non-alcoholic beverages – Shaken Not Stirred in LA

Palmdale Grand Opening Bartender

October 25, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

Shaken Not Stirred traveled to Palmdale again Friday to bartend the grand opening of a new business. This was strictly a non-alcoholic event and I served virgin Pina Colladas, and Cucumber Coolers, along with several other soft drinks. I have another non-alcoholic event scheduled next month, and I have several interesting drink recipes I am going to try on that one. I brought my portable bar to the Palmdale grand opening, and a server.

The mayor of Palmdale, James Ledford Jr. was on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony. He must be doing something right because he has served 11 terms as mayor of that city. I have got to give it to him, he delivered a pretty articulate and smooth speech for the ribbon cutting ceremony. He certainly has the public speaking skills of a seasoned politician. It was the first grand opening/ribbon cutting ceremony I have had the pleasure of working, and I hope to do many more.

They had two massage therapists on hand at the event, who were giving complimentary chair massages to promote their service. My server and I each had a five minute massage. The girl who was working on me discovered several knots in my back and she really worked them out quickly. I must say, my back feels 100 percent better after that and I highly recommend them, Allied Physical Medicine, in Palmdale.

The company that was having the grand opening is MY CARE Professionals, and they provide in home care for seniors in Los Angeles County. The directors of the company seemed like super people and I wish them the best with their new office. I have done many corporate events in the past year, and am bartending a non-profit event in Westlake village next week.

After I post this, I will start preparing for a wedding today in Cherry Valley at the Edward Dean Museum. This will be my first time working this venue. Next weekend I will be bartending in Palm Springs on Saturday, and it would be nice to get a Halloween party there on Friday night.

Class Reunion Bartenders, Special Event Bartenders

Pasadena/Glendale Reunion Event

July 29, 2012July 30, 2012 shakennotstirredinla

This weekend Shaken Not Stirred manned two events for the Area H alternative school 40^th reunion. The first event on Friday night was a cocktail reception held at a hall in Pasadena. At least 100 guests attended the reception from 6 until 10 and munched on appetizers and partook in wine, beer, and soft drinks. The bar was a table with table cloth set up in front of an empty room that I worked out of and that worked fine. Musician attendees provided the live entertainment. Corona, Sierra Nevada, and Amsdell Light were the beers of choice, and they went through several cases.

The second event was a sit down Mexican dinner held on Saturday night at a private club house in Glendale. I bartended and had Kristine assisting me. It got busy behind the bar (we had an actual bar) as we were serving Cadillac Margaritas, wine, beer, and soft drinks. There is a stage at the Club house and many of the guests joined in on a prolonged jam session, and there was a skit or two for the diner’s entertainment.

There were at least 140 guests and many of them were not drinking alcohol. Our non-alcoholic drink choices were limited to Coke, Diet Coke, Seven-up, Martinelli’s, and bottled water. I got the feeling that people were disappointed that there weren’t more choices for non drinkers. I somewhat blame myself, because when discussing the shopping list with the event planner, I did not think to stress the importance of non alcoholic drinks. Often we are so busy thinking about the alcoholic beverages we forget about the non-alcoholic selections. We did completely use up

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all of the beer, all of the white wine, and a good portion of the red wine.

The next time I discuss a shopping list with a client I am going to suggest a variety of non alcoholic drinks. Cranberry juice is popular, maybe mixed with a bit of club soda. There is an Italian soda made by the San Pelligrino company called Limonata which is very good and not so sweet. Sparkling water is also often requested and can be garnished with a lemon or lime. There is a variety of Mexican soft drinks called Jarritos and are made from cane sugar that are also very good. It seems like the more parties that I work, the more non-drinkers there are.

Shaken Not Stirred serves the entire Southern California area from Ventura County, the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, the Inland Empire, Orange County, and even San Diego. We have had inquiries from Palm Springs and we will go there for the right event. We have several events already scheduled for August, and are bidding on events all the way into October, so don’t wait to make your booking – call us at (310) 280-6103, or email us at shakennotstirred1@aol.com.

Class Reunion Bartenders

Ten Year Class Reunion Event

June 24, 2012 shakennotstirredinla

Last night I bartended at my first ten year class reunion event in swanky Rancho Santa Fe. Rancho Santa Fe (north ofSan Diego) ranks as one the priciest zip codes in the U.S., but the people attending and organizing last night’s event couldn’t have been nicer. There were probably seventy people in attendance, and everybody seemed to have had a good time.

The reunion committee decided for the party that they would serve beer, wine, and unfortunately had only water as a non-alcoholic beverage. I noticed that several people weren’t drinking alcohol and were disappointed that there wasn’t more of a selection of non-alcoholic beverages. That is something to keep in mind if you are planning a party. Many people do not drink alcohol these days, and I think party planners should be more mindful of that. There are many exciting non-alcoholic beverages on the market.

They had several brands of beer available including Stone IPA, Fat Tire,Newcastle, Samuel Adams, and Corona. Stone IPA seemed to be the most popular among this crowd, with Newcastle coming in second. Corona is usually the most popular at the parties I do, but came in last as this reunion. Cupcake Cabernet was the most popular wine, followed by Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.

As summer continues, I’m sure there will be many, many more class reunions taking place inSouthern California. Shaken Not Stirred will be happy to accommodate as many of them as possible. We have both male and female bartenders and servers available. We also have relationships with DJ’s, entertainers, photographers, and caterers. Make your summer event, class reunion, wedding, engagement party, pool party, or Fourth of July party memorable and stress free by hiring the event professionals at Shaken Not Stirred.