Recipes: Party drinks for a crowd

Published 5:00 am Tuesday, September 17, 2013

When my friend Kathy got an unscheduled layover in Rio de Janeiro at the tail end of a business trip, she figured “What the hey?!” and quality beach time ensued. She came away from this sojourn with a new bikini and a few good stories centered around the country’s infamous firewater, Cachaca.

Cachaca’s an 80 proof distillate, made from unrefined sugarcane, which some people classify as Brazilian rum, even though it’s not, strictly speaking. On my palate, it swings strongly toward tequila with a Marlboro chaser. Potent stuff.

And yet, when united with freshly-squeezed limes, superfine sugar and lots of ice, it’s transformed into the most amazing refresher. The drink of goddesses on Brazilian beaches.

We all benefitted from Kathy’s excellent adventure at that year’s Christmas gathering. After several heated rounds of our favorite group game, Cranium, we were all suffering an extreme thirst. In response, Kathy slipped into the kitchen and mixed up a refreshing pitcher full of that cachaca-based beach drink, which is called Caipirinha.

I think fondly on the experience. Indeed, sharing a refreshing pitcher of fire water generates a communal sense of fun and anticipation. And talk about simple. Mixing up a batch in the pre-party phase is an effortless and stylish way to entertain and still have fun at your own party.

After all, making individual cocktails not only takes time, but removes you from the action. And turning other folks loose at your bar leads to chaos at best. At worst? A lot of inappropriate behavior centered around lampshades.

This is the perfect time of year to explore one of the cocktail world’s more refreshing genres. Although pitcher drinks don’t have to be fruit-based (think Bloody Mary), these recipes are, so they’ll hit the spot while the weather remains somewhat sultry. They’re all from my favorite go-to book on the subject, “The Ultimate Guide to Pitcher Drinks: Cool Cocktails for a Crowd,” by Sharon Tyler Herbst. It’s been in print for more than 14 years, so you know the recipes are reliable (and wonderful!).

My one tip to pass along is the idea that you don’t have to actually store your prepared pitcher drinks in a pitcher until you’re ready to serve. I always pour the mixture into an appropriate-sized plastic water bottle with a screw-on cap so you can tuck the concoction into any corner of your refrigerator days ahead, then transfer to a pretty pitcher once festivities are underway.

.articleImage {display: none;}