How-to-batch drinks tips?

Hi! Newcomer here but I had a question I couldn't find so this is my very first post on TC!

I've started to host T(h)iki Thursdays with my friends making them drinks I've become obsessed with from Beachbum Berry and Martin Cate. But like I've read here and elsewhere, I end up making drinks the whole time and not hanging out (doesn't really bother me cuz I'm having a blast but my friends have started to comment). Are there any tips for making batches of mixes ahead of time that might ease some of the pouring steps? I know I've heard it's best to not pre-mix citrus because you want to juice as last minute as possible to keep it fresh. But is there a reason to not add the alcohol? Are there other ingredients that shouldn't be pre-mixed? And are there any rules about changing the ratios of ingredients when you start multiplying for batching?

Thank you!

After several parties of working and not doing any partying I started batching certain multi-ingredient cocktails the day of. I do it for mai tais and navy grogs, for example. I don't put the alcohol in cos I like the flexibility of being able to choose my combos versus being stuck with one particular combo, but I definitely do juices and all.

When you've got 20 folks hanging out, pouring 2 ounces of mai tai mix and 2 ounces of rum is a really nice and easy option.

Oh, and welcome!!!

Certain drinks don't batch up well. For instance, the Mai Tai requires a certain amount of dilution and aeration from a single serving shake that you can't easily replicate if you're timesing the recipe by 20 and sticking it in a bowl or pitcher. Something like a rum barrel or scorpion on the other hand, you could adjust the recipe according to number of guests you expect. With a recipe that has a lot of spice, bitters, or dominant flavors, you might want to test it with a lower amount those ingredients first and then add more to taste so you don't overdo it and then have to combat that by tweaking everything else.

If you're preparing the batch well in advance of the party, I would advise to wait as long as possible on the citrus like you mentioned, but the other fruit juices and liquors should be fine sitting together for hours (assuming you're keeping it all refrigerated). As party time comes closer, add the citrus and then either blocks, spheres or large shapes of ice to keep it chilled. Using cubes or crushed ice will quickly dilute your punch. The larger the surface area of your ice mold, the longer it'll stay solid without melting. Other options depending on what vessel your punch is delivered in, you could add a ziplock freezer bag of ice directly in it (unappealing, but allows no dilution), or fill a bowl with ice and put your punch bowl on top of that.

What drink were you thinking to batch up?

Oh, maybe I misread this. Were you just looking to batch certain ingredients together to make mixing individual drinks easier or did you want to make punches?

Thank you for the welcome! And @mikehooker yeah it's the second of two. Mainly trying to cut down some time on a few pre-selected cocktails when I'm hosting my friends. But good punch advice is always welcome too! Haven't tried one yet

We definitely went through this recently for a party we had in January. As you said, it was born out of a necessity to spend a little more time with people, speed up service and just cut some corners. We had about 30 people at the party, so slinging drinks done jigger by jigger just seemed daunting.

As some have said in this thread, keep those liquors and citrus separate.

Over the course of a couple weeks before our party, we took all the empty bottles we had available, and saved onto them so we could batch drinks right in bottle with pour spouts, and not have to purchase anything separately.

We batched out enough for about 5-6 drinks per recipe directly in the bottle. So for Mai Tai for instance it was:

2.5 oz Curacao
2.25 oz. Orgeat
2.25 oz. Sugar Syrup
5 oz. Dark Jamaican
5 oz. Aged Martinique

Total of 17 ounces for the 5 drinks... so it adds up quickly in a bottle.

Then when someone ordered it, I put 3 oz of the mix in, which would be about the amount of all the ingredients, and then grabbed the lime bottle for 1 oz. fresh lime juice. Mai Tai ready to go in about 1 min...

Overall, it definitely sped up service in the middle part of the night, when we have the most people. Definitely give the bottle a shake before you pour to make sure the mixture is as mixed as possible.

And I've got to mention as with all these batching threads, build the batch from weakest to strongest in flavors. Beware of just straight multiplying the ingredient amounts, especially with things like bitters and amaros. Taste as you go. It doesn't take a lot of absinthe to completely overwhelm a drink!

Thanks for responses everyone! I've managed to make a zombie and a mai tai "mix" by basically putting all the liqueurs together and then adding the fruit juice and rum when making the drinks. They've turned out pretty good but those were batched at only about 8 drinks per bottle. I'll try experimenting with other drinks (and maybe see if there is some possibilities for custom batch mixes that might overlap with multiple drinks) and see if I can keep up with my friends' thirsts!