The art of mixing

Useful session

At an event organised by the Bar Masters Academy and Pernod Ricard India at the ITC Gardenia recently, one could see what an art bartending actually is. Held over a span of three days, the programme had a session on Molecular Mixology by Ravi Valecha and Matthew Pomeroy, Global Brand Ambassador of Absolut. A certified programme, the event had a lot to offer to budding bartenders. Be it in terms of creating a cocktail or garnishing and serving it, the event had all this and much more.

Matthew Pomeroy’s session, held on Saturday, was quite an interesting one as he infused his characteristic humour into his classes. “For me, bartending is all about different styles and techniques,” he explained to his eager students. He spoke on different kinds of cocktails and the techniques involved in bartending. Even his demonstrations were extremely fun-filled as he kept cracking jokes and laughing at himself. For instance, while shaking the ice rigorously for a drink, he said, “This is hard work so give me a round of applause!”

Speaking on the Japanese cocktail culture, he emphasised on the importance of ice in a cocktail. “In Japan, ice is an industry,” he said. He even showed the Japanese style of cutting ice with the help of ice knives, small knives and ice pricks. As he made an circular ice cube out of a big block of ice, he joked once again saying, “Do not try this at home!”
And the students totally enjoyed the session of course! Prasan, an employee of the ITC Windsor, attended the programme on all the three days to sharpen his bartending skills.

“Attending this programme was a great experience. I got to learn a lot of new and different cocktails and can’t wait to try them out,” he said. “Besides, it was not just about making cocktails. We also learnt on how to create a perfect bartending ambience with cutlery and crockery,” he added. “I also enjoyed Ravi Valecha’s session as he taught us how to handle a customer. The programme was such a great learning experience that it made me feel like I was in college all over again,” he summed up.