What's on the menu?

What's on the menu?

Friday 28 November 2014

Making Cocktails At Coco Lounge, Nottingham

Making Cockatails At Coco Lounge, Nottingham

(This post originally appeared on the Lone Male In The Kitchen Blog August 2013 )

Over the past two weeks Nottingham has been buzzing with a Food and Drink Fortnight where many of our prominent restaurants and bars have been taking part, including many 'Dine for a tenner' options across the city centre.

Whilst looking through the offers available we spotted an advertisement for a cocktail making masterclass at Coco Lounge. Coco Lounge is a Nottingham bar which prides itself on it's cocktail menu so the chance to achieve a lifelong ambition of getting behind the bar and serving drinks just had to be acted upon.
Lone male in the kitchen
The Lone Male At The Bar- Behind the bar at Coco Lounge Nottingham making a cocktail

For a reasonable sum of £15 we bagged ourselves a late Saturday afternoon cocktail making masterclass at Nottingham's premier cocktail bar. I actually remember when Coco Lounge first opened. It opened in the classy Hockley area of Nottingham when I was 18 and had an awesome coconut tree in the middle of the bar which gave it a bit of a tropical feel. The building had previously been a florists when I was growing up.

I hadn't been in there for a few years but was surprised on arrival that the coconut tree that had been such a prominent feature when the bar was first established had gone and the interior had gone a lot darker and in my opinion slightly seedy when compared to how it used to be but maybe that was because the bar was empty and limited lighting was on. Growing up Coco Lounge was a pretty classy establishment but it seemed their relatively recent refit had taken the place down a level and I felt lost without the old coconut tree.
Lone male in the kitchen
Fancy one of Coco Lounge's awesome cocktail menu options?
The evening started with our relatively small group choosing a cocktail each from the menu. I plumped for a Captain Cook's Colonial Concoction which featured rum and chili for a real bite. I hadn't actually spotted it contained chili when I put my order in but plumped for the name and when asked "How much chili would you like?" I knew I would be in for a treat. I'd never had chili in a cocktail before and the slightly bitter taste when combined with rum, lime and finished off with ginger ale gave the cocktail a real bite.
Lone male in the kitchen
Fancy a Chili Cocktail- Captain Cook's Colonial Concoction at Coco Lounge
Making my own 'Captain Cook' cocktail

Once we'd all had a cocktail we were individually offered the opportunity to get behind the bar and make our own. I loved the 'Captain Cook' so much that I decided I wanted to make one of my own.

Making a Captain Cook Colonial Concoction Instructions
I started by filling a cosmopolitan glass with ice cold water to cool. I cut down a red chili pepper and in a soda glass I crushed down that red pepper before half filling the soda glass with ice I wanted a little more fire so added a few dashes of Tabasco sauce . To the soda glass I added one measure of rum, one measure of Triple Sec and one measure of mango puree before shaking vehemently in a cocktail shaker.
I removed the ice water from the cosmopolitan glass and strained my mixture into the glass before topping off with ginger ale. I then garnished with an extra little piece of chili.
Lone Male At Coco Lounge Nottingham
My own Captain Cook's Colonial Concoction with extra Tabasco sauce

Cocktail 2- A White Russian

On my second time behind the bar I felt a lot more comfortable. I went for a simple White Russian which mixes Tia Maria, Vodka and milk over crushed ice with a layer of chocolate powder dusting over the top. I hadn't realised how simple a White Russian cocktail would be to make but it was just that- definitely an easy cocktail to make at home

Lone male in the kitchen
Making a White Russian Cocktail- Tia Maria, Vodka and Milk with crushed ice
By the end of the two hour class we had all made three to four cocktails each as well as sampling some shooters from the bar so the £15 was great value for money and I know I learnt something new.

Well worth the evening and a great thank you goes out to Coco Lounge for putting on the event.

The awesome Coco Lounge Cocktail Menu- A bargain at £3 each

Take your pick from the Coco Lounge Nottingham main cocktail menu

Fancy making your own cocktails at Coco Lounge?

Address- 3 George Street, Nottingham, NG1 3BH
Contact- coco_lounge@live.co.uk
Tel- 0115 - 9851 555

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