Private Cocktail Classes in Philadelphia
Spirit Forward is a Philadelphia based craft cocktail mixology team, and our cocktail making classes come to you. An at home cocktail class in your kitchen, a corporate class in your office, your rental for the weekend, anywhere with a surface and a sink.
and masterclass
An evening that is equal parts cocktail party and masterclass. Our mixologist leads your group on a journey into flavor, and along the way you'll get hands on with the real tips and techniques of the trade, the ones that separate a good drink from a great one. Take it all home, add your own spin and truly make it yours.
Who knew learning to make cocktails could be this fun?
What you provide. The space. That's it. We bring the stations, the tools, the ingredients, the fresh fruit and herb bar, and yes, even the tables.
Every guest gets their own private bar station. Prepare to get hands-on with the pros.
Better Cocktails at Home
Two hours. Our most popular class, and with good reason.
- I.Instructional.
With a focus on flavor and balance, our mixologist shares the secrets of the trade to help you understand the science behind one of the cocktail world's most iconic drinks.
- II.Workshop.
Get creative and put your own twist on a classic with a mixture of fresh fruit and herbs from our garden bar.
- III.Hands on.
Finally, get behind your own cocktail station and shake like the pros to taste the one of a kind concoction you just made from scratch.
The World's Best Old Fashioned
Two hours. The premium class, built for whiskey drinkers that have their favorite old fashioned recipe memorized.
Spend an evening with a top-level mixologist and learn the secrets of the trade. This is hands-on. This workshop will teach you how to build an Old Fashioned that rivals the best in the world, then play with flavors your own way to replicate it at home with endless variations. You'll go through the history of the drink and break down the finite elements that make it the drink that gave cocktails their name. You will absolutely leave a better and more knowledgeable old-fashioned creator than when you walked in.
- I.Education.
The story behind the glass, the importance of each element, the history of the Old Fashioned, and how it became the original and the benchmark.
- II.Instruction.
Learn to build it, exact proportions, how to jigger, stir, and garnish, all side-by-side with your instructor.
- III.Workshop.
Get interactive and play with flavor: a spread of flavors, bitters, and garnishes, and a literal roll of the dice to decide the Old Fashioned you build and taste.
"An (old-fashioned) cocktail is a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters."
Every class includes
- Full bar set-up and breakdown
- A private bar station per guest
- Expert instruction
- Our custom interactive workshop
- All equipment on site
- A minimum of two drinks per guest
- An open bar and Q&A after the workshop
Team offsites, bachelorettes, birthdays, and the friends who keep meaning to.
Team offsites and staff appreciation. Bachelorette and bachelor parties. Birthdays that go beyond just another dinner reservation. Client entertaining without the steakhouse pricing. Building resident events. Friends who have been meaning to do something other than meet at a bar.
Not everyone drinks, and that's fine. We run the same class as a mocktail class, start to finish, with the same techniques and the same fruit and herb bar.
Bachelorette parties get programming. People learn something, shake something, and get to play while they're having a drink or two. It's been a blast every time.
Team building, but make it cocktails.
An event planner or a building manager is looking for a reason to get people excited about being in the shared space again, the hall where everyone eats and grabs coffee and finds a table to work at. A cocktail class is a good reason.
We've taught at the Wells Fargo Center, at Convene, at One Liberty Place, at the Guild House Hotel, for the Wharton Cocktail Club, and for a pharmaceutical company's team. Once, between periods at a hockey game. That was a wild eighteen minutes.
Philadelphia is home.
Philadelphia is home. We work across Montgomery County and the Main Line, Chester County, Bucks County, Delaware County, and into South Jersey.
Offices, homes, building amenity spaces, rentals. If there's a surface and a sink we can teach there.
A few things people ask
How many people do I need?
Eight is the smallest group for a class, and thirty is the largest for Better Cocktails at Home. Larger than that, ask us and we'll build something.
How long does it take?
Two hours for either class, plus setup and breakdown on either side of about an hour.
Do you run public classes I can buy a ticket to?
No. Every class is private, booked for your group.
Can we do this in our office?
Yes, and we do it often. It's an amazing team building exercise to give staff memorable experiences inside their workspace.
Can you do a class for a group that doesn't drink?
Yes. The mocktail version is the same class, same techniques, same garnish bar.
Tell us the date, the group, and roughly how many people. We'll take it from there.
