Throwing a Labor Day beach bash? Entertaining expert Maureen Petrosky has all the tips, tricks, gadgets and recipes to make your sandy soirée a success. She shows us how make cocktails that are perfect for seaside sipping, reveals the must-have cooler of the summer, how to add fun flair to your party and more.
Coffee Cocktails
Spiked iced coffee or iced tea cocktails are perfect for the beach. Make a big batch of them and bring them along for some refreshing fun in the sun.
Make your morning cup of Joe even more eye-opening with sweet amaretto and hearty spiced rum.
You can transport your coffee cocktail in this perfect thermos pitcher: alfi Kugel 0.94L Glass Vacuum Insulated Carafe, $35, Amazon
DIY Cocktail Station
Flavored seltzer water has zero calories and is perfect for making sparkling beach drinks. Simply set up a DIY cocktail station for fun sips in the sand. Bring fresh herbs to the beach for your bar set up pre-washed and wrapped in damp paper towels in a large ziptop bag. Have your citrus fruit already cut into in another ziptop container and transport both in your cooler to keep them fresh.
Set up your bar:
A variety of flavored seltzer waters
A bottle of each vodka, gin, tequila, whiskey and rum
Lemon and lime wedges, orange slices, pineapple wedges and grapefruit slices
Mint, basil and cilantro leaves
Orange and pineapple juice
Cups and stirrers
Ice
With these simple ingredients you can make deliciously refreshing, low-calorie cocktails like this:
Enjoy a minty mojitos without the sugar. Fresh cool mint and zesty lime provide all the flavor in this refreshing cocktail.
Dress up your drinks with beachy garnishes like plastic sharks and underwater sea creatures. Like these:
Sea Animals Bath Toys, $12.95, Amazon
Grown-up Kiddie Pool
Repurpose an inflatable kiddie pool with beach balls and drinks, including beach themed wines and beers. Keep it under an umbrella so everything stays nice and cool. Fill your pool with ice and beach themed wines and beers. Pick labels like Beach House wines, Sea Glass Sauvignon Blanc, Montauk Watermelon Session Ale, Schofferhofer Hefeweizen Grapefruit beer and Kona Big Wave Golden Ale. And, toss a few inflated beach balls into the pool for fun.
Ice Ice, Baby
You can never have enough ice for a beach bash. To keep your cubes cold you'll need a great cooler and Yeti is the it brand these days. It's like there is a Yeti cult!
Yeti coolers, prices vary, Jet
Then, fill that cooler with ready to pour drinks like these delicious sangrias. Ready to serve sangrias from the California based sangria company Bass Note are fun, easy to transport and come in interesting flavors like Blackberry Sage, Peach Tarragon and Cherry Lime Almond.
Bass Note Sangrias, $14.99 for a 750ml bottle, Bass Note
Make your wine shine.
Last, but not least, your must-have item for a sunset beach party are these glowing LED bottle stoppers. They are perfect for keeping sand out and you always know where the wine is!
Rabbit LED Bottle Stoppers $16 for a set of 2, Rabbit