What’s it all about?
Spicy ginger has a key role to play in a number of great cocktails that gifts both cold refreshment on a sunny afternoon and warm sipping on a cool night. Just as tonic is the dance partner to gin, ginger tangos with darker spirits of rum, tequila and whisky. Join us to explore 3 tasty cocktails with great names that you can order in most cocktail bars around the world: Dark & Stormy, El Diablo and the undisputed modern classic, the Penicillin.
What will we cover?
The class will give you the building blocks necessary to setup a good home bar and introduce categories of tools and equipment useful for making cocktails, and show examples of different glassware and flexible options for serving drinks. You will learn key cocktail techniques to confidently approach recipes from the galaxy of classic cocktail drinks and take home the recipes.
Also you will:
- Understand what’s essential and what you can live without (or substitute) to start making drinks on a budget
- Get a list of local, small or independent businesses to get tools and supplies – pick up or delivered
- Receive recommendations for further self guided learning (books, websites, YouTube channels)
What will you need?
- Relevant ingredients for the drinks you can make (or wish to make) from the list below.
- Fresh citrus (lemon and/or lime)
- Ginger beer (the spicier the better, Fever Tree recommended)
- A cocktail shaker or jam jar with lid. Strainer if you have one.
- Any mix of drinking glasses (stemless wine glass, cocktail glass/coupe, rocks glass, collins/tall glass)
- Fresh ice (homemade or bag ice)
- Dark & Stormy (blackstrap rum, spicy ginger beer, lime) * Recommended rums: Gosling’s Black Seal, Coruba
- El Diablo (reposado tequila, crème de cassis liqueur, spicy ginger beer, lime) * Substitute Chambord if crème de cassis not available. You can find Chambord miniature 50ml bottles at some large bottleshops for approx $10.
- Penicillin (blended scotch, ginger syrup, honey, lemon, smokey scotch) * Use a smokey peaty scotch like those from Islay. You only need a small amount of the smokey scotch so again a miniature is ok. Ginger syrup = 1 part fresh ginger juice to 1 part sugar. You only need a little bit!
Who will be teaching?
Simon began adult life disliking alcohol in all forms after repeated unsuccessful attempts to be friends with beer, rum/coke and tequila sunrises. But a chance encounter with a vodka, lime and soda was his gateway drink into a classic daiquiri at the famed cocktail bar Der Raum. Since then Simon become an avid barfly visiting cocktail bars around the world in Europe, America, Asia, NZ and Australia as well as being good friends with gin, rum, whiskey and wheat beers. More recently Simon has been creating at-home cocktail experiences and teaching friends to make tasty drinks all around the world whether it’s a Melbourne balcony, a villa in Tuscany, an apartment in Paris or on a sailing boat in San Francisco Bay.