London Cocktail Society Xmas Bash

Team 1 get busy creating their cocktail

An invitation came last week to what turned out to be a very jolly affair on Monday, the Christmas party of the London Cocktail Society. I think the LCS has only been in existence since September and it’s the brainchild of a clutch of drinks bloggers—Mark the Cocktail Geek (find him on twitter as @thecocktailgeek), Kate of London Cocktail Guide (@londoncocktail) and Emma the Gin Monkey (@ginmonkeyuk). You can check it out and sign up at www.londoncocktailsociety.co.uk.

The results of the first round

Highlight of the evening was the Ready Steady Shake competition: each team was given a box of ingredients, at least three of which they had to use to make a cocktail—and the more ingredients they used the more points they would score, though the teams were all ultimately judged by the quality of the drink. Teams also had access to an array of standard cocktail ingredients and equipment and had two minutes to examine the contents of the box and just four minutes to create the drink.

Our own concoction was a variation on the Bloody Mary featuring muddled red chilli pepper, a sage-rubbed rim, three different citrus juices and rocket pesto! It was garnished with a strawberry, though having tasted it after the event I think it would have benefitted from the sweetness of a few strawberries muddled in the mix. Still, I think we managed to use everything from our box. We came third which, out of just six teams, is not exactly stellar, I suppose.

Our own cocktail is judged, it would appear, against a raw potato

There was also a Swap Shop table where people brought in samples, particularly of their home-made tinctures—needless to say DBS produced some wanton peculiarities such as Perigan’s so-called Cannabis Gin and his own bacon vodka, by which the guests were appropriately horrified.

Big thanks to the organisers and suppliers of the goody bag contents—vodka from Chase, Old Tom gin from Hayman’s, Fevertree’s Mediterranean Tonic Water, cocktail vouchers from The Loft and a discount offer from Gerry’s.

This unlucky team find a tin of cat food in their box. They don't use it. (Though it did give me the idea of
simply smearing the outside of the glass with it and calling your cocktail a Dirty Protest…) 

David gloats over the Swap Shop table. Note his bacon vodka in the foreground