Spirited Cocktail Themes for the 4th of July

Renew your 4th of July red white and blue color scheme this year! Put the color in your cocktails, garnishes and napkins instead of plates, table clothes and utensils. Remember that the two main elements of any drink offering are variety and presentation while the most overlooked consideration is the functional mechanics of how you are going to serve your drinks and cocktails and how long the shopping list is going to be.

Colorful drinks floating around your party with a décor of white, silver and a little black will look great and is less expensive that buying specialty plates. Red and blue napkins tie things together nicely and can actually make set down drinks a bit easier to spot when you have a quieter décor. Great Fourth of July garnishes are cherries, strawberries, blueberries, and watermelon one hint is that with the exception of blueberries and ice cubes blue is best for non-edibles like stirrers, toothpicks, or straws. There is something about blue food that averts many people. To make colored ice cubes just drop a little food coloring into the water before freezing. A variety of shades adds an extra pop!

"Good ideas" your thinking "but what colorful drinks shall I serve?" you ask! You will want to select your drink selection based on your guest list, how complicated you want to be and your budget. How do feel about a using a blender? How many people do you expect? Do you want to serve people more personally by pouring drinks person by person or do you plan a more open, self service sort of bar? What's your budget? Interested In making punch or mixed drinks ahead of time so you can just pour from a pitcher and have bottles or wine or beer on ice or in a keg? The possibilities are endless but thinking about the how you are going to serve things and what kinds of alcohol your guests like narrows things down quite a bit and you can pick a theme. Here are a few that might interest you.

A Cool Sumer theme of frozen drinks is great if your will your willing to use a blender and provide are great if you have a mix of drinkers and no-drinkers. You will need plenty of ice and you might want to test out the blender the day before. Ice is hard to crush and not all blenders will do a great job (even though they all boast they do). Consider daiquiris and pina coladas with festive fruity garnishes. Adding blue curacao to the white coladas you'll have red, white and blue. This vibrant liquor has a sweet, coconut flavor and goes great with rum!

For a more upscale conservative party try Bloody Mary and chardonnay. Simple, elegant and easy to serve you will want to chill the wine and Bloody Mary mix ahead of time and its not a bad idea to stick the vodka in the freezer either. For an extra option you can add basic martinis to the menu and for a novelty effect tint them with food coloring. Using clear plastic stemware and tumblers will give your gathering a more casual feel and a strawberry, cherry or blueberry at the bottom of a guests chardonnay can be a special treat and help people identify their glass in those which one was mine moments.

Specialty Martinis have become very popular the last few years and can add some fun to a selection of beer and wine coolers for those who aren't martini purists. To carry on the independence color theme consider Cosmopolitans, Sapphires or Appletinis. Recipes for these drinks are readily available on the internet and pop up with a simple "martini" search. A basic recipe for cosmos is ½ oz. Cointreau, 1 oz. vodka a little lime juice and a splash of cranberry juice. Sapphires are mixed by combining gin with the tinniest bit of dry vermouth and a little blue curacao. Raspberry or apple flavored vodka can be used to make clear or tinted cocktails.

Revolutionary is my final theme suggestion. Instead of going with the all American color theme focus on the essential colonial drinks which relied heavily of rum and beer. Rum or kill devil as it was called was a staple of every tavern and punches were quite popular. Most taverns made their own beers, grog, ale so why not serve as assortment of micro-brewery selections? You might offer a beer tasting by having a group of guests open several different flavors and pour a swallow for each person. If you are adventuresome give Calibogus a try. Colonial Americans would mix rum and beer together. If you're really adventurous try this modern but little known concoction. Pour beer and soda together in equal portions. Sounds strange the flavor is not a strange as you might imagine!