Getting Schooled by the Best

On Saturday I attended a couple of sessions of Mixology Weekend at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay. Over the weekend courses were taught by Thad Vogler (Jardiniere), Todd Smith (Bourbon & Branch), Scott Beattie (Cyrus), Greg Lindgren (Rye), and David Nepove (Southern Wine & Spirits). I got a ride down with Erik from eGullet and we attended Scott Beattie's "Farm Fresh Cocktails" class. Unlike the others taught this weekend, Scott made all the drinks for us as we watched, smelled his fresh herbs, and helped defoliate mint and flowers to use as ingredients. His creations were amazing and complex and gorgeous to look at as well. So it turns out what everybody says about his drinks is absolutely true. And it saved me a trip to Cyrus where I can't afford the food anyway. And while Erik questioned, "Are these salads in a glass really cocktails?" my take-away was "Now I understand what you can really do with flavored vodka and rum." With all these different organic flavors in the glass he relies more on solid, simple spirits to provide the canvas for the drink. Afterward I stayed for Greg Lindgren's "Rye Cocktails" class, in which we got a little bit of rye history then made a ton of drinks ourselves following his instructions. Hands-on classes like these are really useful to people looking into making drinks at home- you can ask all the stupid questions you want, question whether you're using the right fruit or muddling it properly, and then taste the drink you made versus the one your classmates made to see how it comes out differently if you use more or less syrup or other ingredients. Overall it seems the students in the classes were really happy with what they learned, as was I. Initially I thought these courses were on the pricey side- $95 each- but I was wrong about that. Seven cocktails at Cyrus or Rye would cost nearly the price of the class alone. And learning from the best mixologists in San Francisco added great value. If they do this series again, I'd recommend them in a heartbeat. I'll let you know if they're on the schedule.