Cocktail Making Stag Do

A cocktail making stag do puts the lads behind a proper bar with a bartender who shows you how to shake, stir, muddle and pour. You learn a few classics, make them yourselves, and then (this is the important bit) you drink them.

Sessions usually last a couple of hours. Most include a welcome drink, a demo and a few cocktails each, often with a competition at the end to find the group’s best mixer. The number of drinks and the recipes vary, so check with the provider.

On paper it looks tamer than go karting or a night at the casino, and that’s exactly why I like it. It’s a relaxed start to a big night, anyone can do it, and there’s a drink in your hand from the first minute.

It’s also more competitive than you’d expect. Give eight blokes a shaker and a judge and suddenly it’s the Olympics. Someone will try to flip a bottle, someone will drop one, and someone will make a mojito that tastes like a lawn.

It’s a good one for mixed groups, too. The lads who’d never go near a paintball site are in their element, and the ones who would are too busy trying to out-shake each other to notice they’re doing something classy.

The stag comes away with a skill he can use at home. That might be the only useful thing that happens all weekend, and his other half may well thank you for it.

• Book it early in the evening. Cocktails go down fast. Put the session before dinner, not after the pub, or nobody will remember a single recipe.
• Ask about non-drinkers. Plenty of venues can do alcohol-free versions. Ask, so the driver or the teetotal mate can join in properly.
• Make the stag the star. Have him mix a round for the whole group, or invent a signature cocktail named after him. The worse it tastes, the better the story.
• Eat something first. Several strong cocktails on an empty stomach makes for a short night and a long Sunday.
• Dress smart casual. The bars that host workshops tend to be the nicer kind. Save the inflatables for later.
• Watch the group size. Bigger groups may be split across stations or sessions. Ask how it works so everyone gets a turn behind the bar.

A cocktail class is a great warm-up for a pub crawl or a night in a big city like Manchester or London, where there’s no shortage of bars to show off your new skills in. If the group are more pint than martini, swap it for a beer tasting instead.

Want the stag to keep practising after the weekend? The kit below makes a decent gift from the group.