A night featuring a private bartending class in the garage

My friend and I have birthdays not too far apart and were trying to think of a way to celebrate together. After hosting a private dinner at our house a few months ago, it finally hit us. Why not have a mixologist come over and host a private bartending class at one of our houses?

We reached out to master mixologist Nelson Escalante, who was part of that dinner, as well as a Mixology 101 class at Exploration Place we attended. He did such a great job at both, we knew he’d be perfect for our birthday evening.

Nelson worked with us on what kind of drinks we enjoyed and planned the bartending class on various cocktails he thought we would like. He suggested the class involve making 3-5 drinks and we opted for four, but I requested we start with a shot of tequila. As part of the evening, every person received a full bartending kit they could take home.

Nelson arrived an hour early and set everything up. He had printed cards that showed what was included in each drink and how to make it.

After starting the night with a shot of Una Vida tequila, the rest of the evening was Nelson walking us through how to make the drinks, sharing stories, and just having a good time.

The four cocktails we made included tequila, vodka, gin, and rum. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the cocktails and had their favorites. One of our friends, who could not stand gin, was hesitant about the cocktail including gin. But because Nelson is a magician, he was able to come up with a cocktail we made that she loved.

It was safe to say that everyone had a blast. Doing something in the garage with friends was way more fun than spending our birthdays at a nearby bar.

We couldn’t have asked for a better person than Nelson to be our teacher for the evening.

Here are the drinks we made:

To get a hold of Nelson Escalante, you can private message him on Facebook.