Classic Cocktails!

Classic cocktails are fantastic relics our our past. Beautifully traditional cocktails from a bygone era are again in vogue, and are carefully crafted by passionate industry figures who dedicate their lives to research, recipe tinkering and the craft. The classics are often shrouded in mystery regarding their origins too which helps add to their mystique, and cocktail lore in general.

Well stuff all that - because we're abusing tradition and blending them all!

Such is the sport and fun of Blend the Classic at the Carlton Yacht Club with the legendary Bobby Yeung. There's nothing like taking a stuffy old niche and dorking it up!

Thus we small merry band gathered and stalked the bar last Monday the 19th of January - in serious need of icy refreshment. There are few rules at blend the classic, but these must be adhered to.

1. Classic cocktails can be blended only once.
2. Classic cocktails must be slushy-ish in consistency.
3. Classic cocktails must be finished - regardless of how foul the final result.

Round one saw a solid representation of some very famous drinks. I enjoyed a Monkey Gland (gin, orange, grenadine, absinthe), Marty corrupted the famous Mint Julep and Chris tricked out a side car. A very solid first round!

Round two got a bit silly and I suffered through a Pimm's Cup with fruit and cucumber blended in, while Chris smugly enjoyed a delicious Port Stinger (port and creme de menthe is truly sublime!) and Ryan knocked off Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon (champagne and absinthe).

Having warmed to the task, things got a bit out of hand when we started convincing hapless German tourists that their Scotch and cokes needed the treatment - the only thing they could do do drive away the pain was to enjoy a large herbal cigarette on one of the busiest strips in Melbourne. Clever. But we carried on with espresso martinis, Scofflaws (delicious rye whisky, vermouth, lemon and grenadine) sazeracs and fogcutters all falling before the small shiny swords of the blender.

Chris finally copped an ordinary one with a disgusting Black Velvet (champagne and stout) which made me laugh in his face before our round of blended Cowboy shots, and we made it out of there barely intact.

As I write this, we're all steeling our stomachs for the destruction that will be the impending blended dirty martini, or the Gibson (complete with cocktail onions).

There are seven weeks remaining before Bobby jets off to Hong Kong, and we've got our work cut out to smash as many classics as possible. If you wanna get involved remember the last rule: No one talks about Blend Club.