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Mocktail
Bar
The
following is a list of items that are included in the self-contained,
mobile mocktail unit.
3
blenders
3
juice jugs
measuring cup
spoons
recipes
"How To Run a Mocktail Bar" handout
tips from the OSAID group
extension cords
A
tracking form must be filled out during the activity which keeps
track of the number and kind of mocktails sold, the number of alcoholic
beverages sold at the event, number of volunteers used, and the
number of people in attendance.
A
$25.00 fee applies for rental of the unit, payable to the OSAID
group (Fort Frances High School chapter). This fee will be used
to upkeep the mocktail unit.
How
to Run a Successful Mocktail Bar - and have fun doing it!
Location,
location, location!
One
of the most important things to consider when planning a mocktail
bar is location, location, location. If you are so far removed from
the bulk of the crowd your mocktails will not fly (literally!).
Assemble
your team early
I
strongly suggest that you have a large number of volunteers signed
up to help. There is nothing worse than showing up for your shift
and finding out that you are the chief cook and bottle-washer with
no hope of parole. Get volunteers signed up as soon as possible.
Steer
clear of the soda
It
is important that you sell absolutely no soda pop. Why you ask?
Well anyone can get a can of soda pop, but fortunate are the few
who can get a taste of your mocktails!
Know
your limits
I recommend
that your mocktail bar serve no more than 3-4 drinks. 3-4 mocktails
will cut down on the preparation of the mocktails. More than four
drinks on the menu is fine, but the workload will increase.
Serving
the masses
Another
consideration is to be very prepared with regards to the mocktail
supplies on hand. This takes practice and careful consideration.
Always error on the side of caution - it is better to have too much
than too little. Talk to other organizations that have held mocktail
bars, and find out from them how many they have sold. Try this to
estimate your needed supplies: Estimate how many people you think
will show up to your event (be optimistic now!). From this number
guesstimate the number of drinks you will sell: for example, 2 drinks
for 75% of the people in attendance.
Stocking
up
Once
you establish which drinks you want to serve, write down what you
will need for supplies, then, before you fork over your organization's
money, go out and knock on the doors of local suppliers to get as
much of the mocktail supplies donated as you can. Your organization
will love you for it! When you are out and about getting mocktail
supplies in-kind (as much as you can, anyway), consider talking
with a local furniture store that stocks used refrigerators. If
you intend on serving blender drinks (frozen drinks) having a fridge
around can save you time by providing a place where you can mix
drinks up ahead of time.
Have
a system
Our
mocktail bar used different coloured 2" X 2" pieces of construction
paper as "mocktail drink tickets". We used a different colour each
night so that people don't bring a bunch of "home-made tickets"
to us demanding drinks. On these tickets we wrote the initials of the drink. For instance, if the customer ordered a Bloody Shame (caesar or bloody mary at a regular bar) we would put the initials "BS" on the slip of paper (sorry, BS is not something we promote around these parts!). Anyway, we had a bit of a system going: the customer would come to one end of the "bar" where the money was (an "Order Here" sign could be placed here). We placed an adult supervisor here but it really didn't matter as long as that person is responsible. From here, the cash person would take a ticket and write the initials of the drink that the customer order on it (confused yet?, don't worry it will all fall into place). The customer would then pass the ticket onto another person who would take the ticket and put it into a covered bucket of sorts (so you can keep track of the number and kinds of drinks sold). They would then yell out the order to the awaiting "Prep. Crew" who would create the drink and they would in turn pass the drink on to the awaiting customer. The customer would walk away a happy man (or woman). Another satisfied customer.
How
did we do?
It
is important to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the mocktail
bar, that is why I recommend you keep a covered bucket handy where
all your drink tickets can go. Why covered? Well you know what it's
like when drinks start a-flying, juice and celery everywhere.
A Northwestern Health Unit Partnership Initiative
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