Cocktail Masterclass with Our Head Bartender
Two hours behind the BLACK bar: learn to shake, stir and build three signature cocktails properly, drink what you make, then take the recipes home.
The bar school you actually want to attend
Our head bartender has spent fifteen years behind bars in Sydney and Melbourne, and this class is where the tricks get handed over. You work at your own station on the real bar, building three cocktails that cover the three skills that matter: shaking, stirring and balancing.
You drink everything you make, pace yourself with bar snacks from the kitchen, and leave with a recipe card and enough technique to ruin every mediocre cocktail you are served from now on. It is our most-booked format for hens' parties, birthdays and team nights.
Duration
2 hours from seating to the final course.
Party size
6 to 12 guests. Larger groups can be arranged via our events team.
Dress and availability
Casual · Sat 15:00, private slots on request.
Three reasons guests book this
Three cocktails, three skills
A shaken sour, a stirred classic and a built signature drink cover the techniques behind nearly every cocktail on earth.
Your own bar station
Every guest works a stocked station on the BLACK bar. No watching from stools while someone else shakes.
Snacks from the kitchen
A grazing board from the grill keeps the class civilised while the drinks keep coming.
What the price covers
- Full instruction from our head bartender
- Three cocktails made and consumed by you
- Private use of the BLACK bar for the session
- Kitchen grazing board for the group
- Recipe cards and a bar-tools discount voucher
Four stages, no guessing
Tools and the first shake
The class starts with your station, your tools and the first drink: a proper sour, shaken hard and double-strained.
Stirred and serious
The second drink is a stirred classic, where the lesson is dilution, temperature and patience rather than flair.
Your signature build
For the third round you design a drink around a chosen spirit, with the bartender helping you balance sweetness, acid and strength.
The friendly round
The class ends with a lighthearted speed round and a vote on the best build of the afternoon, judged by the bartender.
Class notes
The class involves real alcohol, so all guests must be 18+. Non-drinking participants can join with mocktail builds at a reduced rate.
- All guests must be 18+
- Mocktail version available for non-drinkers, AUD 75
- Private classes for groups of 8 to 16 on request
- Comfortable shoes suggested, you will be standing
Our hens' party of nine spent two hours laughing, shaking and drinking our homework. Best afternoon of the whole weekend.
Priya N. · Hens' party organiser, November 2025
Before you book
The questions we hear most about this experience. Anything else, our team answers on +61 2 9777 9000.
None at all. The class is built for people who like drinking cocktails more than they know about making them.
Yes. Groups of 8 to 16 can book the bar privately, usually in the 15:00 to 17:00 window before dinner service.
A grazing board from the kitchen is part of the class. Most groups add the two-course dinner option and stay for the evening.
Book Cocktail Masterclass
Tell us the essentials and the concierge confirms availability by phone or email within the hour.
- No payment taken at enquiry stage
- Dietary and occasion notes welcomed
- Responses within the hour, 10:00 – 22:00
Grab a station behind the bar
Saturday classes cap at twelve stations and usually sell out a week ahead. Private slots for groups open on request.