Join us for this special Negroni week cocktail class! With borders closed, we won't be heading to Italy but instead keeping it local and exploring this quintessential classic cocktail with Australian spirits, red aperitif bitters and vermouth. The lockdowns of 2020 led us to try sourdough baking, but let's use 2021 lockdowns to try native Australian botanicals that have been distilled, infused and macerated.

Anthony Bourdain said: "I think the Negroni is the perfect cocktail because it is three liquors that I don’t particularly like. I don’t like Campari, and I don’t like sweet vermouth and I don’t particularly love gin. But you put them together with that little bit of orange rind in a perfect setting… It sets you up for dinner, in a way it makes you hungry, sands the edges off the afternoon."

To help our community of home bartenders, local Melbourne distillery Patient Wolf have generously assembled a limited number of all Australian Negroni packs (close to cost price) to accompany this class. These packs include their Melbourne Dry gin and Blackthorn gin, Victorian Maidenii vermouth, South Australian Okar Bitter and organic sparkling wine for $35 (excludes delivery). Each pack provides 1 serve each of 3 full sized cocktails (or it can be shared between 2 people drinking together). If you live within 5km you're welcome to also drop by the distillery to pick up, otherwise for delivery please order early for the best chance of your pack arriving on time as there are now additional postage delays (delivery times cannot be guaranteed). The link to order this pack will be available from the virtual hub once you've booked your class ticket.

What will we cover?

The act of making a Negroni is akin to a dance - an exercise in restraint and keeping everything in balance. With 3 bold flavoured ingredients all trying to be the lead singer, how you use your jigger, ice and garnish determines how harmonious your Negroni will be.

You're invited to join Simon and special guest Blake Hall (venue manager and bartender at the Patient Wolf Distillery Bar) for a chat, mix and sip to celebrate Negroni week 2021 in a memorable way.

What will we need?

To mix along, we recommend having on hand a selection of the following ingredients (or the special all Australian Negroni pack from Patient Wolf available exclusive for this class):

A classic dry gin
A modern or flavoured gin
A sweet/red/rosso vermouth (as fresh or newly opened as possible, ideally no more than 1-2 months)
A bitter red aperitif. Classically it would be Campari but feelÍ free to use Select, Aperol, Okar and any others you might have or find.
A sparkling wine (optional) eg. champagne, prosecco, cava
Some fresh citrus - ideally an orange but a lemon or a grapefruit are also ok.
Lots of fresh ice for stirring. Optional large ice block/s for serving.

For equipment you'll need:

Something to stir in such as a mixing glass, pint glass, metal cup, measuring jug etc. It does not need to be clear nor made of glass.
Something to stir with such as a bar spoon or chopstick
Something to measure with such as a cocktail jigger, shot glass, measuring spoons
Something to hold back / strain the ice such as a hawthorn strainer, julep strainer, medium/large sieve or even a kitchen slotted spoon.

Accessibility

Closed Captions
Early Bird Cheap Tix
Free Tix for First Nation Attendees
Auslan Interpreter Upon Request

Who will be teaching?

Simon began adult life disliking alcohol in all forms after repeated unsuccessful attempts to be friends with beer, rum/coke and tequila sunrises. But a chance encounter with a vodka, lime and soda was his gateway drink into a classic daiquiri at the famed cocktail bar Der Raum. Since then Simon become an avid barfly visiting cocktail bars around the world in Europe, America, Asia, NZ and Australia as well as being good friends with gin, rum, whiskey and wheat beers. More recently Simon has been creating at-home cocktail experiences and teaching friends to make tasty drinks all around the world whether it’s a Melbourne balcony, a villa in Tuscany, an apartment in Paris or on a sailing boat in San Francisco Bay.

Important info:

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More about accessibility

Any other accessibility requests or questions? Just email delsi (she/her) at melbourne@lanewaylearning.com.

Photo by Patient Wolf Distillery