The Cocktail Party is as Fashionable as it Has Ever Been

Date:   September 30, 2010

PHILIPPINES Restaurant and Wine Bar:

Title: ______________________

Date:  3rd October, 2010

___________________________

Cocktail parties may have taken a little break during the more casual decades of the 1960’s and 1970’s, but since then they have regained their popularity with full strength. Wine and beer are still popular beverages, but there has been a tremendous resurgence in the popularity of mixed drinks.

For the busy host, a cocktail party is a convenient way to entertain any kind of guest list ranging from neighbors to business associates. The typical time for this party is only two hours. Because of the fluid nature of this party (no pun intended!) you can mix guests who might not feel comfortable sitting across from one another at a three-hour dinner party.

My favorite part of hosting a cocktail party is that you can experiment with a wide variety of food on your menu. Since everyone will be eating only little tastes, if they don’t like something, you can be confident that there will be plenty of other choices for them. Everyone is likely to find something they will enjoy.

But returning to the most important part of the cocktail party, the cocktails, I asked fellow guide Colleen Graham, About’s Cocktail Guide, to let us in on what the most popular drinks are these days on the cocktail circuit. Below is a list of her choices for current favorite cocktails. Be sure to check them out along with her tempting photos for each drink.

• Cosmopolitan – A fun, pink drink that was popularized on the HBO series Sex and the City.
• Dirty Martini – Don’t worry, you won’t need to wash after this drink. But with the addition of olive juice, this drink has a salty bite to it.
• Chocolate Martini – This drink has special appeal to anyone with a sweet tooth. But it doesn’t look like what you’d expect.
• Apple Martini – I don’t know if this would count toward your 5-a-day fruit and veggie requirement!

Whether you’re an experienced cocktail party host, or are just stepping into the stylish world of cocktail party entertaining, here are tips to help make your next party a successful event.

1. Stock up on plenty of ice. You’ll need it for chilling bottles of wine or champagne as well as serving in drinks on the rocks. A good rule of thumb is plan to have 1-pound of ice per guest.
2. Be prepared with an assortment of glass styles to cover the type of drinks you plan to serve. These include wine glasses for wines, juice and water; straight-sided highballs for tall drinks; tumblers for spirits and juices; and martini glasses.
3. Have twice as many glasses on hand as guests. For wine, champagne and martini glasses, wine glass charms will help guests to keep track of glasses as they mill about your party.
4. For a 2-hour party where you only plan on serving wine and/or champagne, you’ll need to have one bottle for every two guests. Have a mix of white and red varieties. White used to be the predominant favorite, but red is becoming just as popular.
5. For a basic bar you’ll want to stock up on vodka, whiskey, wines and beer. For a more complete bar you can add gin, tequila, rum, bourbon, vermouth, sherry, and brandy.
6. Don’t forget to stock up on mixers including orange juice, soda, tonic, ginger ale, cola, tomato juice, Tabasco, lemons, limes, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce.
7. If you anticipate your guests will be wine drinkers, you can prepare by uncorking a few bottles in advance, and then replacing the corks.
8. Consider hiring a bartender to mix the drinks for your party. That will allow you much more time to socialize with your guests. There are even caterers that specialize in bartending services only.
9. Have coffee available for any guests that may need a little assistance at the end of the party. Your local taxi company phone number should also be handy and offered to any guests you believe shouldn’t be driving.
10. As our Cocktails Guide points out, a cocktail party is not a family event!

Source:  http://entertaining.about.com/cs/horsdoeuvres/a/cocktailparty.htm

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices.  Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world.  As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years.  Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila

Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple:  after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave.  From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City.  From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.

Clark Wine Center

Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building

Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,

Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023

0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

Wine@Yats-International.com

YATS Wine Cellars

Manila Sales Office

3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,

Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605

(632) 637-5019   0917-520-4393  ask for Rea or Chay

Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center.