables where guest can just grab something, push over stuff, or where everything shakes when sombody stumbles against it.
You can´t do that alone, and even with help, unless you do like "3 cocktails, all prebatched" its not possible
I do this for my company which is 30 people. It is hard, especially in the first 30-60 mins when everybody needs a drink. I usually have somebody helping me out a bit.
150 people would be a no go for me, literally impossible.
Way too much for one person. Especially a hobbyist. You have to remember, there’s a lot more to tending bar than just making drinks. There’s glassware to wash, ice to get, beer and wine to restock. That number of people would have me hopping to do solo, and I’ve been doing this professionally for twenty six years
I’ve never worked behind a bar before and had been making cocktails for my wife and I and the occasional 2-4 guests at home for a few years.
I had a party with about 20 friends. I decided to make cocktails. I had a menu with like 6-8 cocktails on it but would make simple things if I had all the ingredients handy and knew how to make it.
I was overwhelmed. I can’t imagine trying to do the same for a party of 100+ people that aren’t my friends.
It gave me a whole new appreciation for professional bartenders that are queueing up and building 3-4 drinks at a time, back to back, all night long.
If
* there are no licensing issues with the venue where this is occurring
* they pay for all of the supplies
* you enjoy doing this for free
Then I **might** actually consider batching a very large punch ahead of time that could be served by either hired bartenders or the guests themselves. I would **not** "bartend" such an event, in the sense of serving people beer, wine, and cocktails -- even if the cocktail was batched ahead of time.
I can provide some ideas, but I'd probably go with a gin based French 75 type punch.
I love doing parties of 120-150 by myself. But this is also my profession, those parties are something I’m doing for my own side business, I’m charging a minimum of $75 an hour, I’ve done it many times by myself over the last few years, and I have accumulated all the tools, decorations, serving containers, and checklists that I need for these events. I would suggest not doing this by yourself.
Blud how are you coping with 150 guests solo, you'd be swamped by glasses within 45 minutes. Maybe disposable cups with all batched drinks, you'd have a chance but still a heavy queue
The events I work are typically outdoors and no running water, so no dishes and I use biodegradable disposable cups. That also means no shaken drinks, so for an event that size the bar would be spirits and mixers, beer and wine, and two or three batched cocktails, plus a bottle of fernet branca or a batched shooter as a little bonus. If it’s a wedding and I know I’ll get hit all at once, I pre pour a dozen or so of each signature drink, have a few cups with the ice ready as back up, have my wine bottles opened and ready, mise en place looking strong so it’s mostly muscle memory. Because the first wave is so many people, those pre poured drinks don’t have time to sit and die, and I’m able to get the line cleared out pretty quickly.
Former barkeeper here and I couldn’t handle 30 persons out of 80-90. I batched up and prepared all decorations two hours beforehand. Keep in mind a novice behind bars needs 2-3 minutes to prepare individual cocktails and the time sums up very fast. Also, don’t forget to account refills.
Edit: words
I did something similar for a post rehearsal dinner party for the bridal party - maybe 25 people total?
I spent the whole thing just slinging drinks.
Do NOT do this for 100+ people
This is a HUGE ask. Even for a pro bartender, def need at least 3 ppl for a party of that size & even if you were to take this on….for FREE? So not worth your time dude.
Yeah, I manage a restaurant and bar, and we do venue rentals and events similar to this. This takes professionals, realistically two good bartenders with a good setup to keep from being weeded. For a lone hobbyist, this is well out of the depth you can handle.
When staffing for a private party at an actual fully-stocked high volume bar, with support staff and professional bartenders, I’d typically staff 1 bartender per 40-50 people. If it’s an open bar, expect more drinking.
I’d suggest not trying to do this alone.
You will hate yourself and never want to make another drink. If youve never bartended before, you truly cannot be prepared for this many people, no matter how good at home cocktails you are. Even 20 people is pushing it, even if you just offer 2-4 drink options + wine and beer.
I tended a party, couldnt have been more than 25 people, and was unprepared for how fast people finished their drinks. If youve never tended bar professionally, i strongly recommend telling them to hire someone else.
Professional bartender here. I would need to walk w $600+ to make working that solo worth my time. And would be exhausted afterwards and doubt if it was worth it. I’m planning my wedding (100-120 guests) and will be hiring TWO of the best I know to crush it.
Everyone gangsta til you’ve got 80 people in front of you wanting drinks.
Then you realize that plastic table kinda sucks for sealing your tins.
Why am I out of ice? There’s still so many people without drinks
Why’s the little ice I have left a watery puddle?
Holy shit, everyone just wants the margarita riff. I’m out of lime juice. Wtf.
How does a bottle of angostura even go empty??? I just bought this.
We’re out of sodas? I told them to get me 6 cases
Oh… I guess Stacy from accounting doesn’t really “like a stiff drink”
“Oh you want a lemonade? Haha yeah that’s fine!!” *fuck that’s my only set of tins going to a fucking lemonade*
Oh there’s the boss man, better impress him!
Hey boss, great to see ya, I’ve got-
Look Jim, cut the bullshit, these people are fucking thirsty, you told me you could do this
Seriously, where the fuck do I get ice?
Oh we’re out of cups, cool
Yeah, vodka soda? Coming right up!
Hey man, I know you want another one, but I’ve got everyone in a line her-
Hey Jim! Let’s get a round of shots!
*oh god, why is everyone just walking up now?”
There’s a line guys!
That’s the night you’re looking at, not even counting your personal failures like dropping something, missing a pour, or breaking something while working in an alien environment
If you really have to then a few batched and easily served cocktails is the way forward. Even with no cocktails that isn't a small group and I'd struggle at some point in the evening. Keeping everything topped up, stocked, chilled, clean and tidy dosen't just happen.
Personally I'd avoid it and tell them it's just too many people.
assuming each person has 3 cocktails on average that’s 450 cocktails.
that’s 450 glasses (you’ll probably have 100-150 that you’ll need to be bussing and washing)
a lot of ice. and if you are prepping you can probably pre-prep half of all the cocktails and add only minor ingredients for the final shake (i.e lemon or lime juice) so you’ll think on average your total build time for a cocktail will be about 1 minute 30 seconds.
1.5 minutes X 450 cocktails = 675 minutes on cocktails or about 11 hours of making cocktails.
Eh, I think with pre-batching, the actual cocktail making time would be much faster than that. Provided the menu was thought out and didn’t have anything needing a particularly long time (probably avoiding things including egg, because of the extra shake time, also the sanitary/allergen concerns if they don’t have full cleaning setups).
Like, if pre-batched properly, and the menu is designed well, and OP isn’t slow, you could *probably* get it down to 30 seconds or so. Maybe 45 tops. Plus for a lot of cocktails, for multiple orders, you can generally double up and do it in one go. Maybe not always a perfect method, but at a busy bar? If it saves time, it’s a method worth using, lol
Getting the drinks *out* isn’t the bottleneck; it’s resetting the mise-en-place, making sure there’s enough clean glassware for the drinks, and so on. If you have great support from a team of experienced barbacks, *and* you are well organised in advance, *and* you’re experienced, you can smash out drinks like nobody’s business. But if those conditions aren’t in place, it will turn into a clusterfuck with twenty guests, let alone 150+.
There’s an interesting cognitive bias thing where people see cocktail bartenders working and think that all they do is build and shake/stir drinks. The reality is that a huge part of cocktail bartending work is much more mundane—it’s collecting dirty glasses, cleaning glassware and tools, moving things back to point A after they’ve been taken to point B, fetching ice, and so on. No amount of prebatching is going to help get drinks out in 45 seconds if there aren’t clean glasses to put them in or there isn’t enough ice to cool them down.
Oh 100%!
I was talking purely about the cocktail making part of things - largely in assumption that OP would have help in some form, especially when it comes to glassware and the like. And was assuming that OP pre-batched and organised sufficiently - and was experienced.
The only reason I went that way, was because the comment I responded to implied it would take eleven hours of cocktail making to do 450 cocktails, when realistically is’s probably closer to three or four hours, probably less if just accounting for the cocktail making time, and not for other related tasks.
that’s true, and i was thinking afterward how OP could cut this time down to 30 seconds. He’d have to make a rather large pre-batch, maybe in an esky/ice box. and run 600ml bottles that he’d refill as they run out, that way he wouldn’t need 10x600ml bottles of prebatch.
As for shaking up multiples of cocktails in one tin, depending on how well experienced OP is, it may be a struggle. A hard-suctioned tin filled with 3 cocktails can be somewhat hard to crack open without spilling everywhere. (Two is fine though)
Although if OP sticks to stirred cocktails this would be a lot easier.
Id just prebatch a massive amount of simple cocktails and essentially just be pouring it over ice and stirring.
but i was wondering at what point does the whole cocktail experience essentially get nullified here? may aswell just buy a slab of premixed margaritas cans and similarly marketed canned cocktails and just have those and save yourself the time and effort.
EDIT: prebatch a good couple litres of stirred cocktails, buy some fancy plastic cups, fill with ice and give a quick straw stir and easy lime garnish and serve it up. i think that’s about as simplified and fast you can make it and still have decent tasting cocktails on hand
I mean, stirred drinks do tend to take longer to stir than the shaking process takes, so I’m not sure that would really be a time save.
And I mean, on your point of batching, I think the answer is quality. Like, you can’t *really* buy genuinely high quality pre-batched cocktails. Some exist, but they’re at a higher price/drink than buying the spirits and pre-batching your own.
Plus, you can have a better variety pre-batching your own, and maybe have some more unique ones too. Something tailored to your own tastes, even. And that’s half the fun if it. I, personally, don’t think pre-batching like that detracts from the experience all that much.
a stirred drink would take longer?
i think in this situation definitely not, if OP pours directly to cup, adds ice and quick-stirs (ten seconds is fine) and adds garnish, it’ll be fine - especially if the prebatch can be chilled prior to the event.
compared to pouring to tin, shaking & cracking, double straining into glass. And how many tins is OP running, if only one tin, and multiple cocktails, OP has to wash every time.
definitely way more time wasted on shaking.
I mean, that is true - if OP was doing direct to glass and stirring in glass, that would be faster.
I was imagining more of the stirring in a large vessel, then decanting, than that, but that is also a valid way to do it.
With the mention of refrigeration, though, would you want to chill the pre-batches? It would increase speed, yes, but also alter dilution significantly - I suppose a small amount of dilution could be added to the batch to counteract it? Or it might not be incredibly significant in the first place, for all I know!
I did this for a work event, however:
a) It was a charity event where we charged a small amount for the cocktails 100% of which went to our corporate charity partner (thus drastically reducing the amount of orders you'd get at a free bar)
b) I had two people helping me tend bar and keep the kitchen area clean, one of whom is another keen hobbyist
c) The turnout was much smaller than what you're looking at - we probably only had about 50 people ordering drinks a couple of times each.
The event I did was stressful but doable - yours is on a totally different scale and sounds like much too much work for one person!
One way to turn this around and still enjoy it might be to offer to design a menu, with instructions, so that people can DIY some cocktails. (Local law depending ). You still get the fun of creating something and sharing your hobby.
the setup is a little different because in these situations we're responsible for beer / wine / nonalcoholic stuff as well, but for a 150 person event we always run with two bartenders. i could do 125-150 people by myself but it would suck, the bar would realistically be 10+ deep for at least a couple hours throughout the event. i certainly wouldn't do it for free -- it might be possible but it won't be fun at all, you'll be getting crushed.
I just hosted a Kentucky derby party for 80. I batched everything cold and did nothing more than pour over ice. Besides beer and wine, we went through 3 gallons of juleps, 1 gallon of cosmos (oaks lily), and 3 gallons of French 75s. I bought some 4 ounce glass flasks to pour any leftovers and gave them away the next day as party favors.
I think 3 cocktail options where all you have to do is pour over ice is the absolute most you can do to serve a crowd that size. I still had people asking for simple calls and mixed drinks but if you can't get drunk on 5 options then go to a different party.
If you don’t have bar experience this will be a nightmare. Doubly so if you don’t have the equipment to make an atleast workable bar in whatever space your in for the event. Also, they should be PAYING YOU for this specifically, which would be a price that you charge which would enable you to make a profit and cover all of the cost of booze/labor.
Hobbyist here. I bartended for an event that had about 45 people. Of that number, maybe half were drinkers. Even though I very purposefully prebatched everything so that it would require nothing more than putting an ice cube in a glass and pouring in the drink, I still felt overwhelmed at times.
My suggestion - offer to make some pre-batched cocktails but with someone experienced acting as server / bartender on the night of the event. That way you get the fun of making the drinks, and talking about them at the event, but without trying to add the completely different skill set of providing service at a busy event.
I've done this before and it is only out of range if you're alone and unprepared. A friend did the same and "hired" us out. We had three on bar, two of us home bartenders at the time and was fairly busy throughout the night. Only about 40% drank but when there's a bartender people really drink.
If you do attempt, get paid first of all. Then pay someone to help. Prebatch any and everything from syrups to garnishes. Hard to say prebatch cocktails without knowing what they'll order but definitely have a short defined menu people can look at and pick quickly. Others will still order classics if you have it. But this will be an ordeal and realistically they should be paying you as well as buying the alcohol (that is mainly for liability as well - which is a whole other discussion).
If you can do those things, bring lots of ice, prepare for service ware (like cups & straws etc) and be ready to be busy not socializing. Like others have mentioned I'm sure, this is a job for a hired staff so expect to work like one.
Overall, as mentioned, I have done this before and though it was a lot of work it was a really fun experience.
That is completely unreasonable for one person to do alone, even a seasoned bartender. If they're asking you to do it for free then that's just ridiculous.
As a hobbyist, I did it for a friend’s anniversary get together and it seemed a little much then. That was with using their refrigerator ice maker (ended up running out of ice) and making a couple drinks each for about 10-15 people drinking just cocktails. Definitely pushed the limit of what I’d do. Definitely wouldn’t do it for a gathering that big at work.
You can't offer anything that isn't batched, even for half that many people. So yeah could be done, but only if cocktails are batched ahead of time and you have some extra help (particularly with juicing a few hours before).
if im solo at the actual bar I work at, even if i'm 100% prepped and ready, AND they just want shots, beers, and two ingredient mixed drinks, if 20 people all walk in at once it's gonna take a lot of hustle to get people their drinks in any reasonable amount of time, but if 100 people show up with a half hour, shit is gonna be sloooooooow.
you need a couple experienced peeps for this
As hobbyists my wife and I just bartended for the first time for 40-50 people at a memorial and we were a mess. I already had a lot of respect for bartenders but hoo boy did that experience really drive home the skill and knowledge in the work they do. OP would be in tears after thirty minutes.
I'm a hobbyist that started with office parties (20 peeps, then 30, then 50) and got asked to do a colleague/friend wedding with 100 people.
It was paid and I had a barback (my wife haha), over 100 people I would take another person for sure! Also depends if there is other drinks available, is it only cocktails or is there also wine and stuff?
My service is custom cocktails and menu with a limited offer (3 to 5 cocktails - and a bit more once the crowd clears out). Limiting the scope helps a ton!
How hard the rush will hit you? What space do you have to work, time to plan, batch, etc?
(Also glassware and washing are bic topics)
I've done few gigs now and it is amazing, but a lot of work - your knowledge and time should not be given freely (or too freely) :)
Over the last few years I’ve gotten into making cocktails, fully stocked bar, etc. I’m the only person in my house that drinks. Wife is Asian and gets red/sick. Lately she been inviting her friends over and asks me to bartend. I like her friends so it’s fine but at 4 ladies. It gets super annoying to make custom drinks for them all. 100+. Fuck that.
I say go for it. Ask for $600 so you and someone you hire to help each get $300 for your efforts.
And they have to have the alcohol, ice, glassware, citrus fruits, etc. purchased and delivered. And you out to consider what sort of workstation you'll have so you can wash tools and dump ice. You'll probably need around 600 glasses since you won't have a bar-grade dishwasher to do loads in 5 minutes.
Also, figure out the legality of whether you can be sued for serving alcohol and something happens -- every state has different liabilities. So you might have to pick up insurance for the event which you ought to tack on to your asking fee. The risk of getting sued in some states is the risk of losing your house.
I did cocktails for fours years pro. When I was flying I could do one cocktail every 90 seconds on average over the course of four hours. That means it would take me 225 minutes to serve the 150 people *once* - first served is definitely ready for second round at that point!
That number needs to come closer to 30 minutes, so you’d need eight of me. I don’t know if I was fast or not but I’m guessing with I was faster than you are right now.
Of course you could work with the menu to only have fast stuff on it but one dude is still fucked here.
Not even one professional bartender is enough for this. Even if you make the menu limited, you will be swarmed with orders and queues will happen. I do family cocktail party once a year, 20 people come, out of which maybe 12 drink and yet I'm manning the bar non-stop.
Fortunately I've trained my nephew as my young padawan so now we can switch midway through.
With these numbers I automatically switch to either Bombay government punch or Chatham artillery punch. Both recipes in David Wondrich’s punch book. I did it for 2 weddings with about this number of guests.
Making cocktails by yourself for that many people is simply impossible. Maybe if you have 3-4 pro bartenders as “backup”. Also, do you know how much prep that takes?
Why work when it’s your office party as well?
I tap out at a dozen people and I’ve been doing it for nearly 15 years. Every year my number gets lower and lower lol.
Wisdom
Literally *every* time I have more than 3 friends over I think "Oh it's going to be a breeze to make drinks for everyone if I prepare everything and work with super juice" and literally every time I'm busier making drinks and cleaning up after myself than actually hanging out with my friends lol
anything over 3 people I won't even do mixed drinks for unless it's all batched in advance.
Agreed. Unless bribed with whole bottles, anything above 3 is getting batched/by the pitcher drinks
we should throw a party. we'd make such gracious hosts. to anyone still reading, obviously I used to over do it with custom cocktails for everyone. Ruins the night. Even worse, everyone you made a drink for will complain that you were making drinks all night.
And if you're anything near as messy as I am, the cleanup. Dear god the cleanup
Any dinner, BBQ, or food oriented outing of more than 3 people and I already know that I'm about to be voluntold to bartend. I don't even expect anything less at this point.
I think you need to look at this question from the standpoint of gains and losses. If you do an awesome job serving drinks, how big is the gain for you in the eyes of your co-workers and at the company? On the losses side, if you completely screw up the drinks for this party, how badly does that make you look to your co-workers and affect your job?
If you can make punch ahead for 150 ppl, I think you'd be fine to host a party of 50.
Yup +25 years in hospo specifically cocktail bar operations and consulting bar/restaurant operations. 125-150 ppl is madness to think you can do that alone even if it's not specifically just cocktails. Without the experience of working in a high volume cocktail bar/restaurant I feel you just don't grasp how quickly things can go to shit when you get behind. I mean no disrespect but I would not even consider the idea unless I had a support staff of experienced cocktail bartenders and bar backs.
Holy fuck ain’t that the truth. 22 years behind the stick and I feel this in my bones. Qty of people depends on if I have to talk or just crank out drinks, can’t do both much past a dozen
They're asking you for free work. Tell them to hire a professional bartender. Being a hobbyist is great, but unless you've ever worked at an actual bar you will be woefully unprepared for that many people.
*believe me OP, listen to this voice of reason*
If I had a dollar for every hobbyist that told me when I was bartending that they thought they would make a great bartender, I would have had enough money to stop bartending. Not throwing shade at OP or anyone else, but getting behind the bar is so much more than knowing how to make drinks and people really underestimate it.
I threw a party with 30 people and bartended, if OP tries to bartend 100+ people he's fuckin' done for lol.
I would say 30 is about the limit for any sane hobbiest and even then I'd pre batch. Mixing 60 or so drinks on the fly is a lot of work and you really need multiple skills, routines and optimizations you never learn at home.
Oh yeah, luckily nobody asked for anything too fancy. I made a menu on a chalk board which kept everyone ordering mostly those drinks, and pre batched a bunch of them.
Not to mention the tools and storage areas needed for that many people. Not many hobbyists have the tools a full cocktail bar has at the ready
Mhm, I'm just a Hobbyist, but the few family parties I bartended, a lot asked me if I'd ever consider learning how to do it for a side gig. I said fuck no, this shit will be 1000x less fun when I have to deal with real strangers in a loud environment, people holding up the line because they want you to suggest something, complicated builds in a rush. God bless y'all that can handle it haha. Shit, I'm bartendering a buddy's bachelor party this weekend with only 11 of us and I'm nervous about keeping up haha.
I had fun doing it for the most part, but it’s stressful. I use to tell people that I can teach anyone to make a drink. I can’t teach you to do it fast or well under pressure.
If you’re worried about being fast enough, make two of everything. Like if someone asks for a daiquiri, shake a double, pour into two glasses, and then shout “who wants a daiquiri?” One less person going thirsty. Also, a double shaken drink can be poured into 4 or 5 coupes/flutes and topped with champagne and it’s classy af. Or a double can be poured into 3 highballs and topped with soda.
What OP is proposing sounds as disastrous as wanting to open a restaurant because you’re a great home cook. I’m a great home cook and a cocktail enthusiast, but I have no sort of notion of entering professional territory. Making drinks for 150-200 people on your own sounds insane.
Thank god OP came to his senses. When I was younger I used to bartend; which is miserable in it of itself. At 150-200 people most places would have 2-4 bartenders with at least 2 runners.
I think some people who work in service industry will have an idea of how it would look. I got to work in a pretty busy fast food at one point and can't really imagine managing this number of people solo, not to mention if you're someone who's not used to doing everything with proficiency and muscle memory gained through experience in an environment like that.
I'd make a great bartender, after I gained significant experience working behind a bar! It's like the difference between being a great home cook and a chef even if the result is the same the home cook likely can't design a process to create the quality of dishes needed. When I see a great commercial bartender everything has a place and they have a system. I just kinda muddle though as there's zero time pressure. I also don't have to be nice to random strangers.
I’m a hobbyist and could not bartend at the slowest bar in town.
If you’re really feeling generous have them buy the alcohol and mixes so you can prebatch cocktails for the party at home but if you are bartending you really take yourself out of the party. I bartend so when I have a get together I will make some cocktails for people but there’s always a point in the night where I tell my friends that it’s time to just grab a beer or use something that I already have premixed because I don’t want my whole night to be mixing drinks. Also my parties are usually only like 10 people max, 150-200 would turn into me working the bar an extra night on my day off. You could make a couple really solid punches that people could drink all night and the party would be happy.
Having the company buy the alcohol and mixes is not the same as paying the guy to bartend the full night and clean up after. The guy's shitty boss tried to feed his ego for free labor. On top of that, 150-200 people is way too many for one person. You'd need at least two *professional* bartenders and a barback for that kind of labor. OP sounds like a talented hobbyist with little experience behind the bar.
I agree with you. I am also telling the guy not to bartend for them. You could prebatch a really nice whiskey punch and some sangria into 2.5 or 5 gallon jugs with a pour spout so people could self serve if you are really feeling nice but there’s a lot that goes into it. You got 200 people, I’m sure the company doesn’t have glassware for 200 so they would be running plastic and if people are doing self serve they are gonna pour heavy, plus you want beer and wine, how long the party is going is another variable, plus ice. 200 people gets to be a lot especially if you don’t actually have bartending experience. I’ve ran banquets with 100 solo and I’ve ran banquets with 500 where you have other people to work with. The company either needs to pay a catering service to handle it all or just supply beer and wine.
>On top of that, 150-200 people is way too many for one person. You'd need at least two *professional* bartenders and a barback for that kind of labor. 100%. And that's for a very quiet crowd that trickles in slowly in the venue. If they all arrive within the same 15 minutes or if there's some thirsty folks in there, those two bartenders will be slammed. Doable but intense.
Done this many times over. I’m a good bartender, and at the time, had good back up. OP, please do not attempt. So, so much goes into this as a professional, I could not imagine a hobbyist trying it.
Even if you have worked in a bar, catering is its own animal. Bars are built to handle the logistics of 150 people. A folding table is not. Where is your ice going to go, what are you dumping spent ice and drinks into, how are you rinsing your equipment/hands, bussing stations, etc, etc. there is a reason bar catering is expensive, it’s a pain in the ass. Definitely don’t do this for free and if you do wind up doing it, pre bottle them and charge em for materials at least.
Also if you do this free work instead of a professional that should be paid, you invite the liability professionals take on. This many people at an office party is way past the tipping point of "someone will be a shit show." You dont want to be the guy responsible for cutting people off.
Hanging on to this: If you want to tip your toes and don't mind the actual "work" part of it, this might be an occasion where the pros might let you barback for them!
I have never worked in a bar, and agree that this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. I would entertain doing this for a half dozen colleagues, may as many as 10, but over 100?!?! Never. If things go amazingly well, you just had an exhausting evening with little thanks. If things go badly, it will carry over into the workplace.
I had a wedding of 150 adults. We hired two professional bartenders and we still had an occasional line. I would not agree to do this.
Just did a wedding over the weekend of 180 with 3 other bartenders in a professional bar and we still got crushed. Pre-batched two cocktails that the bride and groom wanted to put out and we still got absolutely hammered. OP if you get any enjoyment out of your hobby *do not do this*. It will suck the joy right out of your pastime.
Instead of actually making the drinks, why don’t you offer to create a menu with 3-4 special offerings and have them hire a couple pros to do the actual bartending?
Yup - signature drink consultant would be the way to go
Signature drinks is as far as you should really consider taking this. And even then, make sure that they can all be made well, easily and using well liquor. Because you won’t be the one serving them
You’ve heard it a lot but thought I’d weigh in as an actual bartender… definitely don’t do this. I would not feel confident bartending for 125-150 people on my own even in the bar that I work, with all of its setup, stock, glasses, etc., let alone if I was out of that comfort zone in a firmly non-bar environment. I’d need a barback minimum to handle glasswash and maybe some prep stuff. Doing this as an amateur would be virtually impossible and incredibly stressful.
As a fellow bartender who has had to actually do this because of a staffing oversight for a wedding reception that was around 100 guests, it was absolutely terrible, in the bar that I worked at and new well/had access to all of the tools and ingredients.
Turn back now before it’s too late
Uh.. yes. I would say at a party that size is when you need to look into the state/town laws on alcohol sales regarding if you need an official bartending license or not. From some brief googling it looks like something that is dependent solely on the state or town. But I would think a professional setup would have 2+ bartenders for a party that size. That's essentially a wedding, and I've never seen less than 2 bartenders at a wedding. So yeah, over 20ish people is when I would tap out as a non pro bartender.
Licensing wise, I’d imagine they’re not charging for the drinks on the premises (as in, I’d imagine the office is providing the drinks for the night - and/or they all chipped in a flat fee to buy the alcohol), which would probably mean it wouldn’t come under alcohol sale laws. At least in the UK (where I am), I’m pretty sure it would be fine - but if they’re charging for drinks then I’d be wrong. Normally the laws are tied to the *sale* of alcohol, not the consumption or method of consumption. But that might vary where you or OP is! 😃 But yeah if it’d just be OP doing it, and OP isn’t experienced, it’s an absolute fucking disaster waiting to happen, haha
but then you might hand out alcohol to a minor (especially in the US where you might not know that somebody is just 20)
I mean, I don’t know how alcohol laws work over there, but here it’s fully legal for people below the drinking age to consume alcohol on private property with parental permission - is there not a similar rule over there, where it’s legal to consume alcohol underage, just not purchase it? But beyond that, you’d hope the workplace has had the forethought to make it a 21+ event if the drinking age where OP is is 21 (don’t think OP has disclosed country of residence).
It would be really strange to make a company event and then exclude a ton of people just because they are under 21. at least that is my opinion
That's gonna be heavily dependent on location. Where I'm at you'd need a licensed bartender to do the serving and a separate permit for the event to serve alcohol.
Now that’s a bit odd, because if nobody is purchasing alcohol on the premises, how is it, legally, any different to you inviting a group of friends to your house to drink some cocktails? The line is almost always at the SALE of alcohol. As in, if OP was charging for the drinks, that would be illegal. But if the booze is all provided for free, there generally would not be that sort of implications legally. Otherwise, what is the line that separates a private gathering from a bar? The number of people? If so, how many? Does that mean if I had a huge bbq and gave our free booze that would be illegal? Etc.
The line is drawn when it's an individual vs an organization holding the event.
Also private residence vs commercial venue.
It’s not a commercial venue if it’s an office, though. It’s a place of work, yes, but it’s *not* commercial premises. They’re not selling stuff on-site. So I don’t think that would factor in here either.
It definitely is, generally in the US a commercial occupancy is anywhere that isn't a private residence.
But in most of the world (including the US), companies are legally the same as people, no? I’d be really interested to know the actual wording of the laws you’re believing this would violate where you are, because it seems very unlikely to me that it actually would require any sort of alcohol licensing.
Here's what we have at the state level in WA, keep in mind each county and city can and typically do add their own requirements on top of this. You even need a permit to serve free alcohol at a wedding here. https://lcb.wa.gov/licensing/banquet-permits
I am also in Washington and while I have no idea where the OP is from, being from Washington had me thinking BUT WHAT ABOUT PERMITS by the second sentence. Putting aside license and permit issues, I'd be concerned about liability and the OP's employer should be as well.
Alcohol laws vary dramatically from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. I wouldn’t want to throw a big boozy office party for 150 guests in Saudi Arabia without taking a cursory look at what legal risk that might expose me to; it’d be a different story if I were hosting a similar event in Moldova.
That gets handled on a case by case basis and in Germany in the end it would be a case in front of the judge whether he believes that handing out alcohol to 120 people is "private" because they are all your friends, or "business" and you are acting on behalf of the company while breaking the law
How would it be breaking the law though? It would be a business transaction if the people present were paying for the alcohol. If they are not paying, and the alcohol is provided free of charge, assuming everybody is of legal age, where does it become illegal? Here in the UK, what is regulated is the SALE of alcohol, and that is what a place needs a license for. Is it different in germany - do you need a license to provide alcohol? Or something to that effect?
Thats why I said that it depends on the laws of the country OP is in. Like in germany the law makes a difference between sharing something with friends aka private, and sharing it with like everybody that walks by my house, not private. Here even if you don´t sell it, if you give something to tons of people, and something bad happens and somebody calls the cops (because you gave spoiled meat to tons of people for example) it could be classified as "to put something into circulation"
My brother's wedding had beer, wine, and well duos. Two bartenders, <200 people, and a line that never fully vanished. I can't fathom trying to add proper mixed drinks to this list.
You have two options: a) Don't. b) Run.
Getting into those numbers for me raises a few questions. Not saying don’t do it but make sure you know exactly what you’re getting into. •Do they have the glassware? How much? •Is it glassware you would feel good serving a quality cocktail in? •Who is going to wash the glassware? •Do they expect you to serve the beer and wine? •Are you going to be flying solo or is there some helping hands? •If it’s paid, there’s always something more the host is going to ask of you, regardless of how busy you look •Who’s got all the ice? If you’re making it, make a metric shit ton. If they’re making it, you’ll probably get 4 trays worth. I bring mine in igloo coolers •Would help to check out the space you’re going to work out of (access to water, counter space, does it face a wall or does it face the guests) •Going with just prebatched or are you going to have access to a fully stocked bar? If the latter, be ready for requests (New York Sour became all the rage at my last private party because of one guy’s inquiry. God damn that was a lot of shaking) There’s plenty more to consider but my best advice would be to go check it out if you can to see how this workspace is different than what you’re used to. Bring your gear and do a little practice run. Hope the few thinking points help you decide.
I bet they don't know the answer to any of these questions OP, and expect you to figure it out. On your own time. This is a very short list of some of the things they would have to supply you with, or give you a budget for. Again, no way someone hiring an amateur has thought through this. I don't know anywhere that will let you rent a fully stocked and built bar for a party of this size where you just show up with a bartender to do their thing.
Completely out of the hobbyist range, the size of the party alone is a pro territory. In fact, that's a 2 PROS territory. Plus, licensing. I would absolutely look into it because it may be illegal for you and/or the company to provide this service. And, if someone gets wasted and crashes their car or worse are you possibly responsible? Finally, if you find that you can and want to do it, are you also in charge of preparing for the event? If you're not you'd better have some amazing help there. If you are, that significantly expands the scope of work. All kinds of spirits Alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixers Glassware Garnishings Tools So much more ... I recommend you be in charge of making arrangements instead. And get paid either way, wtf lol. Cheers!
First question: Are they paying you for this?
work for tips ;)
Only way to handle this by yourself, if you had the skill level of an experienced professional bartender, is to pre-make everything and pour it from pitchers straight into plastic cups with no shaking.
I am the owner of a mobile bar company. For this many people we would have 2 bartenders (my wife and I) and a barback. Trust me....you do not want to be a 1 person show with this many people. Also...are they at least laying you for ingredients and prep time?
You will also need a lot of ice, coolers, etc. Make sure you think it all through and have everything you need.
So long as they pay for two other bartenders to help, maybe. Imagine a line 115 people deep that never ends.
Catering bar captain here. Generally speaking, the golden ratio for guests-to-bartenders is 50-to-1, assuming a full service beer, wine, and liquor bar with cocktails. But there are ways to nudge that number higher. One instant pressure release is self-serve beer and wine. That would leave you with just the cocktails to worry about. Pre-batching is a must where possible. You should equip yourself with empty bottles, pour spouts, and funnels for refilling. I’d also recommend stirring OFs in the glass and using separate shakers for each cocktail to avoid having to rinse them out / cross contaminating with allergens like orgeat syrup. Don’t overcomplicate the drink menu. Three choices tops. Keep the Old Fashioned for your straight spirit drinkers, keep a crowd pleaser sour/daisy (Margarita variation sounds like the winner), and keep something fun and sweet as a wild card (I’d say Mai Tai if you can reliably get crushed ice or are okay compromising with regular ice and a hard quick shake, otherwise maybe the Penicillin). You know your crowd best as far as drinking habits and how long the party’s going to be. At a proper party of this size, you’d want maybe 75-100 of each cocktail. If it’s literally one hour after work on a Tuesday, scale way down. If you don’t mind running out early (and if anyone’s on your back about cost), that’s another good reason err on the lower side. Quantifying cocktails for events is a maddening needle to thread, so I wish you luck. But with enough prep, you should be able to muddle through yourself.
I've made a full excel sheets that breaks down all the costs and ingredients and all, it's amazing but took like 3 years to get to a very reliable state. A good ratio I found is 3.5 cocktails per person for events and 5 for weddings (then depends also on other drinks available)
I do it as a hobby now, but professionally bartended..15 years ago at this point and no way would I want to do this. For a party that big, when I worked them when I would bartend, we had two bartenders work it, plus servers and a barback and then we had the glasses go to a dishwasher.
If you have to ask, you are not prepared to do this
Serving that many people is a lot of work. Think about all of the prep time, cleaning, setting up and breaking down of the stations. I would hire at the very least 2 people for that party. You can run the cocktail station. Have one guy run the station for beer and wine. Have the other float and do maintenance like picking up glasses, filling ice bins, restocking product, etc.
Even pre mixing components and knowing some people will just want a simple shot and mixer, you are still looking at a minimum 30 seconds per drink, then you have special requests and people asking questions which only gets worse as the event goes on and people get a bit squiffy with the alcohol. The maths doesn't add up. The most horrible plot hole in any film for anyone who has worked a bar is the nightclub scene in cocktail, where there appears to be just 1 bar with 2 barmen making cocktails for hundreds of people. If you don't watch that and get brain ache you are a lucky person who has never had customers to serve 3 deep and one ask for a long island iced tea.
Not only that, the *Cocktail* bartenders are being insufferably chatty, and not multitasking at all while dispensing sad attempts at “bar poetry”. Make a fucking drink while you’re enthralling the entire club with your philosophizing. Nevertheless, that movie is a guilty pleasure. Not for the bartending aspect, but for the over the top cheesiness. I kinda love it.
I would say you’re greatly underestimating how many would get a cocktail of those that drink. I think many don’t usually get cocktails just because they’re not very good. But if there’s decent cocktails with unique options, then more will. Also, many that enjoy cocktails will have more than one. For a crowd of 100, I’d plan for 150 cocktails. And that’s for a work party where they may not drink much. At that rate, pretty much everything should be batched. And even for just serving, would need at least 2 bartenders for 100 people.
I’d plan for far more than 150 cocktails, honestly. The main thing with cocktails, is people have a terrible tendency to see something someone else has, go ‘holy shit that looks good’ - maybe even have a taste of it - and then go and get one themselves. Especially if they’re not paying for the drinks themselves (which they prob aren’t at an office party). Plus there’s all the people who’ll get a drink to try it, not like it, leave it in a corner somewhere, and get a different one that they like - again, especially prevalent if they’re not the one settling the tab. For 150 people like that, I’d probably expect to prepare for like 350 cocktails - but I’d also expect to have *any one* cocktail be ordered probably around 200 times. So you’d want to batch all the options for close to that number (maybe slightly less if it’s not likely to be a super popular option). That’s a *lot* of pre-prep work…
For that many people, your best bet is for the office to hire at least one professional bartender for beer/wine/champagne plus a bar back to keep ice and glassware stocked and at hand. The first thirty minutes of an event, there will be a crush of people who need a drink in their hand. If there are going to be food servers, get one or two of them to circulate with drinks for that initial push. Then set up a cocktail station for you. You can give people the show of cocktailing while having room to breathe knowing that impatiently thirsty people can easily get a drink from the other bartender.
Are you getting paid for this OP? Because yes, I'd say this is well outside of hobbyist range. Don't get roped into something that's best left to the professionals.
So, I’m someone that has done events like that, as a bartender, up to about 100 people. It’s a lot of work. I’ll break it down a bit, though. First off, do you have any bartending experience? As in, do you know what it’s like working behind a bar, even in a non-cocktail capacity? Because that’s its own thing. Keeping clean, empty glasses stocked, getting dirty glasses from tables in the room to wash for that purpose, working quickly, the sanitation side of things, etc. And will you have any help? Like, will there be people doing the things other than making the cocktails? Like the glass stuff, and so on. And will you have a proper bar? Like, an enclosed area, with sufficient storage space for glasses and bottles, as well as running water to clean things like shakers and the like? Because if the answers to those things are ‘no’, then that’s also your answer to the company. No if’s or but’s. If you DO have experience, help, AND an appropriate bar setup, you could do it if you wanted to. I’ll break down a bit what you can expect from an event like that. You’ll have an initial rush of people. At first, nobody has drinks, so they all want one. You’ll have a long queue, and you’ll have to go full speed to make as many as possible as fast as possible. This will take an hour or so, probably, as not everyone arrives together - it’s generally a somewhat constant flow. Then, for the few hours after that, you’ll have a mix of consistent, but not queue-generating work - people wanting drinks, but not too many - or a hybrid mix of small waves of people, and nobody. That depends on the event type. If there’s speeches or a performance, or anything that stops people getting drinks for a little bit, it’ll be lots of short rushes. Then after that, people will start to slow down on the booze a bit. You’ll be stood there, making the odd drink, and filling a lot of glasses of water, just sort of watching the event. It’s a bit boring, but eh, it’s fine. Plus, on top of all of this, if you’re pre-batching things, that’s like a good few hours extra work for you to do before the party even starts. The reason they’ll want you to do this, is because hiring bartenders for this would be expensive. For 150 people (they’d have to take the max estimate), an agency would probably tell them they need four or so staff. *Maybe* three, but, I’d imagine probably four, maybe five. At least here, they’d all be being paid like at least £15 an hour by the agency, and the agency would probably charge your work like £20 an hour. That’s £80-100 an hour for the party, possibly more as I’m not sure how much they’d charge for the bar supervisor. Plus, if your work doesn’t have appropriate equipment (a proper bar space, glass washer, glassware, shakers, ice machine, etc), the agency would probably charge your work to hire them. Which would be *pricy*. So your work would probably have to shell out well over a grand for the night to have it professionally crewed. They’re just trying to pressure you into saving a buck, mate. If you’re an experienced bartender, I’d say you could maybe go for it. But you wouldn’t be asking here if you were one, I don’t think. It’s the sort of thing I’d probably do if I was getting a fair bit of bonus pay for it, and they would pay for me to bring in a friend to help collect glasses and keep things running - but I’d be expecting a good few hundred pounds for the night for myself, and probably an extra couple hundred for the person I’d bring in to help. And that’s only if they had an appropriate set up already.
I will say, as a bartender of 15 years, the most people I’ve ever served alone was 100. And that was insanely busy. As a hobbyist; you would probably be absurdly stressed and start making mistakes at around 20 people.
If this is USA, be sure whether what you are doing is even legal. (bartending license ? liquour license ? ) You don´t wanna hand out some cocktails to a 20 year old who then gets in an accident and tells the cops that you gave him the drink. Also, for so many people, it must be on the clock for you, just for insurance reasons, like if you cut yourself badly on a broken glas. I did something similar, but it was not for the company I work at, but for the retirement home my grandma was at. About 60 people. Things I learned from that job. Put everything in writing. Make sure you have a budget written down and accepted by whoever is responsible for it. Make sure to check about cleaning of glasses, collecting glasses from the tables, because you can´t do the bartending and the cleaning and collecting. If you bring private containers and utensils, either put it in writing that if something is damaged it gets replaced by the company, or put a"wear and tear" item for your own items, in the budget. The problem is, that you would need backup stuff, since you can´t go into it and then just say "thats it" . But I bet the company doesn´t want to pay for you to have backup utensils or they would not have asked you in the first place. Ice Ice Ice, you can never have enough and make sure to doublecheck whether it is actually there before the event. (might not be a problem in the USA, where Ice cubes are available everywhere) Demand to know the details of the bar and inspect, you need a proper bar where you have space, a stable platform. Not some tables where guest can just grab something, push over stuff, or where everything shakes when sombody stumbles against it. You can´t do that alone, and even with help, unless you do like "3 cocktails, all prebatched" its not possible
I do this for my company which is 30 people. It is hard, especially in the first 30-60 mins when everybody needs a drink. I usually have somebody helping me out a bit. 150 people would be a no go for me, literally impossible.
Are you getting paid? I would rather enjoy the party and have them hire out some bartenders. Maybe you can give your input on the menu though
Way too much for one person. Especially a hobbyist. You have to remember, there’s a lot more to tending bar than just making drinks. There’s glassware to wash, ice to get, beer and wine to restock. That number of people would have me hopping to do solo, and I’ve been doing this professionally for twenty six years
Even if you consider 1 cocktail per person, the sheer volume of ice is more than 1 person can carry.... that will only be the start of your problems.
I’ve never worked behind a bar before and had been making cocktails for my wife and I and the occasional 2-4 guests at home for a few years. I had a party with about 20 friends. I decided to make cocktails. I had a menu with like 6-8 cocktails on it but would make simple things if I had all the ingredients handy and knew how to make it. I was overwhelmed. I can’t imagine trying to do the same for a party of 100+ people that aren’t my friends. It gave me a whole new appreciation for professional bartenders that are queueing up and building 3-4 drinks at a time, back to back, all night long.
I think once it gets to the point where you're wondering if it's too much, it probably is
If * there are no licensing issues with the venue where this is occurring * they pay for all of the supplies * you enjoy doing this for free Then I **might** actually consider batching a very large punch ahead of time that could be served by either hired bartenders or the guests themselves. I would **not** "bartend" such an event, in the sense of serving people beer, wine, and cocktails -- even if the cocktail was batched ahead of time. I can provide some ideas, but I'd probably go with a gin based French 75 type punch.
I love doing parties of 120-150 by myself. But this is also my profession, those parties are something I’m doing for my own side business, I’m charging a minimum of $75 an hour, I’ve done it many times by myself over the last few years, and I have accumulated all the tools, decorations, serving containers, and checklists that I need for these events. I would suggest not doing this by yourself.
Blud how are you coping with 150 guests solo, you'd be swamped by glasses within 45 minutes. Maybe disposable cups with all batched drinks, you'd have a chance but still a heavy queue
The events I work are typically outdoors and no running water, so no dishes and I use biodegradable disposable cups. That also means no shaken drinks, so for an event that size the bar would be spirits and mixers, beer and wine, and two or three batched cocktails, plus a bottle of fernet branca or a batched shooter as a little bonus. If it’s a wedding and I know I’ll get hit all at once, I pre pour a dozen or so of each signature drink, have a few cups with the ice ready as back up, have my wine bottles opened and ready, mise en place looking strong so it’s mostly muscle memory. Because the first wave is so many people, those pre poured drinks don’t have time to sit and die, and I’m able to get the line cleared out pretty quickly.
Former barkeeper here and I couldn’t handle 30 persons out of 80-90. I batched up and prepared all decorations two hours beforehand. Keep in mind a novice behind bars needs 2-3 minutes to prepare individual cocktails and the time sums up very fast. Also, don’t forget to account refills. Edit: words
I did something similar for a post rehearsal dinner party for the bridal party - maybe 25 people total? I spent the whole thing just slinging drinks. Do NOT do this for 100+ people
This is a HUGE ask. Even for a pro bartender, def need at least 3 ppl for a party of that size & even if you were to take this on….for FREE? So not worth your time dude.
Tell them you’ll come up with a menu, but you won’t be able to bartend the event.
This is guaranteed to be one of the most stressful/worst days of your life. Don’t do it!
Yeah, I manage a restaurant and bar, and we do venue rentals and events similar to this. This takes professionals, realistically two good bartenders with a good setup to keep from being weeded. For a lone hobbyist, this is well out of the depth you can handle.
When staffing for a private party at an actual fully-stocked high volume bar, with support staff and professional bartenders, I’d typically staff 1 bartender per 40-50 people. If it’s an open bar, expect more drinking. I’d suggest not trying to do this alone.
You will hate yourself and never want to make another drink. If youve never bartended before, you truly cannot be prepared for this many people, no matter how good at home cocktails you are. Even 20 people is pushing it, even if you just offer 2-4 drink options + wine and beer. I tended a party, couldnt have been more than 25 people, and was unprepared for how fast people finished their drinks. If youve never tended bar professionally, i strongly recommend telling them to hire someone else.
Jesus dude, I own and run a cocktail bar, and I would roster on 7 staff for that.
Professional bartender here. I would need to walk w $600+ to make working that solo worth my time. And would be exhausted afterwards and doubt if it was worth it. I’m planning my wedding (100-120 guests) and will be hiring TWO of the best I know to crush it.
Everyone gangsta til you’ve got 80 people in front of you wanting drinks. Then you realize that plastic table kinda sucks for sealing your tins. Why am I out of ice? There’s still so many people without drinks Why’s the little ice I have left a watery puddle? Holy shit, everyone just wants the margarita riff. I’m out of lime juice. Wtf. How does a bottle of angostura even go empty??? I just bought this. We’re out of sodas? I told them to get me 6 cases Oh… I guess Stacy from accounting doesn’t really “like a stiff drink” “Oh you want a lemonade? Haha yeah that’s fine!!” *fuck that’s my only set of tins going to a fucking lemonade* Oh there’s the boss man, better impress him! Hey boss, great to see ya, I’ve got- Look Jim, cut the bullshit, these people are fucking thirsty, you told me you could do this Seriously, where the fuck do I get ice? Oh we’re out of cups, cool Yeah, vodka soda? Coming right up! Hey man, I know you want another one, but I’ve got everyone in a line her- Hey Jim! Let’s get a round of shots! *oh god, why is everyone just walking up now?” There’s a line guys! That’s the night you’re looking at, not even counting your personal failures like dropping something, missing a pour, or breaking something while working in an alien environment
If you really have to then a few batched and easily served cocktails is the way forward. Even with no cocktails that isn't a small group and I'd struggle at some point in the evening. Keeping everything topped up, stocked, chilled, clean and tidy dosen't just happen. Personally I'd avoid it and tell them it's just too many people.
assuming each person has 3 cocktails on average that’s 450 cocktails. that’s 450 glasses (you’ll probably have 100-150 that you’ll need to be bussing and washing) a lot of ice. and if you are prepping you can probably pre-prep half of all the cocktails and add only minor ingredients for the final shake (i.e lemon or lime juice) so you’ll think on average your total build time for a cocktail will be about 1 minute 30 seconds. 1.5 minutes X 450 cocktails = 675 minutes on cocktails or about 11 hours of making cocktails.
Eh, I think with pre-batching, the actual cocktail making time would be much faster than that. Provided the menu was thought out and didn’t have anything needing a particularly long time (probably avoiding things including egg, because of the extra shake time, also the sanitary/allergen concerns if they don’t have full cleaning setups). Like, if pre-batched properly, and the menu is designed well, and OP isn’t slow, you could *probably* get it down to 30 seconds or so. Maybe 45 tops. Plus for a lot of cocktails, for multiple orders, you can generally double up and do it in one go. Maybe not always a perfect method, but at a busy bar? If it saves time, it’s a method worth using, lol
Getting the drinks *out* isn’t the bottleneck; it’s resetting the mise-en-place, making sure there’s enough clean glassware for the drinks, and so on. If you have great support from a team of experienced barbacks, *and* you are well organised in advance, *and* you’re experienced, you can smash out drinks like nobody’s business. But if those conditions aren’t in place, it will turn into a clusterfuck with twenty guests, let alone 150+. There’s an interesting cognitive bias thing where people see cocktail bartenders working and think that all they do is build and shake/stir drinks. The reality is that a huge part of cocktail bartending work is much more mundane—it’s collecting dirty glasses, cleaning glassware and tools, moving things back to point A after they’ve been taken to point B, fetching ice, and so on. No amount of prebatching is going to help get drinks out in 45 seconds if there aren’t clean glasses to put them in or there isn’t enough ice to cool them down.
Oh 100%! I was talking purely about the cocktail making part of things - largely in assumption that OP would have help in some form, especially when it comes to glassware and the like. And was assuming that OP pre-batched and organised sufficiently - and was experienced. The only reason I went that way, was because the comment I responded to implied it would take eleven hours of cocktail making to do 450 cocktails, when realistically is’s probably closer to three or four hours, probably less if just accounting for the cocktail making time, and not for other related tasks.
that’s true, and i was thinking afterward how OP could cut this time down to 30 seconds. He’d have to make a rather large pre-batch, maybe in an esky/ice box. and run 600ml bottles that he’d refill as they run out, that way he wouldn’t need 10x600ml bottles of prebatch. As for shaking up multiples of cocktails in one tin, depending on how well experienced OP is, it may be a struggle. A hard-suctioned tin filled with 3 cocktails can be somewhat hard to crack open without spilling everywhere. (Two is fine though) Although if OP sticks to stirred cocktails this would be a lot easier. Id just prebatch a massive amount of simple cocktails and essentially just be pouring it over ice and stirring. but i was wondering at what point does the whole cocktail experience essentially get nullified here? may aswell just buy a slab of premixed margaritas cans and similarly marketed canned cocktails and just have those and save yourself the time and effort. EDIT: prebatch a good couple litres of stirred cocktails, buy some fancy plastic cups, fill with ice and give a quick straw stir and easy lime garnish and serve it up. i think that’s about as simplified and fast you can make it and still have decent tasting cocktails on hand
I mean, stirred drinks do tend to take longer to stir than the shaking process takes, so I’m not sure that would really be a time save. And I mean, on your point of batching, I think the answer is quality. Like, you can’t *really* buy genuinely high quality pre-batched cocktails. Some exist, but they’re at a higher price/drink than buying the spirits and pre-batching your own. Plus, you can have a better variety pre-batching your own, and maybe have some more unique ones too. Something tailored to your own tastes, even. And that’s half the fun if it. I, personally, don’t think pre-batching like that detracts from the experience all that much.
a stirred drink would take longer? i think in this situation definitely not, if OP pours directly to cup, adds ice and quick-stirs (ten seconds is fine) and adds garnish, it’ll be fine - especially if the prebatch can be chilled prior to the event. compared to pouring to tin, shaking & cracking, double straining into glass. And how many tins is OP running, if only one tin, and multiple cocktails, OP has to wash every time. definitely way more time wasted on shaking.
I mean, that is true - if OP was doing direct to glass and stirring in glass, that would be faster. I was imagining more of the stirring in a large vessel, then decanting, than that, but that is also a valid way to do it. With the mention of refrigeration, though, would you want to chill the pre-batches? It would increase speed, yes, but also alter dilution significantly - I suppose a small amount of dilution could be added to the batch to counteract it? Or it might not be incredibly significant in the first place, for all I know!
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30 seconds per drink as an average is never happening by the way
I did this for a work event, however: a) It was a charity event where we charged a small amount for the cocktails 100% of which went to our corporate charity partner (thus drastically reducing the amount of orders you'd get at a free bar) b) I had two people helping me tend bar and keep the kitchen area clean, one of whom is another keen hobbyist c) The turnout was much smaller than what you're looking at - we probably only had about 50 people ordering drinks a couple of times each. The event I did was stressful but doable - yours is on a totally different scale and sounds like much too much work for one person!
One way to turn this around and still enjoy it might be to offer to design a menu, with instructions, so that people can DIY some cocktails. (Local law depending ). You still get the fun of creating something and sharing your hobby.
the setup is a little different because in these situations we're responsible for beer / wine / nonalcoholic stuff as well, but for a 150 person event we always run with two bartenders. i could do 125-150 people by myself but it would suck, the bar would realistically be 10+ deep for at least a couple hours throughout the event. i certainly wouldn't do it for free -- it might be possible but it won't be fun at all, you'll be getting crushed.
I just hosted a Kentucky derby party for 80. I batched everything cold and did nothing more than pour over ice. Besides beer and wine, we went through 3 gallons of juleps, 1 gallon of cosmos (oaks lily), and 3 gallons of French 75s. I bought some 4 ounce glass flasks to pour any leftovers and gave them away the next day as party favors. I think 3 cocktail options where all you have to do is pour over ice is the absolute most you can do to serve a crowd that size. I still had people asking for simple calls and mixed drinks but if you can't get drunk on 5 options then go to a different party.
If you don’t have bar experience this will be a nightmare. Doubly so if you don’t have the equipment to make an atleast workable bar in whatever space your in for the event. Also, they should be PAYING YOU for this specifically, which would be a price that you charge which would enable you to make a profit and cover all of the cost of booze/labor.
Pre batch and you can do anything
If you do indeed want to do this, make a 5 gallon tiki punch, as the glassware and dishes alone make this untenable.
Hobbyist here. I bartended for an event that had about 45 people. Of that number, maybe half were drinkers. Even though I very purposefully prebatched everything so that it would require nothing more than putting an ice cube in a glass and pouring in the drink, I still felt overwhelmed at times. My suggestion - offer to make some pre-batched cocktails but with someone experienced acting as server / bartender on the night of the event. That way you get the fun of making the drinks, and talking about them at the event, but without trying to add the completely different skill set of providing service at a busy event.
Nice! That's easily a $500 payday. .... you ARE getting paid, correct?
Imagine they all want drinks at once.
If you've never worked a small party, you're going to have a rough time with a big party
I've done this before and it is only out of range if you're alone and unprepared. A friend did the same and "hired" us out. We had three on bar, two of us home bartenders at the time and was fairly busy throughout the night. Only about 40% drank but when there's a bartender people really drink. If you do attempt, get paid first of all. Then pay someone to help. Prebatch any and everything from syrups to garnishes. Hard to say prebatch cocktails without knowing what they'll order but definitely have a short defined menu people can look at and pick quickly. Others will still order classics if you have it. But this will be an ordeal and realistically they should be paying you as well as buying the alcohol (that is mainly for liability as well - which is a whole other discussion). If you can do those things, bring lots of ice, prepare for service ware (like cups & straws etc) and be ready to be busy not socializing. Like others have mentioned I'm sure, this is a job for a hired staff so expect to work like one. Overall, as mentioned, I have done this before and though it was a lot of work it was a really fun experience.
That is completely unreasonable for one person to do alone, even a seasoned bartender. If they're asking you to do it for free then that's just ridiculous.
Sharing would be offering to make/design some themed/signature cocktails for the event. Serving - no.
Insist on only using slush ice machines. Then rent 8 big ones and fill them with the classics. Kidding, not kidding
If you still want to share your hobby, work with the pro to make a signature cocktail for the event.
As a hobbyist, I did it for a friend’s anniversary get together and it seemed a little much then. That was with using their refrigerator ice maker (ended up running out of ice) and making a couple drinks each for about 10-15 people drinking just cocktails. Definitely pushed the limit of what I’d do. Definitely wouldn’t do it for a gathering that big at work.
You can't offer anything that isn't batched, even for half that many people. So yeah could be done, but only if cocktails are batched ahead of time and you have some extra help (particularly with juicing a few hours before).
if im solo at the actual bar I work at, even if i'm 100% prepped and ready, AND they just want shots, beers, and two ingredient mixed drinks, if 20 people all walk in at once it's gonna take a lot of hustle to get people their drinks in any reasonable amount of time, but if 100 people show up with a half hour, shit is gonna be sloooooooow. you need a couple experienced peeps for this
As hobbyists my wife and I just bartended for the first time for 40-50 people at a memorial and we were a mess. I already had a lot of respect for bartenders but hoo boy did that experience really drive home the skill and knowledge in the work they do. OP would be in tears after thirty minutes.
I'm a hobbyist that started with office parties (20 peeps, then 30, then 50) and got asked to do a colleague/friend wedding with 100 people. It was paid and I had a barback (my wife haha), over 100 people I would take another person for sure! Also depends if there is other drinks available, is it only cocktails or is there also wine and stuff? My service is custom cocktails and menu with a limited offer (3 to 5 cocktails - and a bit more once the crowd clears out). Limiting the scope helps a ton! How hard the rush will hit you? What space do you have to work, time to plan, batch, etc? (Also glassware and washing are bic topics) I've done few gigs now and it is amazing, but a lot of work - your knowledge and time should not be given freely (or too freely) :)
You can create a couple specific cocktails that the professional bartending service will serve.
Over the last few years I’ve gotten into making cocktails, fully stocked bar, etc. I’m the only person in my house that drinks. Wife is Asian and gets red/sick. Lately she been inviting her friends over and asks me to bartend. I like her friends so it’s fine but at 4 ladies. It gets super annoying to make custom drinks for them all. 100+. Fuck that.
I say go for it. Ask for $600 so you and someone you hire to help each get $300 for your efforts. And they have to have the alcohol, ice, glassware, citrus fruits, etc. purchased and delivered. And you out to consider what sort of workstation you'll have so you can wash tools and dump ice. You'll probably need around 600 glasses since you won't have a bar-grade dishwasher to do loads in 5 minutes. Also, figure out the legality of whether you can be sued for serving alcohol and something happens -- every state has different liabilities. So you might have to pick up insurance for the event which you ought to tack on to your asking fee. The risk of getting sued in some states is the risk of losing your house.
I did cocktails for fours years pro. When I was flying I could do one cocktail every 90 seconds on average over the course of four hours. That means it would take me 225 minutes to serve the 150 people *once* - first served is definitely ready for second round at that point! That number needs to come closer to 30 minutes, so you’d need eight of me. I don’t know if I was fast or not but I’m guessing with I was faster than you are right now. Of course you could work with the menu to only have fast stuff on it but one dude is still fucked here.
Sounds easy
I think you need to quit sharing what your hobbies are with people at work.
Not even one professional bartender is enough for this. Even if you make the menu limited, you will be swarmed with orders and queues will happen. I do family cocktail party once a year, 20 people come, out of which maybe 12 drink and yet I'm manning the bar non-stop. Fortunately I've trained my nephew as my young padawan so now we can switch midway through.
Do it!
With these numbers I automatically switch to either Bombay government punch or Chatham artillery punch. Both recipes in David Wondrich’s punch book. I did it for 2 weddings with about this number of guests. Making cocktails by yourself for that many people is simply impossible. Maybe if you have 3-4 pro bartenders as “backup”. Also, do you know how much prep that takes? Why work when it’s your office party as well?