Photo of
December 4, 2014
Social and Cocktail mixologists take it back to the Prohibition Era.
Social and Cocktail mixologists take it back to the Prohibition Era.

Being a low down, mean and miserable cynical sort, this 5pm Dining blog scribbler found himself unexpectedly touched by the story of today’s blog.

Probably too much festive gin, we suspect. Anyway, we pulled ourselves together and…

Regular readers of the blog may recall that back in September, we wrote about Social and Cocktail.

A review website and, more importantly, a cocktail events company, they provide cocktail packages for home and office events, ranging from birthdays, hen parties, engagements and graduations to corporate launches and office parties.

Premium cocktail bar

Last Friday, they launched a fun initiative called Community Cocktails. The idea is that every month they donate a complete cocktail package to a care home and provide the residents with a complete premium cocktail bar experience.

The first one took place at Erskine Care Home in Bishopton. The scheme was launched as a way to give something back to the Glasgow community where Social and Cocktail Events is based. Unlike many a corporate social responsibility wheeze, it looked as though the Erskine Care Home bash was a hoot.

Social and Cocktail provided a state-of-the art mobile cocktail bar, two professional cocktail bartenders, snacks, cocktail glassware, decorations and a mixture of alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails. These included the classic Brandy Alexander and the alcohol-free Shirley Temple cocktail.

Prohibition Era theme

To help create a more authentic experience for the residents, the event had a Prohibition Era theme with cut-outs representing speakeasies, jazz musicians and other period features.

The company also played a range of music from the Twenties, including Jazz, Swing and Rag-Time. One of the cocktail bartenders played his harmonica as one of the residents, Bob, knocked some jazzy tunes on the piano.

Over 50 residents attended the event and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Many had never tried cocktails before. The raspberry daiquiri was a big hit with the ladies while the men honoured their love for whiskey with the Old Fashioned cocktail proving a huge success. Some of the residents also brought out their inner mixologist as they came up beside the bar and the bartenders taught them step-by-step how to make some popular cocktails.

New experience

Recreation assistant Christine Furphy was delighted with the event: ‘The residents have thoroughly enjoyed their cocktail experience and loved the 1920s theme and the wide range of cocktails. The bartenders were fantastic, chatting to all the residents and telling them about how the cocktails were made and their history. What was great about this event was that it was something completely unique that many of our residents have never experienced before.’

The upshot of this is that Social and Cocktail are looking for more suggestions for care homes or other charity organisations that would appreciate a visit from their roving cocktail bar.

You can send suggestions here: events@socialandcocktail.co.uk

To find out more about Social and Cocktail and find updates about their Community Cocktail initiatives, clicky here.

Naturally, if you would like them to cater for any cocktail parties you have on the horizon, they would be delighted to hear from you.

Erskine residents getting to grips with cocktail culture.
Erskine residents getting to grips with cocktail culture.