Tips for Holiday Hosting and "Zebra Striping" with Diageo Experts Fernando Sousa and Ana Fitzgibbons
What is zebra striping, and how does it relate to holiday hosting?
In this short episode, Fernando Sousa, National Beverage Director for Diageo North America, explains the idea of alternating between alcoholic and lower-alcohol or non-alcoholic drinks, and shows a party drink recipe. Ana Fitzgibbons, Director of Alcohol Responsibility at Diageo, shares tips for being a mindful, responsible host. It is a useful listen whether you are a nursing mom, a parent of small children, or simply want to mix it up with your own alcohol consumption.
What you'll learn in this episode:
Zebra striping means alternating your drinks. Fernando says it is the idea of alternating between alcoholic and lower-alcohol or non-alcoholic cocktails throughout the evening or whatever social occasion you are joining. He says it gives you the power to choose how you are feeling in the moment.
Offer guests a choice. Fernando says the biggest holiday hosting trend he sees as a mixologist is the power to choose: fully alcoholic serves, non-alcoholic serves and a middle ground of lower-alcohol serves. As a host, he likes being able to curate something for everyone rather than one specialty cocktail.
It is fine if guests do not want to drink. Ana says that is perfectly fine, and it is a great opportunity for a host to shine with non-alcoholic cocktails. Marijo notes this can suit listeners who are nursing or have little kids and do not want to drink as much.
Start with a non-alcoholic welcome drink. Ana says the welcome drink should always be a non-alcoholic one, so that everyone can partake.
Put food, water and a safe ride home on the list. Ana says food is critical, water is important, and making sure people have a safe ride home is really important.
Hold off on topping up drinks. Ana suggests not topping people's drinks off when they look half empty, so guests can keep track of how much alcohol they are actually consuming.
Try Fernando's Citrus Flame recipe. Fernando says it is made with Smirnoff Spicy Tamarind, a little vanilla ice cream (his pro tip is to melt it before adding it to the shaker), a touch of lime juice and a little cane sugar for mouthfeel. No measurements are given in the episode.
Shake, pour and garnish. Fernando says to give the shaker a quick shake (and do not forget to smile), then pour into a cocktail glass such as a Nick and Nora coupe, a rocks glass without ice or a classic martini glass. He tops it with chocolate shavings and fresh lime zest.
Find the free book and more tips. The guests say the cocktail book, which includes how to make drinks with lower alcohol or no alcohol, is free to download at diageo.com/serveandsip3, and that more tips on being mindful about drinking are at drinkiq.com.
About the guests: Fernando Sousa and Ana Fitzgibbons
Fernando Sousa is the National Beverage Director for Diageo North America. Fernando has been a leader in hospitality and beverage operations across luxury hotels, resorts and corporate environments.
Ana Fitzgibbons is the Director of Alcohol Responsibility at Diageo. Ana leads the company's programs and partnerships across the US and Canada to promote responsible drinking and address alcohol-related challenges such as binge drinking, underage drinking and impaired driving.
Cocktail book mentioned in the episode: diageo.com/serveandsip3
More responsible drinking tips: drinkiq.com
Diageo: diageo.com
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Full episode transcript
Read the full transcript
Intro (recorded)
What is zebra striping and how does it relate to you as a parent? You're going to find out today during this mini episode about holiday hosting trends. Hi, I'm Marijo Tinlin from the Teaching Your Toddler Show. I can't wait for you to hear more about this exciting topic. Our guests today include Fernando Sousa who is the national beverage director for Diageo North America and Ana Fitzgibbons who is the director of alcohol responsibility at Diageo. Fernando has been a leader in hospitality and beverage operations across luxury hotels, resorts, and corporate environments. Ana leads the company's programs and partnerships across the US and Canada to promote responsible drinking and address alcohol related challenges such as binge drinking, underage drinking, and impaired driving.
Fernando is going to show us a yummy party drink recipe. And Ana is going to give us tips on how to be responsible party hosts. Whether you're a nursing mom, parent to small children, or you just want to learn how to mix it up with your alcohol consumption, you're going to learn something today. Enjoy this mini episode.
Marijo: Hi there. Welcome to the show. Thanks so much for joining us. Fernando, first of all, can you tell us what is zebra striping?
Fernando: So, zebra striping is essentially the idea of alternating between alcoholic and potentially lower alcohol or non-alcoholic cocktails throughout the evening or whatever social occasion you may be joining.
Marijo: So, you drink a little of both is what you're saying.
Fernando: Exactly. Exactly. You can kind of create your own journey a little bit and be able to really cultivate what you want when you want it. Gives you really all that power to choose how you're feeling in the moment.
Marijo: That's amazing. So, tell us a little bit about some of the holiday hosting trends this year that have to do with zebra striping.
Fernando: Well, it kind of coincides exactly with zebra striping, right? I think the biggest trend that I'm seeing as a mixologist is really the power to choose, right? That that choice option of having fully full alcoholic serves, non-alcoholic serves, and that middle ground of lower alcoholic serves. Really giving everyone the option. And as a host, I love that because I'm able to really curate something for everyone that's there. And not just have the one specialty cocktail for everyone that may or may not really want it that night.
Marijo: That's amazing. I mean, for this listenership, that's great. They might be nursing, they might have little kids, they don't want to drink as much. So, that's fantastic. What else do you have to show us today?
Fernando: Yeah, so today I'm going to be showcasing a fantastic cocktail out of our new Serve and Sip cocktail book. This cocktail is called the citrus flame and it's it's made with Smirnoff Spicy Tamarind. A little bit of vanilla ice cream, which as a pro tip, please go ahead and melt before you add it to your cocktail shaker. A touch of lime juice. And of course, a little bit of cane sugar just for that little bit of mouth feel. So once we're done adding all those ingredients to our shaker, go ahead and grab that. Don't forget to smile. Give it a quick shake. Great. And then we're going to go ahead and pour that right into what I love is a nice little beautiful Nick and Nora etched coupe here.
But feel free to use whatever cocktail glass you have at home. Whether it's a rock glass without any ice in it or a classic martini glass, whatever you prefer. And then of course, it's not the holidays without a little bit of chocolate shavings and then a little bit of those aromatics from some fresh lime zest just right on top.
Marijo: Oh wow. Beautiful. That is that's a gorgeous drink and it's just so fun.
Fernando: I made it and I must say it is pretty darn beautiful.
Marijo: Oh [laughter] yes. Excellent. We'll make sure we put the recipe in the show notes for people. So Ana, tell us a little bit about how are you how do people practice mindful hosting?
Ana: Yeah, I think look, it's all about intention. It's all about thinking about your guests. So you mentioned a couple of different cases where folks may not be wanting to drink alcohol. That's perfectly fine and that's as a host it's a really great opportunity to shine and make some amazing non-alcoholic cocktails and our Serve and Sip book has those details on how to make any cocktail including this one with lower alcohol or no alcohol. So I think that's always really important. I always like to have my welcome drink be a non-alcoholic drink so that everyone can partake. Also food is critical, water is important. Making sure people have a safe ride home is really important.
And not topping people's drinks off when they look like they're half empty so that they can keep track of how much alcohol they're actually consuming.
Marijo: Oh, that's something I'd never thought of. That's amazing. Very good. Well, thank you. Anything else to tell us or show us today?
Ana: Yes. If you'd like to find this book online for yourself, it's free to download at diageo.com/serveandsip3. And if you'd like more tips on how to be mindful about your drinking, you can visit drinkiq.com.
Marijo: Excellent. And again, we'll make sure that all of these are in the show notes for people to get. Thank you so much for joining us today. It's been a pleasure.
Fernando and Ana: Thank you for having us.
Marijo: Happy holidays.
Fernando and Ana: Thank you.
Outro (recorded)
This has been the Teaching Your Toddler Show with Marijo Tinlin. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you enjoyed today's show, please leave a five-star review or a thumbs up so we can reach more parents like you. To be notified when new shows post, please subscribe by sending an email to subscribe@teachingyourtoddler.com. For more expert interviews, fun activities, and storytime podcasts, please visit our website at teachingyourtoddler.com. All of our shows are also posted as videos as well on our YouTube channel at Marijo Tinlin. Find us on Facebook at Teaching Your Toddler, X at TeachingToddler, Instagram at Teaching Your Toddler, and make sure you check out our past shows.
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