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Say ‘Cheers!’ to These Modern Cocktail Recipes
You’ve got the wine, you’ve got the beer and now it’s on to the cocktails. With alcohol and bars available at most weddings, it can be hard to stand out with unique choices. Here are three expert ways to up your drink game.
1. Let guests build their own
Do-it-yourself is in! From homemade favors to upcycled Mason jars and make-your-own mimosas, it’s all about personal touches. Let your guests take part in the fun too with a DIY cocktail bar. At The Cocktail Architect in New York, build-your-own Bloody Mary setups have been all the rage, according to Nandini Natasha Austin, who co-owns the company with her husband, Yusef.
To make things extra special, Austin suggests offering unique ingredients. Instead of store-bought mix, Austin and her team infuse heirloom tomatoes into water to add an extra touch of freshness to drinks. It can also be used as a martini base with ingredients like peppers, pickled vegetables or unique salts like mushroom.
For build-your-own bars, Nandini Natasha Austin completes the setup with different bottles of alcohol and colorful flowers to make everything pop.
2. Use unique, lesser-known alcohols
Think beyond vodka or rum and dig deeper into alcohol varieties. Sherry, a type of fortified wine, has been making its way back into the limelight in recent years, with a resurgence noted by everyone from Eater to the LA Times. It’s heralded for its ability to pair well with a number of different foods, and its ABV (alcohol by volume) falls somewhere between wine and liquor.
The Cocktail Architect has seen a trend of couples putting more research into what they serve at their wedding, discovering things like Tres Papalote Mezcal. This variety is “a great bridge for Tequila drinkers who’ve always wanted to try Mezcal but didn’t like the smoky aspect,” according to Yusef Austin, Cocktail Architect founder.
3. Keep it classic yet modern
Unique cocktail options are great, but the last thing you want to do is alienate guests looking for simple, classic drinks. Offer the best of both worlds with classic options with a twist, like margaritas spiked with unexpected flavors like jalapeno or gin and tonics with blackberry and lemon.
Refreshing drinks like the Moscow Mule also make for a great cocktail option — you can even add a little cinnamon and apple cider to the ginger beer and vodka mix for an autumn-themed twist.