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Olivia Culpo’s Top Entertaining Tips for Summer

The actress and model talks Bacardi, bars, and beats

Olivia Culpo knows a thing or two about entertaining. The model and actress is often seen at star-studded Hollywood parties and events, and even hosts them — and such is the case this afternoon, where she’s celebrating the launch of BACARDÍ Lime at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge at Moxy Times Square.

Wearing a bright neon green mini dress by David Koma and Brian Atwood metallic heels, I chatted with the star to get some of her summer hosting go-tos, including how to save yourself some time and effort behind the bar. (Thank goodness.)

Do you tend to host a lot of summer shindigs? What are some of your go-to entertaining tricks?

I love hosting parties, honestly, so one of my tricks for particularly the bar area is having a drink dispenser. That way you make a big batch of your drink, and you have it ready to go. I actually bought a two-tier drink dispenser from Crate & Barrel which is amazing because you can put two different types of drinks, so I can have a mojito on top and a margarita on the bottom, or whatever you want, and then you line up all of the glasses across the bar or across the table, and you can put the straws in already, and it looks amazing.

Olivia Culpo and Darnell Holguin at the BACARDI Lime NEON Brunch Launch Event at Magic Hour at The Moxy Times Square.

When you’re not entertaining at home, what are your favorite spots to enjoy the summer with friends?

I think Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles is nice because it’s outdoors, also NOBU Malibu is insane because it’s so beautiful!

What’s your go-to cocktail for summer?

As far as Bacardi Lime goes, I’m very interested in the most simple form of drinking it which is Bacardi Lime and soda. It’s refreshing, it’s light, it’s honestly really low in calories — it’s only 74 calories — so I feel like that will definitely be my summer drink, but I also love mojitos. There’s another drink that we were just making called the Bacardi Lime Cooler and it’s with watermelon. It is kind of perfect, because in the summer I’ll also do this thing with a watermelon, where I carve it out and make it into a punch bowl of sorts for parties, so I’m definitely going to make the Bacardi Lime Cooler in the watermelon punch bowl.

Any songs making your summer playlist?

Well, apparently Taylor Swift has a new song which I need to listen to. So maybe that’s it? I still have to listen to it! Ariana Grande. I’m obsessed with Ariana Grande. I also feel like Kali [Uchis] is really great in the summer, she’s so lounge-y and chill. I love SZA. Billie Eilish is everywhere. Those will definitely be making the cut.

BACARDÍ Lime & Soda:
2 parts BACARDÍ Lime
4 parts soda
Lime Wheel

Preparation: Pour ingredients over ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.

BACARDÍ Lime Cooler:
2 parts BACARDÍ Lime
¾ part Watermelon Liqueur
¾ part Lime Juice
½ part Simple Syrup
2 parts Club Soda

Preparation: Shake ingredients vigorously with plenty of ice.  Top with Club soda.  Garnish with watermelon wedge and a lime wheel.

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