How do you make a cocktail bar memorable at your event?
Effective Business Events Blog • 3rd December, 2018
A cocktail bar is a fantastic eye-catching addition to any event, especially gala dinners and evening events. There are many different varieties and shapes, sizes and materials of bar that you can design to match the theme of your event. Ideas include LED bars, mirror bars, rustic wooden bars and branded bars.
For an outdoor event or festival, we love the Beetle Juice Camper van cocktail bars. Their traditional iconic VW camper vans have been transformed into cocktail bars and are a focal point which impress guests and they travel all events over the country. Other companies provide similar vehicles such as horse boxes and caravans which have also been transformed and will travel to your location.
To really create an impression, cocktails with dry ice offer the “wow” factor as your drink looks like a scientific experiment that smokes away in front of you. You could create and name your own cocktail – either your company name or the name of the event so that people really remember it! You could also hire a “flair barman”. These experienced and professional bar tenders are smartly dressed and will create delicious and eye-catching. They are masters of entertainment and will juggle, flip, spin and acrobatically pour their way through service with style. They create a fantastic atmosphere with all their acrobatic skills on display to amaze the guests. If you hire two, they can work as a team and combine their skills to really put on a show!
You should also hire furniture to accompany your cocktail bar. You may wish to create a cool lounge with white sofas and coffee tables. If space is tight then poseur tables and high stools might be more appropriate. LED furniture is effective and would match an LED bar perfectly. Don’t forget to decorate the tables – a battery operated tealight lamp is simple but effective, as are branded coasters and cocktail stirrers.
How can you include cocktails in a team building event?
For an away day or team building exercise, a cocktail making class is a fun way to learn a new skill and interact with your colleagues.
Many professional mixologist companies offering the service can either travel to your office or event venue, or you can book spaces at regular venues they use. They offer a trained mixologist to talk through the cocktail making process step by step and offer historical knowledge and guidance along the way. And of course, you get to drink your creation at the end!
This is a fun and light-hearted way for your staff to work together and have fun away from the office.
How do cocktails affect the environment?
Traditionally, cocktails were decorated with paper umbrellas and plastic toys and straws. Nowadays, the presentation, theatrics and taste of the cocktail is more important than the decorations and people are actively trying to avoid using single use plastics.
Many venues will offer paper straws as an alternative to plastic. We have also recently seen pasta straws and also re-usable metal straws which would be a great corporate gift.
We would recommend requesting that no plastic straws or decorations are used at your event, people really do notice these small touches!
Where are the best cocktail bars in London?
There are many great cocktail bars in London and across the UK, here are a pick of a few of our favourite and quirky cocktail bars
1. The Artesian Bar at the Langham Hotel
Located in the iconic Langham Hotel in Regent Street, the Artesian bar has won the award for the World’s best bar for 4 years by Drinks International. The hotel offers a variety of conference rooms so a visit to the Artesian Bar is the perfect end to the day!
https://www.artesian-bar.co.uk/
2. Radio Rooftop Bar at the ME Hotel
The Radio Rooftop bar is located on the 10th floor of the ME London providing striking panoramic views across the River Thames and London’s skyline. The bar provides an innovative cocktail and food menu. The ME Hotel offers also has a range of conference rooms.
https://radiorooftop.com/london/
3. The Alchemist
The Alchemist are masters in the dark arts of molecular mixology and demons in the kitchen. Their mixologists create every cocktail with an obsessive eye for detail, presented in vessels made to add a devilish dash of theatre and all their cocktails look like a scientific experiment in the making.
4. The BelowZero Ice Bar
The BelowZero ice bar is the UK’s only permanent ice bar, keeping things a fun but frosty -5°C in Central London all year around.
No two ice bar themes are ever the same, and their team of ice artists, designers and mixologists create an entirely new concept for the bar every year.
The venue also offers a restaurant, conference rooms and private bars for events (in the warm!) but no visit would be complete without putting on a cape and visiting the ice bar itself.
https://www.belowzeroicebar.com/
5. Cahoots
Cahoots located in Kingly Court, has been transformed from an abandoned underground station. It keeps the Blitz spirit alive with dazzling cocktails & extravagant late night parties.
When you enter you will discover a triumph of post-war resourcefulness, from the old fashioned wooden escalators that lead guests downstairs, to the dramatic, tiled platform bar set alongside vintage train carriages. The 1940s tube carriage seats, mismatched furniture, will complete the perfect backdrop for a jolly good knees-up.
