How To Properly Batch Cocktails for Holiday Entertaining

Entertaining during the holidays is a tradition that’s notoriously fraught with stress. What you serve as drinks doesn’t have to be the cause of it. There’s no reason to get stuck shaking, pouring, measuring, mixing, and serving on repeat.

There’s a party hack, however, that will keep both guests and hosts happy. Batched cocktails. It’s simple: size up your cocktail recipe, make a large quantity in advance, then chill and pour liberally when needed. Craving a Martini? A pitcher-full can be at the ready in the freezer. Want to cap dinner with a round of Old Fashioneds? A bottle can be chilling in the fridge.

“You already have a ton on your plate while hosting a great holiday party. Batching a drink allows for you to focus on being a great host,” says McLain Hedges, co-owner of Yacht Club in Denver. “When a drink is ready for the party, it shows [that] you put a lot of thought into everything beforehand, and that enjoyment happens immediately.”

Iain Griffiths, co-owner of the brand-new Bar Snack in New York City, agrees. “Your guests want to spend time with you, not watch you make 20 drinks at one time,” they say.

Why batch cocktails?

The appeal of batched drinks is endless. For starters, they’re consistent. Every drink tastes exactly the same, even if you’ve had a drink or two yourself. “Batching drinks allows for control of flavors and balance, and ensures that guests are getting the same great experience over and over,” says Hedges. 

Griffiths agrees, adding, “Batching saves time and increases consistency. And who would complain about a drink being served too quickly?” 

It’s also a way to tackle complicated recipes. “Batched drinks allow you to make elaborate infusions and techniques without having a guest wait for their drink longer,” says Valentino Longo, co-owner of ViceVersa in Miami. “Batching, if done well, is a great help for today’s bartending, especially at home when hosting a crowd.”

Step-by-step guide to batching cocktails for a crowd

Step 1: Pick your cocktail

Start by deciding what drink to make.

“Martinis are the best,” says Longo. “There is nothing better than a frozen Martini.” 

Mix gin or vodka with vermouth and dilute slightly: 2 parts gin, 1 part vermouth, and 1 part water. Pour into a glass bottle and store in the freezer. 

“A Martini, hell yeah,” says Griffiths. “It’s fun and always feels like you're being a bit naughty drinking straight from the bottle.”

You can also stick to anything spirit-forward. “My favorite drinks to keep around usually involve something spirit (or wine) forward,” says Hedges. “Try a close relative to something classic like a Manhattan or Martini.”

Longo suggests avoiding cocktails packed with citrus, pulps, or other heavy syrups. “The rule of thumb is you want to batch cocktails with a higher alcohol content, such as Martinis, Negronis, Manhattans, and Boulevardiers,” he says. 

Griffiths embraces sour cocktails, however. They regularly pre-batch snack-sized Daiquiris.

If you batch a citrus-forward drink, Longo recommends adding the fresh juice separately the day that you plan to serve the drink, or even better, moments before you serve it. “Once you add the fresh juice, the mix won’t last longer than a day, as the fresh citrus tends to oxidize and change the flavors of the drink,” he says.

Step 2: Customize it

You can tweak a cocktail recipe to suit your guests’ tastes and make it distinctly yours. 

Try a Tom and Jerry, a Cognac-spiked eggnog riff that can be batched a day before, or a Spiced Apple Bourbon Punch. Make a lower-ABV Martini to start the night off, or a round of Hanky Pankies to end an evening. Create a menu or add custom labels to let your guests know what they’re sipping.

Longo batches a riff on a 50/50 Martini that contains two different types of vermouth and a hit of pickle brine. It can be pulled from the freezer and poured with ease.

In his Pencil Thin Chinstrap cocktail recipe, Hedges swaps out the rye in a Manhattan for a single malt and Cognac. He adds a dash of coconut water for dilution and a fig leaf-kissed vermouth for added flavor. “It brings an amazing winter spice and tropical edge to the drink, perfect for the winter holiday season,” he says.

Step 3: Fridge or freeze

Once your ingredients are batched, pour it into a glass bottle, like a well-washed wine bottle or a swing-top bottle with a rubber stop top. Then pop it in the fridge or freezer until it’s time to sip. You can serve drinks directly from the fridge or freezer. You can also snuggle the bottles into an ice-filled bucket and let guests serve themselves. 

Step 4: Make-to-order

Before you serve, add your fresh ingredients.

“Anything fresh, citrus and herbs, as well as bitters, should only be added the day you know you’re going to drink it,” says Griffiths. 

If you’re batching to drink it on the same day, don’t stress. “If the drink is being consumed during the same evening, or a few days after, then most everything will work, minus a few outliers like a frozen, blended, or egg-white cocktail,” says Hedges. 

Prep your garnishes in advance. Put out slices of citrus, swirls of oranges, or skewers of olive for guests to garnish, as needed. 

And if you mix too large a batch? Fear not. “You may also find that certain drinks, like the classic eggnog, benefit from extended aging, so definitely don’t throw out your leftovers unless you truly have no reason to use it again,” says Hedges.

Step 5: Don’t forget to dilute

A crucial step to batching cocktails? Diluting your drink. When you batch, you tend to skip the stirring or shaking and ice, steps that add crucial dilution. Without this added water, a pre-batched drink will taste strong and bitter. 

Griffiths, who has run bars where everything is pre-diluted and served without ice, says dilution should be done with care and caution. “If you're batching something like a Martini or anything that is straight booze, then go right ahead and aim for 18-25% dilution, depending on how much vermouth, sherry, and other elements you have in there,” they say. “More booze equals more dilution.”

Longo recommends anywhere between 15-20% dilution of water, or coconut water when the drink leaves the freezer. And certainly, not before it leaves the freezer. “Dilution can freeze the whole batch,” he says.

If you batch a spirit-forward drink with syrups in it, a bit of dilution prior to storage is fine, “but it still needs to get measured out, and should get a few twirls in a glass with some ice before being strained and served,” says Griffiths. “Poured from the bottle, Old Fashioneds simply never taste quite right. The finish is always a little too sweet and sticky. Partial dilution and a quick stir is the way.”