DIY Mango Cocktail Station At Home: Glassware, Garnishes, And Drinks

There are three main components that make up a DIY cocktail bar or station: mango juice/mango purée, citrus juice, and alcoholic beverage. Because mango has the natural sweetness, rich texture, and tropical acidity of a fruit, it works great with rum, vodka, tequila, and fizzy mixers. All three components can be mixed by guests to create simple mango cocktails with layered flavours.

Start With The Mango Base

A mango-based cocktail bar or station should use ripe, fresh mangoes as the fruit base. Fresh ripe mangoes can be blended into smooth purees, or you can use mango nectar or mango syrup for faster service. Fresh ripe mangoes are known for their smooth texture and concentrated fruit flavour and are a great addition to shakes, cocktails and highball drinks. Bartenders will often combine fresh mangoes and limes because the citrus flavour will help temper the natural sweetness of fresh mangoes.

Arrange the mango components in labelled containers:

• Fresh mango puree

• Mango nectar

• Mango syrup

• Diced mango for garnish

• Mango slices for glass decoration

Essential Ingredients For The Station

A well-stocked mango cocktail bar does not need several different ingredients. Instead, build your cocktail station around a few key ingredients that are versatile and will create the intended outcome when combined with mango. 

Include:

• Fresh lime juice

• Simple syrup

• Club soda

• Mint leaves

• Fresh ginger

• Chilli salt or Tajín-style seasoning

• Ice

For spirits, use mixed whiskies like the Johnnie Walker Blonde (or any other of your choice), white rum, vodka, and tequila to complement tropical fruit flavours such as mango. The main flavours used to complement mango are lime, ginger, chilli, mint, and any sparkling mixer.

Organise Glassware Properly

Using glassware correctly will create a noticeable change when more than one person is at the bar composing beverages. Keep three styles available for your mango drinks:

• Highball glasses for mango highballs and sparkling serves

• Rocks glasses for spirit-forward mango cocktails

• Coupe glasses for shaken mango cocktails

The garnishes should be placed beside the glassware instead of by the spirits. This makes for better flow between the glassware and spirits, and avoids crowding at the cocktail bar or service station.

The Simple 2-1-1 Formula

A simple and effective way to build a mango cocktail is through the use of the simple 2-1-1 cocktail method. The method follows one of two ratios established for cocktails:

• 2 parts spirit 

• 1 part sweet

• 1 part sour

The 2-1-1 method is often considered a base for sour-style cocktails, but the method can also be modified to fit mango cocktails. For example, the classic drinks, such as the Whisky Sour cocktail, Daiquiri cocktail and Margarita cocktail use similar ratios for the spirit, sweet and sour, although the quantities vary from recipe to recipe. Therefore, customers who are mixing a cocktail with a spirit and a mango ingredient should adapt their cocktail by using the quantity of the mango puree or syrup and lime juice to help retain the tropical flavour of the mango fruit while achieving a sour-style drink.

Mango Cocktails To Build At The Station

This is a cocktail made with mango, lime and light rum. The addition of lime gives the Daiquiri cocktail its acidity, the mango adds texture, and the tropical flavour of the fruit complements the acidity of the lime in the finished beverage.

A Mango Gin cocktail typically includes mint in addition to the mango and some type of citrus and soda. Gin contains a lot of botanicals, which add an herbal flavour to the cocktail and help offset some of the richness of the mango.

If your guests prefer a highball mango drink, combine mango puree, whisky, and soda water. The carbonation from the soda lightens the texture of the mango cocktail while still preserving the flavour of the fruit.

Chilli and citrus are often combined with mango, as they are complementary flavours that balance sweetness and acidity with spice. Dusting the rim of the glass with the chilli salt adds a savoury component to this mango cocktail.

Conclusion

If you will be setting up your own DIY cocktail station, keep it simple. Just have fresh mango, fresh citrus, select spirits, and glasses. The station will allow you to mix and match to create a variety of cocktails focusing on mango as the main ingredient. Plan so that the station is set up appropriately, making it easy to prepare for yourself or your guests.

*Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.