Juice bars serving healthy juices and refreshing smoothies are excellent ideas for pool parties, barbecues, birthdays and picnics. Here are some tips to set up an impressive juice bar stocked with multiple choices of fresh juices, delicious smoothies and other appetizing treats.
Setting up the bar is all about prepping the night before. Stock plenty of glasses and serveware like pitchers and jugs so guests can try different combinations. Mixing bowls, spoons and cocktail shakers are also essential so it’s easy to make drinks as your party progresses. Colorful straws and paper umbrellas are a nice touch to add to the fun.
Along with the drinkware, smoothie blenders and juicers are essential for setting up the juice bar. Smoothie blenders are a good choice as they are powerful and come with presets for different types of produce such as tough-skinned fruits or soft produce such as berries or herbs.
It’s a good idea to have citrus juicers at hand as they are great in smoothly extracting juice and separating seeds from halved lemons, grapefruits and oranges. Choose smoothie blenders and juicers with generous jars so it’s easy to make big batches of drinks for the guests at the party. The right choice of blender and juicer is key to hosting a successful party and setting up a great juice bar.
The next step of setting up a juice bar for your party is choosing the right ingredients. Frozen fruits are a better choice for smoothies while fresh fruits are essential for juices. Plan a well-balanced menu by choosing both frozen and fresh fruits. Popular fruits such as strawberry and banana along with tropical options such as mangoes and pineapple are good choices for the juice bar. Greens such as spinach and celery also make excellent smoothies and juices so they should be included in menu. The slight bitterness of the greens can be balanced by combining them with apples or pears.
Beside fruits and veggies, yogurt, milk, soymilk, almond milk and coconut water are essentials as liquid bases for the juices and smoothies. Other useful ingredients for the juice bar include honey, organic sugar and flavored salts. It’s also important to have plenty of ice at hand. Cherries, lemon wedges, sliced fruit, chocolate shavings and grated coconut are excellent choices for garnishes.
Make certain recipes such as lemon juice, apple juice and strawberry smoothies ahead. They are popular drinks and can be used for other recipes. The night before freeze soda or coconut water with mint sprigs in ice cube trays to make fun ice cubes for the party.