Although messing up a drink recipe doesn’t sound like the best way to make a great tasting cocktail, one Italian drink proves that happy accidents are possible. A Negroni Sbagliato cocktail by Toronto bar D.W. Alexander is the perfect addition to a fun evening. This sparkling punch-like mixture has a nice, palatable taste that goes great at dinner parties. It’s a refreshingly light cocktail with a pleasant red color that can be garnished with an array of fresh fruits to make a beautiful springtime concoction. The recipe is quite simple:

Negroni Sbagliato Cocktail Recipe

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Ingredients

1oz Gin
1oz Sweet Vermouth
1oz Cava (or a similarly sweet sparkling white wine)
OPTIONAL: Fresh seasonal fruit (oranges, limes, grapefruits, etc.)
NOTE: To make a larger portion size which can be served to guests, you can add as much of each ingredient as needed, but always keep the portions equal. For example, if you use 5oz of Gin, you must use 5oz of the other two ingredients, etc.

Directions

1. Mix together Gin and Sweet Vermouth into a glass filled with ice. Stir them gently to combine. If you’re making a party size portion, you can use a punch bowl with ice in it.
2. If you plan to use fresh fruit garnishes, slice the fruit into wheels. Put the fruit slice(s) into your drink mixture.
3. Top the mixture with Cava sparkling wine. Stir briefly to combine. Garnish with a leftover fruit wheel of your choice.

Variations

The great thing about this cocktail is that you can easily “mess it up” further to make the flavor or appearance suit any occasion. Here are a few tasty variations to the Negroni Sbagliato cocktail:

1. You can make a lighter cocktail mix by nixing the Gin. Instead, use a light Campari in the equivalent amount. This is a popular substitution, and the red color of Campari adds a pleasing look to your glass.
2. Spice up your garnish by sprinkling fresh ground cinnamon on top of the entire punch bowl mixture. Wait until you have done all of the necessary stirring, so that the cinnamon will simply rest on top and add a touch of spice along with an attractive dusted appearance to the cocktail.
3. Change it up to add a bit of a kick to the recipe. Substitute good vodka for the Gin and you will end up with a Negroski cocktail. This is stronger and has a different flavor, but that might be what you prefer if you’re not a fan of Gin.

What cocktail recipes are you making this weekend?

How to Throw an Adult Halloween Party

Image via: Southern Living

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Set a budget

First before anything is set in stone, setup a budget. Figure out how much you actually want to spend, this will help you narrow down what you actually want at the party while not having to splurge for just one night. Think about how many guests will be there, how much food and what types of foods, games, music and how it will be played (live DJ or just playlist from the computer), and also think about location and the decorations. If you can, make it a group effort and split up the costs. Or you can have one person pick and pay for one area of the night. Like one person for the music and another for the food.

Image via:  Good Home Design

Select the Perfect Location

When dealing with any event, you always want to consider the location. Like with a summer wedding, because it’s hot, you might consider having it indoors if it is during the day or outdoors if it is more in the evening. The same rule applies here for planning a Halloween party. Your location could be a spacious friend’s house, a basement, or even outdoors. Just make sure if you’re consider having the Halloween party outdoors that you have enough lighting and open space for everyone’s safety and convenience.  The location can also help with the types of Halloween decorations that you want as well.

Image via: BHG

Make a Guest List

Create a list of those who you would like to come to the party. Co-workers, close friends, relatives, and let it be known that it is an adult party. Word of mouth is great but to have it as a permanent reminder social media is the key, do this about 2-3 weeks before the actual party that way you can have some RSVPs, which will help when ordering the food. Use facebook or some media network close to that to help not only invite but keep as a save the date tab so people will remember. Also, for kicks since it’s a Halloween party have ask your guests to dress up in Halloween costumes.

Image via:  Honey Bear Lane

Good Food and Funky Music

The food, games and music are the Coup D Etat of the party. You have a couple of options when you make the food; you can just have catered foods, or create a potluck, or have your foods resemble gruesome items like spaghetti worms or meatball eyeballs. Make your own versions of Halloween drinks like very bloody Mary, not so virgin martini, etc. The most played song on Halloween is Thiller by Michael Jackson and you can find some great Halloween music from billboard.com. For the games; bobbing apples, human darts, etc are good starters. Visit some local websites for creative games to do.

Don’t let the children have all of the fun on Halloween this year! Set a budget, find a location, make a list of who you want to come, create a menu, and let the music play! If you take the party head on then it may get a bit overwhelming, however if you take it step by step then you should be able to better manage it. Also, Stagetecture readers how do you want to celebrate your Halloween party this year? Please, let us know because we’d love to hear it!

For more Halloween party ideas on Stagetecture, click here.