We had the great pleasure of playing host to a group of fabulous ladies over the weekend. They had enquired if we could organise a cocktail workshop as part of a bachelorette weekend for Alga and it was awesome!
Honestly, we could not have asked for a better group of ladies to do our virgin bachelorette party themed cocktail workshop! They were spontaneous, fun loving and really easy to get along. Tasya was introduced by a good friend of ours (shoutout to KingKongKai) and it being our first time, we were unsure how to craft the programme effectively. Nonetheless, it was #NikeModeOn, #JustDoIt
Tasya was the coordinator from their side and she was prompt and really proactive in replying our questions. We wanted to craft a programme that was specific to what they were looking for rather than provide some cookie cutter cocktail workshop programme which she could get elsewhere. Honestly, having the stress to deliver because it was a friend’s friend also bore down on us. We had to make it work.
After a few email correspondences, we finalised the programme to two cocktails and some introductory material on how to taste. The programme allowed for some icebreaker games, Kodak moments and slow sipping of cocktails to chill music. We kicked off with shots made by Jessica, alcohol for the bride and mocktail shots for the rest of us. Interestingly, we had a new mother in the group and this was great to include everyone!
Then it was time to make a riff on the classic daiquiri, a drink close to many bartenders’ hearts. We subbed out the usual sugar syrup to a pandan simple syrup. Paired with aged lime, fresh calamansi and a blend of white rum and cachaca, it evoked memories of drinking ice cold sugarcane juice at our world famous hawker centres. It was a good hands on session to cut their own garnishes and prepare their drinks on the drink rails just like how we as bartenders would!
A shaken drink was a great way to ride on the initial enthusiasm and everyone had to stand up and get jiggy. Once the drink was done, they could settle back into their seats and we used the drink to run through some basic concepts on how to garnish, how to balance a cocktail and our je ne sais quoi; how music affects the drink.
The ladies were initially apprehensive that their ears could affect their drink but gamely followed our instructions. We daresay from their responses, we had made our point. It was really interesting to them!
Time came for another drink which was a special request from Tasya for her group, the Singapore Sling. We weren’t super fans of the traditional recipe and seeing from how Raffles’ Long Bar also recently changed it, we are guessing it was not blasphemous to also do a spin on it. Tasya wanted something instagrammable so we also tried to conceptualise a drink that would taste great in our Singapore heat and also one with a garnish that made sense. So here it is!
The sling was not shaken but built instead which works and also gives us a chance to show how built drinks like a mojito are made. We kept the spirit of the Singapore Sling by retaining the Dom Benedictine, pineapple, lime and gin but went with raspberries as a modifier for the grenadine and also a dash of orange bitters instead of Cointreau. From the photos below, suffice to say they loved it. Adjourning to the couch area to sip on their cocktails, we also took the chance to share more about the history of this drink in a more relaxed atmosphere. We ended with the girls sussing out the place for the next gram and we happily played photographer to the party. We shall let the pictures speak for themselves and we realised how much fun it was to be part of someone’s life event.
We really do want to try to do more of such events so please let us know if you would have us. We will be waiting! 😀
May our glasses never be empty, cheers and talk soon.
DeconDrinks
DeconDrinks 