mixmaster kathryn

When it comes to drinking I am a self-declared beer girl. At the bar my go-to is usually a nice cold blue moon and I always enjoy finding places in the city where I can try new and exciting beers. One thing I am not as adventurous with is cocktails. I have my standard favorites if I'm going to spend a night drinking hard liquor. There's the always reliable margarita or mojito good for any occasion, mainly because they're like vacation in a glass instantly transporting me from the city to some sunny beach. For the night's I want to act classy I go with a dirty vodka martini, funny since I am not a big vodka fan that I would choose the drink with the most vodka posible but somehow the olive juice makes it bearable. Most of the time though I know and trust beer more. I know what I like and what I don't when it comes to beer and unless were talking porter's I've never really had a beer I truly hated. However I can't say the same for cocktails. I don't do well with too many choices and so the wall of liquor behind bars usually intimidates me. Not to mention there is a lot more risk of a bad drink with liquor, theres a fine balance to be reached by the bartender with mixed drinks. A drink can be too strong, too weak, too expensive, etc. I decided to take matters into my own hands however and become my bartender.

 A few weeks back I mentioned Urban Girl Squad in a post for kickboxing class. For my second event with them I chose a mixology class hosted at the Top of The Strand hotel. After three days of rain the sun had come back just in time for a little rooftop drinking. The Strand is located on 37th between 5th and 6th ave which results in an amazing view from the roof (as you an see in the picture!) looking right at the empire state building. We were given the whole roof area all to ourselves to enjoy for a few hours at the event. After meeting up with my friends K and K we settled down at some comfy couches in the corner to enjoy our first taste of one of the cocktails we were going to be learning to make. Following a little bit of catching up and chatting our lesson began.

The first cocktail we enjoyed was a strawberry gimlet. With 4 simple ingredient this turned out to be the one drink of the evening I could probably make again for myself. The gimlet includes:

1 part lime juice
1 part simple syrup
1 part vodka
1 muddled strawberry

As our bartender informed us most cocktails are usually set up in a manner similar to this where you have an acid, a sweet and your liquor. If you ever feel like being adventurous and inventing your own cocktail he told us this simple rule usually results in a winning combo. The gimlet was probably the biggest crowd pleaser of the three drinks we learned to make. You could barely taste the vodka which was nice and what's nice is depending on your tastes you could make it a little sweeter by adding more strawberry (which would be my preference) or if you like a more sour taste increase the lime juice.

Looking back on how the tasting was set up they seemed to progress us through the evening to a more how shall I put it....pungent cocktail I guess. Next in the lineup was my least favorite liquor in the world...gin. The Fitzgerald as it was called includes:

2oz Bulldog Gin
.75oz simple syrup
.75oz lemon juice
.5oz St. Germain
2 dash Rhubarb Bitters

A combo I would never make up on my own. It was nice to have the St. Germain in to add a subtle sweetness to the lime, rhubarb and bitter. After enjoying a nice sweet gimlet this was a surprise to my tastebuds. Knowing gin was involved automatically put in my mind that I wasn't going to enjoy this one (but im also not one to turn down a drink). Overtime I must say it grew on me. The lemon with St. Germain was a good balance to the Gin. Not a drink I could have more than one of or that I can drink very fast but I think that could be considered a good thing.

The last and final drink of the evening involved one of my favorites...Tequila! My good ol friend had returned to save me from the Gin. This drink invented by the bartender was called The Antidote and included:

2oz Repasado Tequila
1oz grapefruit juice
1oz cardamom cayenne syrup
splash fresh lime

At first all I tasted was straight tequila which is a surprise when you're expecting a cocktail, someone should have just told me to take this one as a shot. I was soon pleasantly surprised by the kick from the cayenne syrup though. Interestingly, the name of the drink actually comes from the fact that cardamom used to be used as an antidote for spider bites (keeping that fact for trivia one day!). We also learned Repasado Tequila means that it has been aged less than 6 months which I guess unlike wine, less time is better for aging tequila and makes for a smoother and lighter tequila unlike darker types like say the always enjoyable Cuervo (*sarcasm*). Again like the last drink I would recommend nursing this one for a while as well. A trick for this that we learned for the bartender is to use large square ice cubes in your drink. It keeps the ice from melting compared to a smaller rounder ice cube so your drink remains cold without being diluted by melting ice. This is why many bars use if for their cocktails and many times when you drink things like whiskey on the rocks bigger ice cubes are used.

I can't say I'm going to be dropping out of school anytime soon to pursue bar tending anytime soon (although I'm sure I'd get more in tips here in NYC than I make for grad school) but it was nice to spend an evening outdoors, learning new things and meeting some new people. If you're ever in the mood to be adventurous in your drinking I hope you enjoy these unique drink recipes like I did and if you find yourself in the city I would highly recommend heading up to the Top of the Strand for a great city view.