It was my third trip to the smart Malmaison London, this time to take part in a cocktail making class specially designed for my work pals and I. A group of eight of us arrived, starving hungry and eager to learn the craft of mixology. We instantly spotted the bowls of pistachios and olives in one corner of the bar and made ourselves at home, scoffing handfuls of nuts and eyeing up the bottles of glowing spirits.
Cocktail connoisseur Louis was our guide for the evening, an enthusiastic bartender from the hotel. He gave us an in-depth lesson beginning with Bellini’s and finishing with White Russians, with all kinds of concoctions in between. We started with a classic Peach Bellini made with peach puree, fine Italian prosecco and a few drops of peach liqueur, it was sophisticated and delicious. Next we all had a go at creating a Mojito, my favourite cocktail… I insisted on making mine with Golden Bacardi Superior Rum and granulated sugar, rather than with the white rum and clear sugar syrup. Louis was very generous allowing us all to use our preferred ingredients and encouraging us to be creative with our mixing.
After our exhilarating experience behind the bar, we were taught about the King and Queen of cocktails: the Cosmopolitan and Martini. Both were beautifully clear liquids, garnished with orange peel and olives. Louis then suggested we each come up and make a drink of our choice… helping us along the way to create our dream mixtures. I made up a delicious passion fruit Daiquiri, sweet and delicately flavoured with a thin circle of fruit floating on the top. When the two hours were up and we were all suitably high on sugar and alcohol, we sat down to eat epic juicy Mal burgers, which kept us all quiet after the excitement of the cocktail course.
Louis kindly suggested making my passion fruit Daiquiri the cocktail of the week, so if you fancy tasting it pop into the Mal bar and ask Louis for a Thoroughly Modern Milly special!
Visit the Malmaison website here.
