Cocktail Class 101: The Basics

This in-depth cocktail basics course will cover the nitty-gritty details behind the tools and techniques needed to craft great cocktails at home. Your instructors will cover the types and uses for different glassware and bar tools, and techniques for using your tools effectively (and how to look good doing it). Next, we’ll move on to the world of ‘the mother’ cocktails - these are the essential five types of cocktails, upon which most every other cocktail has been based upon.

Suggested Pairings

We recommend Cocktail Codex as the companion book to this course. 

About Your Instructors

Peter Marsala

Peter started his professional life teaching and pursuing a career in geology and field geochemistry research. As a lover of craft beverages, after much soul searching, Peter decided to change gears and pursue a career in the craft alcohol industry. Experiencing and learning about different local craft producers eventually spurred his interest in cocktails and craft bartending. After polishing his hospitality and bartending skills through positions at Far From the Tree Cider, Opus in Salem and two award-winning premiere craft cocktail and beer bars at Encore Boston Harbor, Peter landed a dream job at The Speakeasy Lab at Deacon Giles Distillery. He took over and began developing the beverage program for his favorite distillery. At Deacon Giles, Peter is able to marry his passion for local craft spirits with his background in science, while taking his cocktail skill set in new and interesting directions!

Jesse Brenneman

With 14+ years in alcoholic beverage production, Jesse has crafted libations throughout the northeast, including roles at Old Dominion, Gordon Biersch, and Harpoon Breweries. His interest in distilling formed when he started exploring cocktails as a break from the saturation of overly hoppy beers available. Oftentimes spirits producers rely solely on their distillation equipment for the production of spirits, but Jesse applies his step-by-step quality-control oriented approach, learned through the production of beer, to every spirit he makes, from raw ingredient to finished spirit. The results are high quality spirits with clean flavors and exceptional nuance - ‘Put good in, get better out!’

Tickets are refundable up to 10 days prior to the course date. Drinks, beyond what is taught during the course, are not included.