The last Bank holiday weekend (May) was a busy one for me. I managed to complete one of the Yorkshire three peaks (Whernside) and more importantly attended a cocktail masterclass event. I love a good cocktail, as you can see in my Cocktails In Leeds post.

The Cocktail Masterclass

The event was being held by Kahlúa in Manchester and was marketed as a cocktail masterclass and brunch, with the early bird tickets being sold for about £12 each. (I just want to add that this is not a sponsored post in any way, I just want to share my experience of the masterclass.)
We booked in for the 13.30 p.m. session, which was being held at The Loft, an event space on Quay Street in Manchester.

Unusually for us, we turned up at least half an hour early and were slightly surprised that we were the first ones there. We were so early in fact that the door wasn’t open to enter! However, you know the saying “The early bird catches the worm”? well, this was definitely true for us, as when we did enter, we had the whole place to ourselves, undisturbed and free of people. So, what did we do? Snuck in loads of pictures of the place before the others turned up!

Arrival

So, we had the option of a free tea or coffee on arrival or heading straight to the bar. We decided on the former, choosing to ease our way in with a coffee, whilst perusing the event space. They really did do the place up nice, and it definitely was a bloggers dream! We all had some form of the colour scheme on as well, which was quite amusing. There were yellow and red flower arrangements, not forgetting a few succulents added into the mix as well, with various types of seating. I was eager to try out the swing chair which was quite comfy, but a bit low to the ground. I wouldn’t advise sitting in it after a few cocktails! There were a few table footballs to have a go at whilst we waited.

The Masterclass area

The tables were all set up for the brunch and cocktail making, along long bench style tables, with shining martini glasses waiting.

We were told that the tickets were more or less sold out for this, so the organisers were expecting quite a lot of people attending, and they weren’t wrong! Tonnes of people eventually started arriving creating a real buzz in the air. I couldn’t wait to start and see what was on offer.

Cocktail Masterclass 1:

After waiting what felt like hours (maybe it was since we turned up so early haha!) we edged our way to the seats, hoping that there was room for us three to sit together. Luckily we were able to, where we decided to all sit in a line rather than opposite so that we could hear each other talk.

Espresso Martini:

As this was a cocktail masterclass, the first activity of the event was to make a cocktail, and as the event was being hosted by Kahlúa this was the key ingredient to it. Can you guess what we were making? That’s right, one of my favourites, espresso martinis! A barman took the mic, and began explaining the history around the lovely cocktail, and instructing us how to make it. The staff then began bringing round cute little cocktail makers filled with espresso, kahlúa and absolute vodka. They also provided us with a bucket of ice and a jar of coffee beans for the finishing touches to the cocktail.

Outcome:

Tasking us with adding ice to the top of the shaker before placing on the lids for it, which took a while as the bucket was for about 8 of us. Then the fun part…giving the cocktail a good old shake. In typical Aimsy fashion, mine began leaking everywhere, which meant I ended up covered and the cocktail was quite flat when I poured it. Apparently, the key to a good espresso martini is getting the cocktail cold enough and shaking it enough to get a good amount of foam or creme on top. I failed miserably at the latter, but the cocktail still tasted good, and with the little foam I did manage my three coffee beans managed to keep afloat on.

Brunch – 1st Course:

With the fun of making the cocktail over, the first course of the brunch arrived.  That’s right a two-course brunch…heaven! The first course was the savoury option, and everyone was provided with the same unless you had a different dietary requirement. The dish we had ‘The Eggcellent Kahlúa Stack’; was made up of an English muffin topped with smashed avocado, poached eggs and Kahlúa and maple-infused ham. Let me tell you, this dish was delicious. It had just the right amount of avocado and they had poached the eggs just right. The Kahlúa and maple-infused ham tasted nice, however, I couldn’t taste any of the Kahlúa in it. Never the less my plate was empty!

Brunch – 2nd Course

Chatting and finishing our own made espresso martinis the next course came out. This was the one we were waiting for…Kahlúa Rainbow Pancakes!

The pancakes

A stack of three pancakes, two of which were normal pancake colour and the middle one being a pink/red colour; not exactly rainbow coloured but nice anyway. Topped with a warm Kahlúa chocolate sauce and chocolate coated coffee beans with the option of adding a few extra toppings to this, which were on the table in little jars. Again we had to share these out with about 8 of us with the toppings being; blueberries, strawberries, chocolate buttons and marshmallows. This was divine! I was greedy and put all toppings on (made sure others had their fair share too though!) and could have definitely eaten it several times over!

Cocktail Masterclass 2

The time came for our final course, which was another cocktail, however, we didn’t get to make this one, with the drink being provided to us. The name of it was ‘Chokahlúa Orange’ and consisted of  Kahlúa, tequila, cacao syrup and orange.

Unfortunately, this cocktail didn’t go down too well with us, as the tequila taste was a bit strong for our liking. It seemed like a lot of others at the brunch wasn’t as keen on this as well as we noticed a lot of full glasses being taken away on trays. We were lucky that a lady near us liked them, so she bagged herself about three glasses of the stuff, not sure she was still standing at the end though!

Outcome

I think I could have drunk the cocktail given time, but I had plans to walk one of the Yorkshire three peaks the next day, and I definitely could not have done that with a hangover! Since the masterclass, I have read that this cocktail tasted a lot better and less strong when drank with the yummy pancakes above. I guess I will have to go again to test out this theory!

All in all, it was a really enjoyable afternoon, and one I would definitely go to again. We definitely could not quibble at the price of tickets, as you certainly did get more than your money’s worth. I think this club is fairly new, and there are only certain dates when it is held. Looking at the website, it looks like it is mainly on bank holiday weekends, with the last one being the one I attended. Hopefully, they will advertise for further dates later in the year.

Have you been to one of the Kahlúa Brunch Clubs or a cocktail masterclass? What did you think? Would this be something you would like to attend?
Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,