Ow my head
Last night I made use of my birthday present from adelpha.
It was a cocktail masterclass at Vinopolis! I'd arranged to work from home yesterday afternoon so that I could make an early getaway, and then got bogged down in a meeting and taming a batch job, so it was nearly 16:00 by the time I got home. Then I nearly forgot to start a process running, meaning that it was gone 17:30 before I shut the laptop down >.< (With hindsight, I ought to have left at 17:00 and taken the laptop with me, using the Internet onna stick that Vodafone gave me to finish up en route, but still.)
I got changed and walked/ran to the station (and I'm REALLY out of shape, given how much the running wore me out) in time to get the slow train to Waterloo. I'd missed the fast one by minutes. Panicking quietly, I read on the way in before getting the Tube to London Bridge and trying to find my way to the place. Turns out that I used the wrong exit from the station - there's one that's nearly opposite!
When I got to the reception, I produced the Red Letter Day booking letter. There was mild consternation from the first receptionist, who couldn't find me on the list, so he passed it over to his colleague. She found me! We were escorted to the mezzanine, where people had already clustered around the tables in groups of four. Being one of the last to arrive, I joined a table of two at the back and stayed relatively quiet.
We started off with a Singapore Sling and a history of cocktails (including the difference between a cocktail and a punch), before moving on to the Martini. (By the way, a Martini is gin and vermouth in varying amounts, with garnishes. It is only ever stirred. This are a fact - I know because of my learnings!) The Martini was prepared thus:
Then we got on to making a cocktail! I grabbed a vacant bench, and found myself joined by another group - an elderly couple and a rather attractive dark redhead. The drink we were to make was a Rude Cosmopolitan, which is based on tequila rather than vodka. The garnish involves spraying and igniting orange zest across the surface, before dropping the disc of orange peel into the glass. My co-ordination being a little dodgy, I squeezed the disc a little too hard into the flame, and it shot into the glass through its own plume of flame! Result! The Rude Cosmopolitan, by the way, is a very nice drink, and I will probably be making more of them. When I add tequila to the stash in the kitchen.
Our bartender, Alex, then set us the challenge of making up our own cocktail... My mixing partner, Duncan, decided that he liked my idea as his preferred base spirit was whisky, and they only had bourbon on offer. So, we mixed one measure of amaretto with two of Chambourd and two of Mozart chocolate liqueur. I wanted to call it Fruit And Nut, but he decided that Black Forest was a better name! It was very nice, if you like heavy, sweet after dinner-type cocktails. We didn't win.
The final one was Alex The Grape, one that our bartender invented when trying his own challenge. It was also based on tequila, and featured fresh grapes and elderflower liqueur.
After the finish, I walked back to London Bridge station with Duncan (he was heading to Stratford). I was close on asking if he fancied a cup of coffee, but missed the moment. Then I remembered that I'd left my bag in the cloakroom...
I got to Waterloo with three thoughts uppermost in my mind - toilet, food and train home. First was easy; the second didn't quite go according to plan as I was in the mood for M&S sushi, and they only had the vegetarian stuff out. I picked up a couple of sandwiches instead. (I was only going to get the one, and grab a kebab on the way home, but then I thought that that wouldn't be fair to adelpha.) I also picked up four of their multibuy snack tubs, a bottle of water and a bottle of chocolate milk...
Saw dr_bob as I got off the train at Walton, which was nice. We had a brief chat, and then he went to get his bike while I walked home. Slightly unsteadily...
I did my best to rehydrate, and went to bed!
This morning I really didn't want to get up. I slept in until about 07:30, which is late for me, and came in the short way. When the fire alarm went off 20 minutes ago, I actually closed my eyes in pain...
Next week it's the whisky tasting with illarane!
It was a cocktail masterclass at Vinopolis! I'd arranged to work from home yesterday afternoon so that I could make an early getaway, and then got bogged down in a meeting and taming a batch job, so it was nearly 16:00 by the time I got home. Then I nearly forgot to start a process running, meaning that it was gone 17:30 before I shut the laptop down >.< (With hindsight, I ought to have left at 17:00 and taken the laptop with me, using the Internet onna stick that Vodafone gave me to finish up en route, but still.)
I got changed and walked/ran to the station (and I'm REALLY out of shape, given how much the running wore me out) in time to get the slow train to Waterloo. I'd missed the fast one by minutes. Panicking quietly, I read on the way in before getting the Tube to London Bridge and trying to find my way to the place. Turns out that I used the wrong exit from the station - there's one that's nearly opposite!
When I got to the reception, I produced the Red Letter Day booking letter. There was mild consternation from the first receptionist, who couldn't find me on the list, so he passed it over to his colleague. She found me! We were escorted to the mezzanine, where people had already clustered around the tables in groups of four. Being one of the last to arrive, I joined a table of two at the back and stayed relatively quiet.
We started off with a Singapore Sling and a history of cocktails (including the difference between a cocktail and a punch), before moving on to the Martini. (By the way, a Martini is gin and vermouth in varying amounts, with garnishes. It is only ever stirred. This are a fact - I know because of my learnings!) The Martini was prepared thus:
- Fill a mixing glass with ice and drizzle a small amount of vermouth over it
- Pour the vermouth away. Optionally, pour the ice away as well and replace it with fresh cubes
- Add three measure of good gin
- Stir until the gin is properly chilled and thickens slightly
- Strain into a chilled glass and garnish
Then we got on to making a cocktail! I grabbed a vacant bench, and found myself joined by another group - an elderly couple and a rather attractive dark redhead. The drink we were to make was a Rude Cosmopolitan, which is based on tequila rather than vodka. The garnish involves spraying and igniting orange zest across the surface, before dropping the disc of orange peel into the glass. My co-ordination being a little dodgy, I squeezed the disc a little too hard into the flame, and it shot into the glass through its own plume of flame! Result! The Rude Cosmopolitan, by the way, is a very nice drink, and I will probably be making more of them. When I add tequila to the stash in the kitchen.
Our bartender, Alex, then set us the challenge of making up our own cocktail... My mixing partner, Duncan, decided that he liked my idea as his preferred base spirit was whisky, and they only had bourbon on offer. So, we mixed one measure of amaretto with two of Chambourd and two of Mozart chocolate liqueur. I wanted to call it Fruit And Nut, but he decided that Black Forest was a better name! It was very nice, if you like heavy, sweet after dinner-type cocktails. We didn't win.
The final one was Alex The Grape, one that our bartender invented when trying his own challenge. It was also based on tequila, and featured fresh grapes and elderflower liqueur.
After the finish, I walked back to London Bridge station with Duncan (he was heading to Stratford). I was close on asking if he fancied a cup of coffee, but missed the moment. Then I remembered that I'd left my bag in the cloakroom...
I got to Waterloo with three thoughts uppermost in my mind - toilet, food and train home. First was easy; the second didn't quite go according to plan as I was in the mood for M&S sushi, and they only had the vegetarian stuff out. I picked up a couple of sandwiches instead. (I was only going to get the one, and grab a kebab on the way home, but then I thought that that wouldn't be fair to adelpha.) I also picked up four of their multibuy snack tubs, a bottle of water and a bottle of chocolate milk...
Saw dr_bob as I got off the train at Walton, which was nice. We had a brief chat, and then he went to get his bike while I walked home. Slightly unsteadily...
I did my best to rehydrate, and went to bed!
This morning I really didn't want to get up. I slept in until about 07:30, which is late for me, and came in the short way. When the fire alarm went off 20 minutes ago, I actually closed my eyes in pain...
Next week it's the whisky tasting with illarane!