Over the past 12 months you’ve invited me into your homes or offices for I don’t know how many Cocktail Queen Masterclasses, and I’ve enjoyed each and every one of them. Some of you have even invited me several times which really is lovely. Thankfully the total lockdown that saw the creation of the Masterclasses shows no sign of returning and we are generally allowed out to socialise under ever changing guidelines.
But with the introduction of lockdown, came the nation’s realisation that they loved exploring and experimenting with cocktails just like I do. Ok. Perhaps not *quite* like I do, but generally we are much more cocktail literate than we were before. I’ve seen evidence of that as my masterclasses have progressed, more of you have at least a favourite, even if you’re not sure how to make it.
In preparation for a masterclass, you will have bought a few bottles to perhaps start your cocktail bar, and along the way you’ll have learnt a few tricks like how much juice you can calculate per lemon or lime, or how long to shake your shaker for…
Well of course I’m still going to be offering Masterclasses, I love them as much as you do. And while The Eye Fund is benefitting from your donations it would be rude not to. But just in case you’re new to CQ, let me share with you the things you need to know.
Masterclass: the original series
Cocktail Queen Masterclasses were born when we just weren’t allowed to leave the house for anything except shopping, in shops with largely empty shelves. Their format remains the same, even though how you run them at your end might be slightly different.
We start by agreeing a time and date that you would like to get your cocktail on. I can be available some mid-week late afternoons into early evenings, or weekends for a boozy lunch, afternoons and into early evenings with enough notice.
Then we’ll talk about what you would like me to build your class around. We can choose your favourite base spirit, or in fact one that you are totally unfamiliar with as a starting point. We could start with prosecco. We could choose your favourite liqueur (which might incur an extra cost if it is a liqueur I’m not familiar with but is still do-able). Or we could even start with your favourite cocktail: work to perfect it and build a couple of other cocktails around those ingredients.
Payment
It’s at this point you’ll pay your fee to confirm and hold your session. I’m adjusting my rates slightly for our standard session, increasing the time to 45 minutes and the rate to £45 accordingly, which reflects more accurately the time we will spend together. If you would like to book an extended session of the whole hour, this will still be at £60, but you will need to agree this in advance so that I can manage the expectations of Mr CQ or my boys. Any cancellation after your date is confirmed means I’ll just keep hold of £10 for research and/or planning undertaken to date, and be happy to refund the rest. Of course, rather than cancel, you could simply reschedule and not lose a single penny.
Helping you plan your session
Once your date is confirmed, I’ll just take a little time to do some research and plan what we will make together, perhaps taste testing if you’ve introduced something I’m not so familiar with. Once I’m comfortable we have a menu that you will enjoy and actually learn something from, I’ll email you a shopping list for you to share with your co-cocktailers. I’ll try to include rough quantities of things we’ll need so that if I’m adding a bottle of something you might not already have, you can either buy a bottle between you and share ahead of our session, or perhaps ‘borrow’ a small amount from a neighbour if it’s something you’re not sure you’re going to love. I’ll also give you a couple of things to gather to hand such as a small jug, or perhaps some hot water, to make our session run as smoothly as possible.
And then of course you need to remember to organise our video call and don’t forget to send me an invitation! I do it this way so that you can carry on chatting and cocktailing with friends once our time is up. I’m happy with whichever platform you are familiar with, with Zoom, Teams or even WhatsApp having all worked well in the past.
Some hints to make your event run smoothly
The event really is more fun with more of you making the cocktails for yourselves. Of course, we started out with no mixing of households so this was vital, but latterly you’ve booked sessions with multiple households in the same kitchen (and they should *always* be in your kitchen as proximity to your sink is important). Apart from it being unfair on the poor cocktailer if one person is shaking for everybody else, more than one cocktailer allows a greater level of experimentation where a recipe allows. So, if you are gathering 6 friends in your kitchen to all cocktail together, I would suggest that at least 3 of you should shake. That means you’ll need 3 shakers, 3 lots of measures etc.
Ahead of your session, choose your glassware, and if we’re making 3 cocktails, try to have 3 different glasses each. That means if you’re drinking slower than we’re mixing, you don’t need to down it all before you can proceed! Don’t worry at all if you don’t have enough cocktail glasses to have 3 each: I’ll try to tell you the type or size of glasses we’ll need so you can mix and match with wine glasses etc.
During the session, please do remember this is your class, for you. If you have any questions, ask. If you think you’re falling behind, say, and we can slow down. If you’ve forgotten an ingredient, just say, and we can discuss which alternative to use. I want you to leave our session having had fun, but also having learnt something. And of course I want you to be confident to make all of our cocktails again, to show off to friends and family, so I will email you full instructions once we are done.
Masterclass PLUS
Given that my need to share cocktails with you virtually, started because lockdown meant I needed to cancel my Cocktails for Charity parties at home, it makes sense for me to think about getting out there in person. But building on what I know you have enjoyed, COVID guidelines permitting, I think it might be time for CQ to come to you!
Now obviously, that is geography permitting, but here’s how I think that might work. I’m prepared to travel within a 20-mile radius of home (as shown in the map at the end), but extending that to include most of the Wirral and into Crosby and Formby.
So if you fancy going the whole hog, and having the Cocktail Queen come to your gaff this is how it could work.
Think of the Cocktail Queen as the warm up act for your party. We’ll work the planning the same as if we’re virtual, agreeing your base spirit or liqueur. I’ll build a 3 cocktail menu that we can make together in your kitchen, giving you plenty of time to shop or borrow supplies. Gather together as many cocktail shakers as you can so lots of your guests can join in. Buy LOTS of ice!!!
For the first hour of your party, you can all make along with me. The two biggest differences being that I can’t drink along, but you get to do all of the washing up. It’s not all bad… Once my hour is up, I’ll leave you to carry on partying in, but before I go, I’ll leave you with instructions to make all of our cocktails again without me.
There need to be a few caveats though. I will need to start no later than 7:30pm so that we can enjoy our hour before I need to pack up my kit and be home in time to sit and relax with a drink at home myself. I’d actually prefer to do afternoons at the weekend, and can’t accept an evening gig on a Sunday without much discussion. Currently, we will all need to show an up-to-date COVID passport. The rest, we can negotiate between ourselves.
Payment
The fee for these in person classes will start at £150: which includes an hour at your party, my travel including expenses, and of course my planning. Any additional special requests, or for locations outside of the circle (on the map below) will incur additional costs. Don’t forget that all of my fee after expenses will be donated to The Eye Fund so you may wish to charge your guests a small donation/entry fee to cover the costs. If my friends are anything to go by, they’ll be glad to contribute.
Cocktail Queen Planning Service
Planning a party and fancy including a few cocktails across your evening? Have all the gear, but no idea? Or just looking for a good old excuse for a party? I can help you with all of that. Of course.
There are two ways we can do that.
Starting with what you already have in
We can spend a little time looking at what you already have in your liquor cupboard, and consider what you can make with minimal additional expense. We can even talk about using up those things you’ve had at the back of the cupboard for decades like Warninks Advocaat.
Once I know what you’ve already got, I can help you draw up a short cocktail menu, write out simple instruction cards to help your guests mix their own drinks so you don’t have to do it all, and of course give you a shopping list for important things like lemons, limes or syrups. We can also talk about essentials such as measures, and just HOW much ice is sensible (you’ll be surprised!).
Starting with your favourite cocktail
If you’ve always wanted to know how to make a perfect Espresso Martini, or perhaps want to use your home-made liqueur in a cocktail, then we can definitely use these as a starting point. Checking out the ingredients you’ll need here, I can help you consider an additional bottle or two that will add a couple more cocktails to your repertoire.
Again, I can help with ingredients and instructions for your guests, as well as that all important shopping list.
Payment
The basic fee for this service is just £45 per hour. In most circumstances, you’ll probably only need the hour, but if you’re happy to pay more, I’m happy to provide a more bespoke service because of course I should incur no costs and can give my entire fee to The Eye Fund. What’s not to love?
Geographic parameters for CQ PLUS
Cocktail Queen 