On Valentine’s eve I took my second trip to Fion for the Cocktails to Make You Blush Dabble class. I showed up way too early. With time to kill I doodled in my notebook, pretended to watch a basketball game and watched our instructor Dennis, slip out to buy some fresh strawberries. My advice, show up ten minutes early to class not twenty.
The rest of the class started filling in a little after 7. As expected, the group was mostly couples with at least one exception. A group of four sat down next to me and when I overheard them talking about dating, I jumped in. I asked them if they were couples. One pair said yes and the other guy and girl said no. The girl had a boyfriend that was elsewhere, the guy was single.
If you remember my call to action to men, in my Scotch class, you’ll understand why I was so happy to see a single dude dabbling. Now, this guy didn’t read my blog post, but he got himself to class anyway. And how did this happen? His girl friend with the boyfriend, invited him.
So here’s my new call to action: LADIES, bring your single guy friends to class. Tell them about all the wonderful women you’ve met. Or, if you’re crushing on that guy friend, invite him to class for the best “date-non-date.”
I more or less said all this, which spurred a conversation that delayed class and now I owe Dennis an apology. Sorry!
Drinks that are light, fruity, and sweet are the best aphrodisiacs, Dennis told us. And even though asparagus, figs, and oysters were all on the top 10 aphrodisiac food list he read us, our drinks were thankfully not made up of those.
Our drinks were beautiful, yummy, Pinterest worthy creations. In fact a woman at the bar, not part of class, ordered what we were having, a Fion original, the Valentini. Fresh strawberries, vodka, St. Germain and a dash of balsamic vinegar is one of the best things I’ve ever drank slurped. You can’t let any of that go to waste.
We also sampled something called a Bittersweet made up of muddled grapes, gin, raspberries, Cachaca and a few other surprises. There was a Blueberry Smash, made up of the odd but wonderful pairing of bourbon, blueberry, and vanilla. This one, the class all agreed, tasted exactly like chocolate cake. And finally we had the most adventurous drink of the night, an egg white, jalapeno, dark and white chocolate, tequila blend. While I enjoyed the chocolate, the pepper was intensely hot and that egg white froth is just something I’ll have to get use to.
I’ve said in the past and I’ll say again, a Dabble class, especially a drink one, is a great way to get out of your comfort zone and start chatting. And even if you don’t end up meeting anyone new, you’ve learned a new skill. That is totally something to brag about.
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Ali Kelley is a 20-something trying to figure out her life one Dabble at a time. Be sure to check back each Wednesday to see her newest Dabble class adventure, and cheer her on with words of encouragement through the comments section below or on Twitter @freegiantparty.