Celebrate Summer's End With a Moroccan Mixology Party

By Becky Harris, Houzz

For his day job, event planner Cory Martin plans massive events like galas and weddings, but when it comes to his downtime, he likes to entertain small groups of friends in a casual way. However, he does like to share his skill set. I love to do something interactive with my guests, where everyone can have fun experimenting, rather than just some plated dinner where they walk away afterward saying, Hmm, that chicken was good, he says.

For an intimate end-of-summer party , Martin chose a cozy outdoor space with a theme of personal mixology in mind. He gave his guests the ingredients and tools to make two summery cocktails, a basil limoncello and a vodka, jalapeo and mint-infused green tea.

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BEFORE: This cozy three-sided banquette sits in a small backyard in West Hollywood, California. It was a blank slate.

AFTER: The long interactive centerpiece started off with the ingredients and tools for the cocktails and took off from there. The idea was for it to have lots of color and feel really loose and organic, Martin says.

First things first. Martin gave the area a good power wash and then got busy making it comfortable for his guests. He chose a Moroccan-inspired palette with bright colors and warm metallics to create a vibrant and inviting setting.

Tip: For outdoor entertaining, you can always raid your linen closet and your living room sofa. Martin covered some seat cushions for the banquette with Ralph Lauren sheets he had around, then tossed some of his throw pillows covered in vintage fabrics on top, which made for a colorful, eclectic mix.

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The tablescape began with the ingredients for the cocktails. Martin started with potted herbs, including basil, mint and lavender. When you buy prepackaged herbs, they tend to wilt within an hour, he says. I wanted my guests to be able to just pluck the leaves fresh right off the plants. He also laid out fresh lemons and limes for his guests to squeeze into their choice of flat or sparkling water.

With the ingredient plants established in the centerpiece, he then tapped a favorite florist, Grand Eclair, to help him fill it in. They began with a base of white flowers clover, delphiniums, roses, tuberoses, pincushions and stephanotis, then layered in color with deep purple dahlias, Juliet peach garden roses, Spanish lavender and other garden greenery. The idea was to have everything loose, colorful and interactive, Martin says.

Tablescape detail: Martin wrapped the necks of some of the vases with twine to add even more texture to the centerpiece

For the tablescape, Martin pulled together pieces from T.J. Maxx and Cost Plus World Market. The space really didnt have much color in the background, so I decided to make the table stand out by being really vibrant, he says. He began with oranges, purples and yellows, knowing that the ingredients would bring in lots of greens.

He mixed warm metals like copper and gold with the chargers, the napkin rings and some of the vases, and used an array of jewel-toned glass vases and candlesticks. Using chargers and placemats allowed him to layer in more colors and textures. This is not a plated dinner, he says. The idea was to pass hummus and pitas and other dishes around family-style.

Tablescape detail: Add fresh sprigs from the centerpiece to the napkin rings. This will add to the casual, loose feel and tie the place settings to the centerpiece.

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The host also set out lemons and limes as ingredients, and added papayas and pineapples to enhance the exotic feel of the table. I wanted everything to have an organic, interactive feel, he says.

In addition to preparing drinks, each guest could prepare his or her own salt and pepper. Martin left these out in wood bowls that added to the beauty of the tablescape. Other spices served in bowls added Moroccan flavor to the table.

In addition to having the ingredients at hand, each guest was set up with tools to muddle and mix individual drinks. The mortar and pestle are for muddling the herbs.

And now, because youve read this far, its 5:00 somewhere, so lets move on to the interactive cocktail making. In addition to all the items mentioned above, Martin provided each guest with an individual cutting board (just a wooden coaster), a shaker, a decanter and the appropriate glassware.

Mixology 101: Simple syrup. Simple syrup is sugar water. Heat helps the sugar and water mix, and guests can add as little or as much sugar to the simple syrup as they like, depending on how sweet they like their cocktails.

To keep the water warm so that the sugar and water would mix with ease, Martin lit tea lights underneath clear glass teapots. While he usually buys these types of pots during shopping trips to the local Chinatown, he was excited to find these, with their Asian-style wooden bases, at Cost Plus World Market.

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Mixology 101: Muddling. For those of you who havent muddled before (I havent either), it simply means adding the ingredients to the mortar and mushing them together with the pestle. Muddling sounds much more sophisticated than mushing.

Cocktail Recipe 1: Flaming Geisha

1. Muddle some mint and jalapeo with fresh simple syrup. (Note: Jalapeos can burn the skin. Slice the peppers in advance wearing rubber gloves and provide utensils so guests dont touch the cut peppers with bare fingers.)2. Shake the mixture with fresh green tea, ice and vodka.3. Pour it into a decanter and let it infuse for a while (move on to drink No. 2, then come back to this one).4. Pour over ice and garnish with a mint leaf.

I like this one really hot, so I add an entire jalapeo to mine, Martin says. But part of the experimental fun is that guests can add as little or as much of the ingredients as they like.

The decanters Martin provided for his guests let them prepare their next drink while letting the flavors set.

Martin is a big fan of serving cocktails in clear coupe glasses, which are old-fashioned champagne glasses, so his guests can see ingredients like the basil leaves.

Cocktail Recipe 2: Art Basil

1. Muddle some basil and a lemon squeeze with fresh simple syrup.2. Shake the mixture with limoncello and ice.3. Strain it into a coupe glass.4. Add a splash of elderflower water on top and garnish with a basil leaf and a slice of lemon.

This drink has a lovely aromatic sense to it. Its very light and summery, Martin says.

For guests who like the taste of lavender in their tea, Martin provided it planted in pots in the centerpiece so that they could muddle it right in with the simple syrup.

I love to throw parties like this for just a few close friends, Martin says. Everyone has fun experimenting, and its great to walk away from a dinner party having learned something new.