One of the better things about the blogosphere is somewhere through all of the madness, there are chances such as this where I get to indulge in the better part of the city. This time at Casa Lever on Park Ave. in the heart of Midtown for Head Mixologist Rebecca Applebaum’s newly-hosted cocktail class, a series of four Saturday classes that’s themes range anywhere from the simplicity of fresh mixers, the art of egg white drinks, and creating your own non-alcoholic modifiers such as homemade Grenadine: which just sugar, pom juice, and pom molasses (and NO: Maraschino cherries are NOT even real, so don’t even THINK about it!).
The class “Cocktail Modifiers and Non-Alcoholic Mocktails” (that actually opened with a very alcoholic and delicious Shirley Temple Black (strawberry blueberry Shrubb, Greenhook Ginsmith Gin, lemon, honey, and soda) was much enjoyed:
Rebecca’s knowledge and experience really made the class invaluable, especially for me as an amateur cocktail artiste. She had all of us make our own drink at the end, the Clover Club (razz purée, Plymouth Gin, Dry Vermouth, lemon juice, simple syrup, 1 egg white, raspberry for garnish), which surprisingly I did not mess up! All while we munched on prosciutto and various deliciousness.
Even if you know nothing about cocktails or the art of bartending, this series is not a bad way to brush up your hosting techniques next time you have that inevitable get together, or perhaps even just to simply enjoy at the house after work. If you are in the NYC area and are interested in becoming the next cocktail connoisseur, e-mail classes@casalever.com. The full series is just $100 per person, or you can take them individually for $30 a class.
Casa Lever is located in the Lever House building designed by Gordon Bunshaft on 390 Park Ave. and features a series of Andy Warhol originals along its main wall inside the architecturally famous and quintessential international-style skyscraper.
