Experiencing a Cocktail Tasting Workshop in Medellin

TLTR? Learn cocktail-making secrets from an expert mixologist. Create and taste delicious Colombian drinks through a cocktail-tasting workshop in Medellin.

Medellin has a thriving nightlife and hosts a range of cocktail bars serving extravagant and tasty drinks.  The city’s uniquely crafted beverages are especially tantalizing due to Colombia’s abundance of exotic local fruits.

If you’re searching for a fun activity to do in Medellin, look no further!

A cocktail-tasting workshop allows you to throw out the carton of cranberry juice and cheap vodka and learn how to create some quality, fancy drinks from a mixing master.

Here, expert tips and tricks are blended with all the best things, like party tunes, good vibes, weird and wonderful fruits, and fun times with friends. Here are all the details you need to experience a cocktail-tasting workshop in Medellin!

What it Entails

The workshop is headed by expert mixologist and Colombian bartender Nicolas. Having refined his skills in the bars and hotels of Australia and Colombia, he now teaches us regular folk how to create extraordinary drinks.

He prides himself on incorporating local exotic fruits that you wouldn’t typically see in a cocktail, with intricate mixology. 

At the beginning of the class, you’ll be presented with an assortment of tropical fruits, which you’re free to munch on later if you don’t use in the drinks. 

There will also be a quality selection of staple alcohols, like whisky, rum, vodka, and of course, Colombia’s infamous liquor, Aguardiente. 

Then under instruction, you use these ingredients to craft your own special cocktails. Here is precisely what’s included in the two hour session:

• A minimum of three cocktails (made by yourself, peers, and Nicolas)
• Friendly, knowledgeable, and bilingual expert host
• An assortment of 10 fruits.

You can book the workshop here!

How to Get There

The workshop takes place on the rooftop of Poblado’s Rango Hotel and overlooks the stunning mountains that surround the city. 

Rango Hotel is located on Calle 8, just off Poblado’s main highway. Sitting on the outskirts of Parque Lleras, and a short distance from Provenza, it is easily walkable. 

However, if you’re coming from further away, you can hop in a taxi or ride the metro to the ‘Poblado’ stop and walk for 15 minutes. 

Address: Cl. 8 #42-25, Medellín, El Poblado, Medellín, Antioquia

The Experience

On arrival, a host will meet you and direct you to the 6th floor. Exiting the elevator, you’ll see a sophisticated bar, cushioned seating, and a pool. 

The atmosphere is cool and sleek but still comfortable and laid back. The friendly cocktail king Nicolas will greet you and direct you to the workshop section.

Introduction to the Ingredients

Nicolas presents three main ingredients; fruit, handmade syrups, and of course, alcohol. He gives a thorough breakdown of each element. 

Nicolas decided to incorporate raw fruit into the workshop after speaking with the hoards of western tourists utterly fascinated by Colombian fruit. 

I am one of those astonished tourists. He shared my exact sentiment; when he lived in Australia, the fruit was so expensive and not of particularly outstanding quality for the price you pay. 

The exact opposite is true in Colombia. Fruit is cheap by both western and South-American standards. As a foreigner, you will come across deliciously juicy fruits you may rarely encounter in your own country. 

Granadilla, soursop, lulo, and tree tomato were just some of the fruits in Nicholas’ selection.

Activating the Senses

Drinking cultures across the globe often involve simply drinking to get drunk; I fear my country, England, may be at the top of that list. 

However, Nicholas explains in most instances, Colombia is no different regarding alcohol consumption. You would have to overlook the 60ml alcohol shots per cocktail to appreciate that the workshop’s purpose does not include getting drunk. 

People rarely take in the aromas of their alcoholic drinks. So in this session, we must truly experience the drinks and each element; feeling, smelling, and sampling the flavors.

We took in the scents of all the ingredients before tasting the fruits, syrups, and alcohols, distinguishing what flavors were intense and subtle and what would work with or against each other.

Learning about Techniques 

Nicholas made the first cocktail, meticulously demonstrating how to use the equipment and displaying the techniques for crushing the fruit, straining, and shaking. 

The ingredients are, of course, essential, but the technique and methods will determine the overall outcome of your drink. 

For example, double straining the liquid will give a silky smooth texture. Just straining once will allow for teeny bits of fruit to remain. Ultimately it’s up to the creator to decide what experience they want the drinker to have. 

Making the Cocktails

Finally, the time came for us to put on our best bartender hats and show off all the skills we had gained! 

We took turns making a cocktail. Nicholas encouraged us to think carefully about how the flavors will work together and analyze how much or less of an ingredient to add to achieve the ultimate balance. 

But above all, there was an emphasis on choosing what you like and going with your senses. In the words of Nicholas, ‘It doesn’t really matter if you make something disgusting’

I went first, crushing grapes and granadilla in the metal cup, before adding the tangy ginger syrup and 60ml of rum. I shook my concoction with crushed ice until my hands went slightly numb from the cold of the metal. 

Straining the liquid, it smelt sweet and fruity, but the proof was in the tasting. I poured the drink between two glasses using a tiny sifter. 

It tasted surprisingly good. The granadilla has a strong sour taste, so it complemented the subtle but sweet flavors of the grapes. The splash of lime, rum, and ginger syrup cut those sugary flavors perfectly.  

After tasting the cocktails of the other workshop goers, Nicholas made one final cocktail for us to enjoy. 

Honestly, he made it look a lot easier than our struggle cocktails. Altogether, I had enjoyed five cocktails by the end of the workshop, and I’ll admit, I was a little tipsy. 

Experience a Cocktail Tasting Workshop in Medellin

I left the session feeling like I had enough knowledge to make my own cocktails for friends at home. So, not only am I now a self-proclaimed cocktail connoisseur, but I genuinely had a fun time. 

Hanging out on a Medellin rooftop, tasting cocktails, vibing to music, and meeting new people isn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon.

I would definitely recommend it if you want to touch up your drink-making skills or are just looking for something fun to do in the city. 

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