Hello All,

They say that liquor sales have gone up by 23% during Covid-19.  Well, yes, since you can’t hang out at the bars anymore!  So as long as you have to enjoy your cocktails at home, you might as well have even more fun planning out and offering a “BiB Classic Cocktail Kit”  for our Bachfest Silent Auction! Last year, one of the items that got a lot of bids, concluding with a bidding war between Tina and my sister, Jan, was the “Nick ‘n Nora Martini Kit”.  I love the “Slim Man” movies, so I had a great time tracking down “Nick ‘n Nora” glasses (yes, they are called that).  My liquor store donated the gin and vermouth, and it was not hard to find a DVD of the “Slim Man” movie.  It made a great package–people can sit at home (safely) and enjoy a great cocktail while they watch a fun movie! And it all goes to support “Bach in Baltimore” as we patiently wait to reopen. Have some fun yourself preparing a Classic Cocktail Package for this year’s Bachfest Silent Auction, running February 14 (I LOVE BACH) to March 1, 2021.

SOME IDEAS TO GET YOU STARTED (feel free to actually use and build these!):

Think about some of your favorites and go from there! Maybe it was Perry Mason:  the prohibition cocktails were ‘The Bees Knees’, the ‘Scofflaws’, and I’m sure there were others.  How about Casablanca?  The cocktail was the ‘French 75’.  How about Murder on the Orient Express or Raiders of the Lost Ark–I know they were drinking on that one!

I found an article in the Washington Post recently on President’s Cocktails (see HERE).  Listed were JFK’s Daiquiri, Gerald Ford’s Martini, FDR’s Rum Swizzle,  Harry Truman’s Old Fashioned, Teddy Roosevelt’s Mint Julep,  and John Adams’ Independence Punch.  Put it together with a biography, documentary, bust, or portrait.  There are many “Presidents of the USA” board games and card games (good way to help the grands learn a little history).

Or you could take a little time to explore the ‘Retro’ cocktails that need to be brought back.  You could start with ‘Pink Squirrel’. Did you know that John Lennon’s favorite drink was ‘Brandy Alexander’?  (Have you got an old ‘Abby Road’ album in your attic?)  Ever hear of the ‘Gin Rickey’?–created by the demands of a Democrat lobbyist in Washington DC in the 19th Century.  It became one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s favorite drinks.  He also liked the ‘Sidecar’, as did his character, the ‘Great Gatsby’,  Ernest Hemingway, and according to Ian Fleming, the teenage James Bond.

As you can see, with just a minimal amount of research you can come up with a fun idea that you love personally and can share – and then get to work!  Your liquor store may be happy to donate the booze–remember, we can feature their name and they get four weeks free advertising on our website before and during the auction.  You can find a DVD, a card game, and/or a board game that goes with your drink.  Figure out what glassware or other unique tools you might need.  I have a favorite, Boston Shaker, and if you want I can send you a 15% off coupon.  You can find them online and they do a great job of packaging and shipping.

And once you put together the package, your work is done – I will make sure it gets shipped! While the bidder pays for the shipping at the time of purchase, I will do the legwork (picking up your boxed package, shipping it, and filing the receipt). And all will have a great time, including you! We will help people as they continue to get through the shutdown – and Bach in Baltimore will forge ahead into the future!

As always, contact myself or Eliza Adams with questions, ideas, offerings (elizaadams79@gmail.com; nafzigerkaren@gmail.com),

Karen Nafziger, Bachfest Co-Chair