oranges and lemons

I'm not Tom Cruise in Cocktail yet. But it's not going to be long :)

My first day at Barschool was quite long but interesting. Today we learnt most of the theory, practised some garnishing (cut up a load of lemons and limes), and had a go at freepouring which resulted in copious amounts of water all over the place. One interesting fact I learnt today was that it is a legal requirement to measure gin, rum, vodka and whisky in multiples of 25/50ml but any other kind of spirit is exempt from this rule. However, there is a kind of loophole in that if the drink contains 3 different types of liquids or more, it is legal to freepour the said spirits.

On a separate note, I went to a brilliant bar on Sunday evening.. my friend and I decided to have a girly evening and took ourselves to the plush Oxo Tower bar on the 8th floor overlooking the river Thames. We had a fabulous evening, and the bar service was the best I've ever had. Peter the polish bartender mixed impromptu cocktails for us all night and all I had to do was sign the tab.. Peter cottoned on pretty quickly how much I love raspberries and knew just how to keep me happy ;)
It was a magical evening, even if it was just us two girls. We watched the sun setting, there was a girl with a great voice singing in the background, and we were escorted back to Bank by a 'gentleman' who claimed that he'd met Hugh Grant and that he was an asshole. A new entrant in my phonebook, the bets are on whether he will be true to his word and take us both out for dinner on Friday :)

I have to be up early tomorrow - and make sure to have a substantial breakfast as we are doing Spirit Tastings tomorrow %)