Batched lemon cocktails in swing-top bottles on the bar before a private event

Westchester County, NY · Fairfield County, CT

Private events, done properly.

A custom menu, your shopping handled, cocktails batched ahead so nobody waits, and a bar worked the way it's done in a good room. Flat rates, quoted before you commit to anything.

Services

What I do

Full service for the whole night, a menu on its own, or finished cocktails dropped off ready to pour.

Full bar service

The whole night, start to finish. We settle a menu, I send you a shopping list, I batch what should be batched, and I run your bar. I bring my complete kit — tools, and my own house-made syrups and bitters.

From $850 · up to 50 guests

Cocktail menu design

Three or four drinks that suit your guests, your season, and what you actually want to spend — balanced so they hold up over a long evening. Included with full service, or on its own if you have someone else pouring.

$300 standalone

Batched cocktail drop-off

No bartender, no line at a bar. You buy the bottles, I turn them into finished cocktails — measured, diluted, and bottled properly — and drop them off ready to pour over ice. They arrive in swing-top bottles that are yours to keep.

The easiest way to serve a genuinely good drink at a party you're hosting yourself, and the cheapest way to work with me.

$175 + $3 per drink · 50-drink minimum

Bar & equipment

I bring a complete professional set of tools, glass-to-tin shakers, jiggers, strainers, and everything needed to work clean and fast. Tell me what your space has and I'll tell you exactly what's missing.

Included

Fresh juices, sodas and garnish set out on the bar rail for a private party

The part hosts don't know they can have

The shopping, handled.

You shouldn't have to guess how many bottles a party needs. Once we've settled the menu, I'll call your local liquor store and place the whole order — exact bottles, exact quantities, nothing you don't need. You pay them directly and they'll usually deliver it to your door.

And everything that isn't alcohol, I'll just bring. Juices, club soda, tonic and ginger beer. All the garnish fruit, cut the day of. Cocktail picks, cups, straws and napkins. One line on the invoice instead of four trips to three shops.

Add fresh-squeezed citrus and I'll press the lemons and limes the morning of your party. That's the single biggest difference between a party drink and a bar drink — and about three hours of work you'll never have to think about.

Order placed free · from $200 · fresh-squeezed +$150

Pricing

What it costs

Flat rates, not hourly — you should know what your party costs, not watch a clock. Every event is quoted before you commit to anything.

Standard event up to 50 guests · 4 hours of bar service $850
Each additional hour of service$125
51–75 guests$1,100
76–100 guests includes a second bartender$1,850
Mixer & garnish package juices, sodas, tonics, and all garnish fruit · up to 50 guests$200
51–75 guests / 76–100 guests$275 / $375
Fresh-squeezed citrus lemon and lime pressed the morning of your event+$150
51–75 guests / 76–100 guests+$200 / +$275
Cocktail menu design standalone$300
Batched drop-off no bartender · 50-drink minimum · bottles included$175 + $3/drink
Travel beyond 30 minutes$75 · $150 past 45 min
Peak dates December, NYE, late-spring & autumn Saturdays+25%

A 30% deposit holds your date, and covers the mixer package if you've added one. The balance is due the day of the event. Alcohol is always bought directly by you — I never buy or sell it. Gratuity is never expected and always appreciated.

How it works

Four steps. You do one.

You tell me about the night. Everything after that is my job.

  1. You tell me about the party

    Date, place, roughly how many people, and what kind of night it is. Two minutes on the form below.

  2. We build the menu

    A short conversation about what your guests drink and what you want to spend. I'll suggest three or four cocktails that work together.

  3. I handle the shopping

    I'll call your local liquor store and place the order — exact bottles, exact quantities, sized to your headcount. You just pay them, and most will deliver. Prefer to shop yourself? You get the list instead.

  4. I show up early and handle it

    Fresh juice squeezed that day, cocktails batched ahead, the bar set, the night worked, and the kitchen left how I found it. You talk to your guests.

Who you're hiring

A bartender from a serious bar.

I'm Adam. I tend bar at Bedford Post Tavern, a Relais & Châteaux inn in Bedford, where I batch cocktails for service and make the house syrups. Twelve years in restaurants, eight of them behind a bar.

It's a bar run at a level most people never see: an order of operations for every drink, nothing free-poured, every syrup weighed on a scale rather than eyeballed. Your backyard isn't that bar and I won't pretend otherwise — but that's where I learned exactly what a drink is supposed to taste like, which is why I can hit it fast at a party without holding up your line.

What you get is what that training produces: cocktails batched ahead so nobody waits, syrups I made myself, a station that stays clean, and somebody behind it who's used to talking to a room.

More about me →

House-made simple syrup, dated and labelled, prepped the day before a private event
House syrup, made and dated the day before

The work

A summer party for fifty, in Westchester.

Start to finish — from the syrups the day before to the bar set and waiting.

Where I work

About an hour from Bedford.

If your town isn't listed and you're roughly in that radius, ask anyway.

Westchester County, NY

Bedford · Katonah · Pound Ridge · Mount Kisco · Chappaqua · Armonk · North Salem · Somers · Briarcliff Manor · Scarsdale · Rye · Harrison · Purchase · Bronxville · Larchmont · White Plains · Tarrytown · Irvington · Ossining · Croton-on-Hudson

Fairfield County, CT

Greenwich · Stamford · New Canaan · Darien · Norwalk · Westport · Wilton · Ridgefield · Redding · Weston

Putnam, Rockland & the Hudson Valley

Brewster · Carmel · Cold Spring · Garrison · Pawling · Beacon · Nyack · Piermont

Questions

Questions hosts ask

Do I need a liquor license for my party?

No. You buy the alcohol, I pour it — that's called a dry hire, and it's the standard structure for private events. Nothing is sold at your party, so no license is involved.

What do I need to buy?

Only the alcohol — and you don't even have to work out what. Once we settle the menu I'll call your local liquor store and place the order for you: exact bottles, exact quantities, sized to your headcount. You pay them directly, and most shops around here will deliver it to the house. If you'd rather shop yourself, I'll send you the list instead.

Everything else I can bring as a flat package — juices, sodas and tonics, all the garnish fruit, and the picks, cups, straws and napkins. The syrups and bitters I make myself and bring at no charge either way.

What's in the mixer & garnish package?

Everything that isn't alcohol — $200 for up to 50 guests:

  • Juices — lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit and cranberry. I use Natalie's, which is genuinely good not-from-concentrate juice. Never sour mix.
  • Club soda, tonic and ginger beer
  • All the garnish fruit, cut the day of — plus cherries, olives and fresh herbs
  • Cocktail picks, cups, straws and napkins

The only thing it doesn't cover is ice, which is heavy, cheap, and easier for you to grab locally — it's on your list with an exact quantity.

What does fresh-squeezed citrus add?

For $150 on top, I buy lemons and limes by the case and press them the morning of your party rather than pouring from a bottle.

Bottled juice is fine — the Natalie's in the standard package is what a lot of good bars pour. But fresh is a real step up in a drink like a margarita or a daiquiri where citrus is the cocktail. What you're actually paying for is about three hours of squeezing.

How does the batched drop-off work?

You buy the spirits — same as any event, and I'll place that order for you if you like. They come to me, I turn them into finished cocktails with the juice, syrups, and the right dilution, and I deliver them bottled and ready to pour over ice.

It's $175 plus $3 a drink, 50 drinks minimum, and the swing-top bottles are included and yours to keep. Fifty cocktails works out around $325 — roughly half what the same drinks would cost you at a bar, and nobody has to work your party.

Made with Natalie's juice as standard. Want them hand-squeezed instead? That's $100 on top.

Does setup come out of my four hours?

No. The four hours is bar service — the clock starts when the bar opens and stops when it closes. Setup and breakdown are on my time.

In practice I arrive 60–90 minutes before your start time to set the bar, cut garnishes, and get everything cold, and I stay afterwards to break down and clean up. You're paying for the hours your guests are being served, not for me carrying crates.

How many guests can you handle on your own?

Comfortably up to 50, and I do it regularly. Past that, batching does more of the work and I'll usually recommend a second bartender so nobody stands in a line — it's built into the pricing above.

How far ahead should I book?

Four to six weeks is comfortable. December, New Year's Eve, and late-spring Saturdays book earliest. A 30% deposit holds your date.

What if my guests just want wine and beer?

That's a fine party, and honestly you may not need me. If there are one or two cocktails you want done properly alongside the wine, that's exactly the job — say so on the form and I'll quote it smaller.

Are you insured?

Yes — I carry event liability insurance for every event I work. Once we lock in your date, I'll send you a certificate of insurance, and I can name your venue as an additional insured if they need it.

Inquire

Tell me about your party.

No obligation, no deposit to ask. I answer every inquiry within a day, and I'll tell you straight if I'm not the right fit for what you're planning.

Rather write directly? adamliscia@gmail.com

One of the two is enough — whichever you'd rather I use.