Both The Oakland in Ferndale and The Raven’s Club in Ann Arbor hosted Kris Von Dopek, Brand Ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin, for a cocktail class last week.

The event was free (THANKS HENDRICK’S!) and everyone got to make their own drinks at their own station. It had to be a ton of clean-up so I am glad I wasn’t the one doing dishes.

Prior to the hands on portion, Kris gave a great presentation on the History of Gin and the details of what makes Hendrick’s Gin unique. I won’t go into the whole history but I will share a few neat cocktail party trivial tid-bits.

• Egyptian’s used Juniper Berries in embalming as they thought this was a life-giving herb
• Roman’s used to chew it for a pick-me-up before battle and as an antiseptic.
• Back in the day in London, you could bring your cup to any of the black cat heads in the city and for a small price could get your cup filled by the cat head. Some are still found throughout the city.
• Hendrick’s is Family Owned and based in Scotland
• It owns the largest malt distillery in Scotland.
• It contains 11 botanicals; Lemon Peel, Elderflower, Orange Peel, Yarrow Root, Angelica Root, Caraway, Juniper, Corriander, Orris Root, Cubeb Berry & Chamomile.

After the presentation, we returned to our stations to make our three drinks. My brother-in-law, Paul, joined me for the event and is seen here demonstrating how to juice a lemon. The first drink was the Cucumber Blood Orange Cooler followed by the Cucumber Lemonade and finally the Hendrick’s Gin Punch.

Cucumber Blood Orange Cooler

• 1/2 oz Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
• 1/2 Lemon Juiced into Glass
• 1 1/2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
• Build in a mixing glass, top with ice and stir
• Strain into an iced Collin’s glass and top with soda water

Cucumber Lemonade

• 1 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
• 1 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
• Build in a mixing glass, top with ice and stir
• Strain into an iced Collin’s glass, top with soda water and garnish with Cucumber

Hendrick’s Gin Punch

•  4 Parts Hendrick’s Gin
• 4 Parts Weak Green Tea
• 2 Parts Lemon Juice
• 2 Parts Simple Syrup
• 1 Part Lillet Blanc
• Dash of Angostura Bitters

The first Blood Orange Cooler was a bit unbalanced (for my taste) but the other two were great. I could have drank the punch all night. I’ll leave you with two interesting facts as take away from the event. For simple syrup, use 2 parts sugar and 1 part water (nothing new here). Boil it until it reduces by half and you make glucose instead of sucrose. The brain (supposedly) thinks it tastes sweeter and you can use less. The other random fact is that by law, Kris couldn’t tell us the exact amount of alcohol to add to our cocktails. He could only point to the jigger line. This is fascinating and I’ll be researching that ASAP. The event was a blast and it’s great to see the love in Detroit for a major brand like Hendrick’s. I hope other big brands take the lead and make it out here.

Thanks so much to our great teacher, Kris Von Dopek. I made this awesome gif from him serving Punch to students. Also, here is his bio:

Born in Chicago, Kris spent his childhood bouncing between the U.S. and Europe, mainly London and Berlin. A bit of a sci-fi fanatic, Kris enjoys perusing science journals when he’s not mixing curious Hendrick’s cocktails. The newest addition to the Hendrick’s Gin Brand Ambassador brigade, Kris was bit by the Hospitality bug in London and pursued his passion, leading him to become a prep cook until he discovered bartending. He became the head bartender of a small cocktail bar in SoHo called Polka where he caught the competition fever. In 2006 Kris won 2^nd place in the UK’s Bartender of the Year, and in 2008, returned to Chicago looking to find a home for his London-developed skills. Running cocktail programs in a few notable bars, von Dopek truly met Hendrick’s, and shall we say, the rest is history.

Budmo!