What to Drink When Organizing a Bingo Night

While casino games have their own specific cocktails associated with them, and poker players usually enjoy a beer while playing their hands, bingo is a harder game to decide what to drink during. If you are planning on hosting your own bingo night, it may be hard to know what to serve. Below, we give our selection of drinks bound to make your bingo session go swimmingly.

Dry Martini

With a dry martini, you can bring a touch of elegance to your bingo night. If you play online, you may want to consider a game of online live bingo with this drink. These games allow you to connect with the host via streaming technology. Some have exciting bonus rounds that will provide all the showbiz glitz your evening needs.  

The Dry Martini is the perfect pairing for a night of bingo. Made from vermouth and gin, it is a floral drink rich in aromatic flavors. Confusingly, the Martini name itself is actually a brand name of vermouth, which may be where the martini cocktail first derived its name. Usually, the mix includes two measures of gin to one measure of vermouth. The less vermouth included, the drier the drink becomes. Often served with an olive or citrus peel, the dry martini has been popular for decades.

The drink first became popular in the 1920s, but its association with popular culture lies firmly at the door of Ian Fleming’s famous book character, and later cinematic icon, James Bond. He drank a variation on the dry martini, known as a Vesper or vodka martini. With his famous catchphrase, “Shaken not stirred,” he popularized the martini in pop culture at large. 

Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned is a truly American cocktail, dating back to 1862. When the Old Fashioned was popularized, it was made from gin along with bitters, sugar and citrus peel. The addition of its signature bourbon ingredient is accredited to a Mr. James E. Pepper, who served it at a private social club in Louisville, Kentucky. He then took it to New York at the bar of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Today the recipe has not changed much at all. Two parts of bourbon whiskey, which can be substituted for rye based on preference, get mixed with three dashes of bitters, a twist of orange, a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of water. Some mixologists prefer to boil the water and sugar into a syrup, though this is simply bartender preference. The beauty of the cocktail is that it allows the tones of the whiskey below to breathe while taking off the sharp boozy edge. 

Cosmopolitan

A cosmopolitan is a new addition to the cocktail world when compared to some of the other entries on this list. It was allegedly created in 1975 by bartender Neal Murray in Minneapolis. He added a dash of cranberry juice to a kamikaze cocktail. When a patron remarked that it was so cosmopolitan, the drink’s name was born. 

Today the drink is a fruity affair, containing the orange liqueur Cointreau, vodka, cranberry juice and sweetened lime. However, some recipes predate their origin in the seventies and include gin, lemon, raspberry syrup and Cointreau. Its popularity as a drink boomed in the nineties when it was the drink of choice on the sitcom “Sex and the City.” This makes it ideal for a girls-only night of bingo fun!