The Art Of The Party: Tippling Bros. Drink It Up At NYCWFF

"Do you guys hear that?" Paul Tanguay asked as people filed into The Tippler for the Art of the Party New York City Wine & Food Festival seminar. "Those are cocktails being shaken! That's the party!" he said enthusiastically. 

If only we knew just how rowdy this party was going to get. With the bar as the backdrop, the guys behind the underground Chelsea Market bar, Tanguay and Tad Carducci, weren't just schooling the crowd on how to throw a killer cocktail party — they were throwing a killer cocktail party. Tanguay and Carducci work together at Tippler's, and they also do beverage consulting for a number of New York City restaurants (and hinted at expansion to new cities, but wouldn't share with The Daily Meal where). The two said they knew just how difficult throwing a party could be. "We've done it all, from our own personal parties to an Aspen Food & Wine party for 10,000 people," Carducci said to the crowd. "So we're here to share our mistakes with you, and our successes." 

So how do the guys behind the Tippling Bros. party, exactly? With careful calculations, "batchology," and precision. Tanguay and Carducci instructed how to calculate the number of drinks by using the number of people attending and how long the party would be. Plus, they shared a complicated equation to show how to pre-batch cocktails for a party — and how to avoid that nasty problem of dilution. They said that the average cocktail is about 25 percent water, which means batching beforehand can equal some watery cocktails later. "You can't just multiply the cocktail recipe you find online by how many people you have," Carducci said. "You'll end up with way too many." A rough calculation means you should batch only about 75 percent of the cocktails you plan to serve, to equate for the amount of ice and water you'll have by the time the party starts. 

Sounds complicated? Fortunately, the Tippling Bros. knew how to make the numbers game more fun for the eager crowd — especially with the booze. Getting the party started with the Tippler's standard, a Booty Collins, was only the start to a lively party. And of course, they threw a few tidbits of wisdom out to the crowd; after bringing up a member of the audience to shake a cocktail, Carducci instructed everyone to look at his face. Then he shared that one time that he served a drink to a British model (rhymes with "Fake Floss"), who told him that the face a man makes when shaking a cocktail is the same face when he... we'll let you figure out the rest. By the time the Fireside Punch rolled out, guests were shouting out questions and trying to stay afloat. Another successful party, indeed.