For the second day of Eat Drink Blog 2013, delegates were split to their preferred Sunday Activity of their choice. I went to the Cocktail and Food Masterclass which was held at The Classroom. The two other Sunday activities were Mastering French Pastries with Emmanuel Mollois and the Crown Mushroom Farm Tour and Cooking Challenge.

I was very excited as I have always wanted to go to The Classroom. I really liked the interior of The Classroom and thought that it was genius to have school bags hanging on the walls, a shelf with books, encyclopedias etc basically, what you could find in a classroom to suit the theme of the bar. It felt like as if I was back in school. Before class starts, the Bar Manager of The Classroom, Andy Bennett showed us the secret door which looks like a  bookshelf that swings open to reveal The Library, the venue of the Masterclass.

Lockers which have been used to store liqueurs to make the cocktails

The secret door to The Library!

Andy went through each of the points on The Classroom Cocktail Food Matching 101. To match cocktail and food, your palate will be taken onto another level from the cocktail giving an additional texture. We also heard about how The Classroom bar came about to their events which they hold regularly from Andy and Chef Daniel Sterpini. For the masterclass, we had the signature cocktail, the Liquid Nitrogen Espresso Martini.

Cocktails 101

There were three layers to The Espresso Martini. The first layer is The Classroom’s house blend espresso which is pulled to maintain the quality of the crema and aroma. A special mix of vanilla vodka, Italian coffee liqueuer, Pedro Ximenez sherry and dark chocolate liqueur was added to the espresso. The second layer is the liquid nitrogen which stands at -196 degrees Celsius! Adding the liquid nitrogen to the top freezes the crema of the coffee. It was very intriguing seeing the mist circulating around the cocktail glass. Felt like a Chemistry experiment for sure! Lastly, a swirl of mascarpone sherry foam and chocolate dusting was added to remind us of tiramisu. And Voila! Your end product is a Liquid Nitrogen Espresso Martini.

Adding the Liquid Nitrogen to the Espresso Martini

The Liquid Nitrogen Espresso Martini

To match the Espresso Martini was The Asteroid Rocher dessert, created Chef Daniel Sterpini. There were many elements on the plate which complements each other well and were delicious. From popping candy, gold dust, malted honeycomb, Persian fairy floss, fresh blueberries and banana mousse, it is a dish that will tantalise your tastebuds.

The Asteroid Rocher

The menu was also edible too. It was made out of nougat!

I really enjoyed The Classroom’s Cocktail and Food Matching Masterclass and can’t wait to be back to The Classroom again! I highly recommend my dear readers to check out The Classroom for their cocktails and food. You will be intrigued and awed.