The Illusion of the ‘Classy’ Cocktail Night.

The illusion of the ‘classy’ cocktail night.

We girls love our cocktail nights, it’s a chance to un-wind, gossip and dress up. We tell ourselves that we have these cocktail nights to have a ‘quiet’, but fun time with friends.

“I’m only out for one” will constantly be said beforehand. This very rarely happens. After one drink, you say “I’ll just have one more” and before you know it, you’re on your forth cocktail, falling down the stairs of the cocktail bar, with no money but still every intention of moving onto another bar or club with your bank card in hand.

We pretend we’re being classy because that’s what ‘cocktails’ are associated with. When we say the word ‘cocktail’, we think of films with Sarah Jessica Parker looking elegant as she looks for some handsome man at the bar, with her hand caressing her Martini glass, which with little sips, will last her the whole night.

When my friends and I go out for cocktails, this is an entirely different story. The story of our cocktail endeavours involves a night of getting increasingly ladette-like and drunk. But with this said, we always end up having a goodnight.

Note to all: Cocktail nights always end up with a hangover and an empty purse in the morning.

Let’s face it, everyone has to admit that some cocktails taste great!.. which often means you don’t realise how much you’re drinking. However in return, some taste so bad you know exactly how much you’re drinking. The only thing I hate about the cocktail experience is you never really know what you’re getting. It’s really pot luck if you get a nice drink.

You can go for one of the classics: a Martini, Margaritas (my personal favourite) or a Cosmopolitan…you generally know where you’re at with these choices. Sometimes there may even be a lemon wedge attached to the glass or an olive stick in to add that extra bit of class 😉

You can be a bit more adventurous and go for an unusual name like “Sex on the Beach” or “Gin and Sonic”, looking down the menu for the words “vodka”, “gin” (alcohols you recognise) or “orange”, “mango” (flavours that you hope will make it drinkable) and usually these drinks will not disappoint.

However, we all have that one friend that’s feeling perhaps a little bit too adventurous and ends up buying a cocktail that has a shocking after taste. These cocktails generally taste like every alcohol in the world is mixed together in a small glass (which is probably the correct assumption in some cases). In my friendship group, this friend is Rachel. A couple of weeks ago my friends and I went out for cocktails and Rachel decided to be a bit wild and order something a bit different…

Going through the cocktail list, cracking the codes of some of the alcohols mentioned like we’re trying to decipher hieroglyphics, with one of our other friends pretending they know everything about alcohol (there’s always one), Rachel looked for something out of the ordinary. After searching the list Rachel chose the “Green Fairy” cocktail from the menu.

Don’t be fooled: the name may sound nice and sweet but this cocktail had more of a kick to it.

She was very sure of herself, whilst we all bought the ‘safe’ cocktails from the list, she chose the one with absinthe and various other alcohols in. Rach took one sip and looked like she had bitten into a sour lemon. After trying to palm it off on our other friends Amy and Kath, we all ended up drinking it together, I mean… what are friends are for 😉 

Warning: A cocktail may look and sound nice from a distance, but this doesn’t always translate in the taste.

P.s. For all the students on a budget, making your own cocktails is a great way to Prink (pre-drink). My friends fave is Sex on the Beach (cranberry and orange juice, vodka and peach schnapps) split the cost between you all and have a great night!