Shaking what I hear you cry?! Well a cocktail shaker, but I made you look didn’t I!? So for the second time in a week I went along to the Electric Press in Leeds for the second time in a week to visit All Bar One for one of their cocktail masterclasses. Now what I didn’t realise was it was the same day and after England’s second match in the Euro’s. So my luck was out again when it came to drinking the cocktails that I made, I still went ahead as I thought it would be good fun, and I wasn’t wrong!
There was space for six of us, but the cocktail making masterclasses can take up to about fifteen people (perfect hen do size!?) I was the first one there so got to admire the decor whilst sipping on an orange and mango juice. Soon enough Rhianna and Joe turned up and we were three. Then no one else came. Luckily they are so both utterly lovely that I didn’t feel like a third wheel and we had an absolute ball! The guys who worked there were all super lovely and fun too which really made the evening!
We made three cocktails on the night, Mojito, French Martini and Cosmopolitan. I chose to make the mojito first as I thought it could be the only one J could actually drink, I made mine with a very small measure of Barcardi vs the generous double shot they usually use, so I could drink more of it as its my fave cocktail! We got to clapping mint (it brings out the mintyness who knew!?), mashing limes and adding sugar syrup and lemon juice to our concoction and topping it off with some crushed ice. Needless to say that wasn’t my forte so I ended up with a lopsided ice cone. I say it added character!
Next up was a French Martini, made with pineapple Ciroc and Chambord, it involved a lot of shaking and should have got a good foam across the top of it. As you can see I failed with that task! The raspberry in the middle is meant to not sink as a test- mine kinda floated anyway but I still maintained that it was sat in the piddly bit of foam I’d managed to shake! I had a small sip to try this one and it was glorious, really really tasty so quickly gave it away!
The last was an infamous Cosmo, again another short drink, but less shaking was needed luckily for me! The best bit about this drink is the orange peel fire you get to do, I was quite impressed with mine (thanks to Rhianna for the photo!) however I was overshadowed by this one! It was so impressive!
I loved the evening, and I’m told that this class costs £20 which includes the three cocktails you make, which is super reasonable and something to do on a night out to get everyone laughing and having fun, just like we did. I really enjoyed learning how to make all the cocktails but the mojito was my fave one to make, I’m looking forward to impressing my friends with my skills soon, what would be the one cocktail you’d love to learn to make? Let me know in the comments! you can also find a great list of cocktail masterclasses in Leeds here which is super handy when you’ve done a few luke I have now!
All Bar One are also meant to be fab for brunch in Leeds so will be checking them amour shortly too!
Big thanks to All Bar One for inviting me along to try it out and review. Thoughts and opinions are as always my own.