Cocktail Masterclass at The Cosy Club

For someone who likes a tipple as much as I do (as well as my nearest and dearest friends also do), I’m very surprised that over the years I haven’t ended up at a cocktail making class as a beginning of a night out or on a hen party. So when I was contacted by one of my favourite places to eat in Stamford, The Cosy Club for a night of tapas and cocktail making I said yes please.

I was allowed to take a plus one with me, and as it was a school night it only seemed fair to drag along my friend and colleague Sian (actually – now ex-colleague if you’ve not seen this post and she needed no dragging within a second of asking if she fancied it she had replied hell yes), as we’ve had some hard weeks lately, and a cocktail or two after work has been what the doctor would have ordered for us. So we whizzed off after work and met the other participants at The Cosy Club for a welcome shot of a Basil and Passionfruit Margarita (as a driver, I sat this one out and took it slow – opting for a rather delicious Blood Orange Mocktail instead).

We took to our cocktail stations and got ready for our first own-made beverage of the night – Botanical Bliss. A long drink that should come with a warning that it’s dangerously drinkable.

The Botanical Bliss was exactly the kind of easy sipping cocktail perfect for hot summer days, it was fairly light on the alcohol content, and was high in fruity flavour which meant it went down easily, very easily. Featuring Ketel One Pink Grapefruit and Rose Vodka as the base, and topped with elderflower cordial, lime juice and topped off with rose petals and a slice of blood orange.

Our second cocktail came after our tapas (I’ll discuss that shortly) and was a dessert cocktail of Eton Mess. Rich, creamy and indulgent are the three qualities of this cocktail I’d describe which match up well with the dessert it’s inspired by. Featuring Vodka, strawberry puree, bitters, and topped with tiny merengue droplets.

It was time for tapas in between the first and second cocktail – we sat down for an absolutely massive feast of food, the table was absolutely full of delightful dishes – there really is something for everyone on that menu. My favourite dishes included the halloumi sticks with a side of chipolte jam – anything halloumi is always a winner for me; the goats cheese and spinach croquettes – I’m not normally a massive fan of goats cheese as I find the flavour overwhelming, these were perfect balanced bites and the sticky glazed mini sausages were absolutely gorgeous. Lastly the Mediterranean Mezze plate was delicious, houmous, falafel, tzatziki and pomegranate were piled high on top of a toasted flatbread.

The cocktail making session was fun and educational, and I have to say it comes in at a surprisingly good deal too. There’s 4 different options should you wish to partake in shaking;

£29.95 for your choice of three cocktails from the menu & a welcome shot
£39.95 for your choice of Tapas, three cocktails from the menu & a welcome shot
£44.50 for your choice of, three cocktails from the menu & a welcome shot
£49.95 for your choice of starter, main, dessert and three cocktails from the menu & a welcome shot

The Cosy Club is a great environment for those with different dietary requirements – the menu is well labelled and has a lot on offer. I always when visiting tend to opt for their delicious tapas dishes, but there’s something for everyone on their regular mains and tapas’. What I liked about this masterclass was that they adapted the menu on the night, for our second cocktail – the Eton Mess with contents of egg, it was not Vegan friendly – and whilst most of us continued with this recipe, the lovely Laura from Loved by Laura is a vegan and she picked off a different cocktail from the menu that she was making alongside us.