How to Set Up a DIY Cocktail Bar for Your Holiday Gathering | 5 Steps to Creating an Easy Make-It-Yourself Drink Bar

If you’re hosting (or attending!) a small holiday get-together this year, a DIY cocktail bar is the answer to your holiday hosting problems. Don’t want to be stuck making drinks the whole time? DIY cocktail bar. Never made a mixed drink in your life but want to serve some to your guests? DIY cocktail bar. Want to prevent your guests from pestering you about when the food’s gonna be ready? DIY cocktail bar.

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I hear you. You’re hosting a small (or large, if you’re reading this beyond 2020) holiday gathering. You want to be the hostess with the mostest. You want to serve cool cocktails to your crew…. but you’re already wondering how to juggle prepping, cooking, and serving the food dishes. Take the easy route by setting up a Make-It-Yourself drink bar. It’ll take only a few minutes (maybe 10) of prep work and then you can step back and let your guests have fun playing bartender. Then, instead of having to play bartender the whole evening, you’ll be able to drink and toast with the rest of them.

How to Set Up a DIY Cocktail Bar

1. Select a few different flavors of Italian sodas.

Italian sodas are the perfect mixer to use for easy cocktails. They have both the fruity element and the sweet element. Using an Italian soda instead of, say, sparkling water, will mean you don’t have to worry about setting out simple syrups. Plus they’re bubbly. Who does like some effervescence in their life?

My local Texas grocery store (hi H-E-B, I love you!) has an amazing line of Italian sodas with seasonal flavors like cranberry yuzu and blackcurrant ginger. Classic Italian soda flavors like lemon and blood orange make for fantastic cocktails, too. You can also look for sparkling juices. A variety pack of the Izze Sparkling Juice would make setting up a make-it-yourself drink bar all too easy.

2. Set out a spirit or three.

When thinking about what liquor to serve at your DIY cocktail bar, vodka is always a great option because its clean taste will go with any flavor of Italian soda. Providing a few different liquor options for your guests would be ideal though. Choose spirits that mesh well with crisp fruit flavors. Gin, tequila, and vodka work best in my opinion. Plus someone is sure to like at least one spirit from that lineup. You can always set out a whiskey or white rum but they may not blend as smoothly with the Italian sodas as the others.

3. Leave out a jigger for measuring the spirits.

Someone’s sure to “eyeball it” but providing a jigger for measuring out the spirits will help your guests feel more comfortable about making their own drink. They won’t have to worry about making a weak drink or getting totally sloshed from just one cocktail. Traditionally, cocktails have about 1.5-2 oz of liquor in them which is perfect because most jiggers have a side that measures either 1 oz or 2 oz.

4. Prepare a few garnishing options.

Garnishes make cocktails more fun. It’s science. Set out fresh herbs like thyme, mint, and basil. Put some cherries or fresh berries on cocktail picks. Slice some citrus wheels or opt for dried ones. Giving your guests the opportunity to customize their cocktail with garnishes is what makes a DIY cocktail bar so fun.

5. Provide ice and glasses.

Setting out an ice bucket and multiple glasses means people won’t have to go back and forth to the kitchen. They’ll have everything they need right at their fingertips. But speaking of fingertips, set out some ice tongs, too, ’cause #germs.

You can even use ice in different shapes like giant cubes or ice spheres if you want to be real fancy.

And if you don’t want people using your collection of vintage glassware don’t want to handwash your collection of vintage glassware, plastic washable cocktail glasses are a great solution. Or go the disposable yet still stylish route with these pretty cups. Then people can write their names on them, too.

Now, if you want to go the not-so-easy route, feel free to have some containers of fresh lemon or lime juice or handcrafted simple syrups for guests to add to their drink. Those options will certainly up the flavor and customization factors. But a liquor + an Italian soda + fresh garnish will make for a great cocktail. Promise.

So, if you want to spend less time shaking up drinks and more time joining in the revelry, you now know how to set up a DIY cocktail bar. Cheers to making memories with your guests!