About us – Rockin' Cocktails
Freshly mixed. Live. Personal.
Rockin'Cocktails didn't happen overnight.
It has grown – over more than 30 years behind bars, at festivals,
at weddings, birthdays and countless conversations with guests.
How it all began
(and why cocktails are more than just a drink to me)
Angefangen hat alles vor über 30 Jahren.
Mit 17, an meinem Geburtstag, bekam ich von meinen Eltern einen Tanzkurs geschenkt.
Was harmlos klingt, hat mein Leben verändert.
In der Tanzschule lernte ich den DJ der Tanzabende kennen.
Und der brachte mich – ganz unspektakulär – hinter die Theke.
Cocktails gab es damals noch keine. Aber eines war sofort klar:
Hinter den Tresen – da gehöre ich hin.
Nach der Tanzschulzeit habe ich in Cafés und Discotheken gearbeitet.
Immer hinter der Bar. Service draußen war nie mein Ding.
Gutes Team, volle Läden, zufriedene Chefs – und immer dieses Gefühl:
Hier passt alles.
Gastronomie in Reinform
(oder: Ärmel hoch und durch)
In over 30 years in the restaurant business, you experience things you don't forget.
For example, the reopening of the discotheque A5 in Darmstadt.
Planned: Friday, 7 p.m.
Reality: We arrived on Wednesday at 10 pm – and nothing was ready.
No toilets. No water. Not even a finished floor behind each counter.
So: Roll up your sleeves.
Tradesmen working in 24-hour shifts.
Caterers in – we take the trash out.
Entry was already underway at the front.
Chaos? Yes.
But also: teamwork, improvisation, adrenaline.
And in the end:
It worked.
There were many such experiences.
Everything is always a hobby – but always done with passion.
And always with damn good feedback.
The Caribbean Bar
(a chapter that changed everything)
In 2005, a friend approached me.
In-house trade fair at his car hi-fi shop.
We built a bar in a beer tent – using materials from a hardware store, in the style of a carpenter.
A one-time purchase. Afterwards, it should be disposed of.
She wasn't.
The guests were thrilled.
"You have to take this to a festival!"
"How did you come up with such an idea? It looks amazing!"
So the bar remained.
It was improved in 2006.
In 2007 she was a
real Caribbean bar
– with electricity, water, roof, walls.
So large that they completely
7.5-ton truck
filled.
Collaborations with Red Bull, Coca-Cola and Havana included.
Our first festival:
Opening of the Fürth river promenade.
Four bartenders.
Four snakes.
Sold out on the first day.
Sold out on the second day.
On Sunday, a beverage distributor came to the rescue – thanks to old contacts in the restaurant industry.
That wasn't mixing at all anymore.
That was logistics. Planning. Responsibility.
And it captivated me. All of us.
Whether private or business-related - when it came to cocktails, "The Caribbean Bar" the thing.
The first mobile Caribbean outdoor cocktail bar in and around Fürth.
Biggest event of 2008 -
75 years of HUK Coburg.
Hundreds of guests had discovered us in the castle park and stormed the bar.
Bardentreffen, Allison Moyet & 3.500 Cocktails
A few months later:
Nuremberg Bard Meeting.
Materials lists. Contracts. Preparation.
It's either here or nowhere.
Result:
- approx.3,500 cocktails
- 180 kg limes
- 250 liters of juice
- 180 liters of spirits
- 25 kg brown sugar
- 5kg fresh mint
- and huge amounts of ice cubes and crushed ice
Less than 30 meters from a stage where Alison Moyet played.
That was the point at which it became clear:
This is more than a hobby.
Why I work without a fixed bar today
The Caribbean bar was great.
But it was difficult. Time-consuming. And dependent on many helping hands.
Over time, these hands became fewer.
Families, jobs, lives.
So a new idea was needed.
I had the equipment.
I had that experience.
So it became:
Hire a bartender – for parties at home.
Everything in boxes.
Into the car.
Set it up wherever there is room for a beer table.
Kitchen. Garage. Garden. Castle ruins.
If the host wants me there – I'm there.
For over 15 years.
Rockin' Cocktails
(Name, attitude and a won bet)
The name
"Rockin' Cocktails"
arose rather by chance –
during a bet in a rock pub in Sinsheim.
Three bosses. Chaos.
A drinks menu that was incorrect.
Three cocktails on the menu – not available.
I bet:
If I spend an evening with live music
more revenue than a cocktail bar
make
as the main counter, let's talk again.
I won – decisively.
The pub closed a few months later.
Rockin'Cocktails was born.
Craftsmanship instead of button press
I have often been told:
"You could achieve so much more with a cocktail machine."
True.
But where does that leave craftsmanship?
Where did the experience take place?
Where is the love for the drink?
Once, during the Africa Festival in Nuremberg, the power went out.
Our booth continued to operate.
Competition with vending machines? Stagnation.
Our cocktails come from a shaker.
Not from the canister.
