To celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday, a group of us got together and took a cocktail class at mint, a local bar that specializes in delicious and fancy cocktails. The class was taught by bartender extraordinaire and Mint owner Lucy. She is also the author of a book on cocktails: Hip Sips: Modern Cocktails to Raise Your Spirits
Those of you who know me know that I don’t/can’t really drink. In fact, I have never been drunk. This year, though, I have realized that I can drink very small amounts of vodka, as long as it is mixed with something fruity and a very, very sugary rim. That isn’t saying much, considering I had about 6 sips total and was feeling very flushed. Since I was the designated driver, I stopped at my 6 sips and just ate a bunch of the delicious sweet potato fries.
We learned how to make three drinks: Guava Cosmo, Bella (kind of like a lemon drop but with blackberry puree instead of lemon), and O (a twist on the mojito). Some Very Important Things I learned: NEVER use triple sec, or if you do, don’t let Lucy catch you; make your own simple syrup; don’t use the stems from mint (bitter).
It was a really fun class–good drinks, good snacks, good instruction, good company. If you like cocktails and are ever in Portland, be sure to check out Mint!
To celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday, a group of us got together and took a cocktail class at mint, a local bar that specializes in delicious and fancy cocktails. The class was taught by bartender extraordinaire and Mint owner Lucy. She is also the author of a book on cocktails: Hip Sips: Modern Cocktails to Raise Your Spirits
So cool! You make Portland look absolutely irresistible, between these pix and the ones in the preceding post. And love the pic of you at the Mason-Dixon blog.
Cool! I don’t drink either but I love cocktail paraphernalia and want to serve them up when people are over at the house.
Their beet martini recipe is online somewhere, and I made myself some beet-infused vodka and drank that cocktail for a few weeks. Wow! It was so good, and I was just drinking it out of juice glasses and what-not.
I have a friend who can’t really drink alcohol and I’ve noticed that she gets mixed treatment at bars. Some are waaaaay cool with the fact that she can’t drink alcohol and either have on the menu or get excited and suggest mixing lots of really cool things together to make virgin cocktails. Mind you, I find these very hard to sip, since they’re so darn yummy, but I really like that approach.
At your class, did they suggest or teach you how to make virgin versions of the drinks?