In Short: Don’t just drink cocktails, learn how to make them while you are at it. Meat District Co. host cocktail making masterclasses, and like me, in an hour you would come away with a two or three cocktails that you can easily make at your next dinner party or impress your mates when you head over to their place!
I will be the first to admit, that I am hardly expert when it comes to cocktails. I always marvel when I head out with friends and colleagues and they are able to reel off names of cocktails as fast as I can name the current members of the Australian men’s cricket team. Fortunately after an hour at Meat District Co. I now have in my armoury two cocktails that I not only know of, but also appreciate even more after making and of course tasting the end result.
Meat District Co. host cocktail making classes and cater to small and large groups. They provide the alcohol(the most important element in a cocktail), as well as other key ingredients, garnishes and the tools that will ensures your cocktail is as authentic as the ones you will plonk down a 20 dollar bill for, on a Friday evening.
Most importantly a mixologist is on hand to guide you through creating your cocktails. For our class, we had Nick guiding us. Having worked around the world, he brought a wealth knowledge to our session from his travels and knew his ratios down to the millilitre.
For our first cocktail, we attempted to make an Espresso Martini. Cocktails in its most basic form, comprises three techniques. There’s shaken, muddled and stirred. An espresso martini is a shaken cocktail and started out life in the 80’s in London. I love that it’s the first cocktail up owing to my love of coffee.
The key components are a hot espresso with the perfect crema, a good vodka, and a touch of coffee liqueur. These ingredients are measured out and added to the mixer. To temper the strength of the coffee, sugar syrup was added to give it balance.
After a few vigorous shakes, it was time to see the results, and I poured the martini into a V cup with a nice beige foamy top. Drinking the results was a joy. I enjoyed the coffee flavour with the punch from vodka. It was easy drinking and the ratios delivered a delightful perfectly-balanced cocktail.
As we watched the sun track downwards from the second level at Meat District & Co. it was time to go from a shaken cocktail to a muddled cocktail. Mojito is about as classic a cocktail as it gets.
Its Cuban roots hints to its tropical flavour. Mint, gin and freshly squeezed lime juice are the base ingredients that form this cocktail. Dropping in the limes and mint, the muddling process releases the juice from the limes, and the oils from the mint.
Combined with more lime juice, soda water, and a dash of sugar syrup and poured over the rocks, yields a cocktail that is fresh and zesty. The perfect cocktail to be drinking on a summer evening.
After just over an hour, it became quite clear, that this cocktail making gig isn’t as daunting as I thought I would be. With the proper apparatus, fresh ingredients and good spirits, it is just a matter of understanding the ratios and also learning complementary ingredients that help balance out the cocktail. If you love entertaining, or simply want to better equip yourself in the techniques, I would thoroughly recommend a cocktail class at Meat District Co. Grab a few friends, and it elevates to a new level of bonding and enjoyment.
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