Cocktail Masterclass and Menu Tasting at Revolution Aberdeen



I was recently invited to meet up with some local Aberdeen bloggers for a cocktail making mini master-class and food tasting at Revolution Bar & Restaurant* in Aberdeen. The event was organized by local blogger Julia, whose blog Just Julia is a great source of all things foodie in Aberdeen, check her out! I had met several bloggers at a coffee morning a couple of months ago (my first blogger meet up!), and there seems to be a flurry of blogger happenings recently in Aberdeen, it's like we've all come out of the woodwork/from behind our p.c.'s to say hello, world!

Also, I freely admit the lure of cocktails on the first day of Spring was very strong! We were treated with utmost hospitality at the venue, greeted with a choice of prosecco or mocktails in the main bar, which actually looked delicious, though I went for the fizz ;-0. Then we were led upstairs for a cocktail making session in a smaller private bar where we got to pick any cocktail (or mocktail) of our choosing and learn to make it. 


Decisions decisions! There were so many exciting and inventive things to choose from:





So many of the cocktails were fun and appealed to the kid in me, with daiquiris topped with strawberry laces and bubblegum margaritas (topped with sherbert sweets!), and a Starbucks style frappucino mudslide just a few of the creative choices on offer.


I chose to make the Bramble cocktail, comprised of Tanqueray gin (my favourite) and lemon juice and sugar syrup (I forget the technical bartending term, it was all explained to me in detail but it went in one ear and out the other!), and bramble/blackberry concentrate and a whole lot of ice. The bartender was very nice and patient with us all though I managed to spill my blackberry juice mostly on my hands and add way too much ice because I'm American and get excited when I see lots of ice in the U.K.! ;-0). Still, though my drink was yummy and refreshing and I would definitely go for it again, especially made by less shaky hands than mine!


After the cocktail making, which you can book for parties/events, and I would definitely recommend, we went downstairs to the deck area for some nibbles of the new menu at Revolution. Or so I thought, because we were brought absolutely unreal amounts of food! Honestly the tables were overflowing with so many delicious morsels, I tried to photograph as much as I could but we were spread out and I am new to this taking pictures of food thing so I took a few snaps and dug in - sorry not sorry!




As far as I understand, there is a picnic/sharing theme to the menu, we were brought so many good things to eat I lost track of what went with what in terms of the menu. At any rate it seems ideal for sharing, however big your party!

The mini burgers, or "sliders" were very tasty - some had the ingenious touch of a cheesy Wotsit** on top, which melted into a burst of cheesy crunch when you bit into it and was actually really yummy! The lobster ravioli was seriously good, the pizza perfect with a nice light and airy crust. The calamari (not pictured sorry!) was amazing, I would definitely recommend the seafood dishes here and if I'm honest that is something I might have shied away from on a pub menu in past.

The sweet potato fries (sorry also not pictured - v.bad blogger!) were probably the best I have had in the U.K., they were seriously moreish. The fish finger sandwiches were crispy and fresh, and the halloumi wraps, hummus, and goat's cheese bites were nice veggie options all.

The ambience was as chilled as a bustling bar/restaurant can be - they had a live acoustic singer/guitar player who was actually very good. Playing to a noisy pub crowd must be a real challenge, but I guess that's the life of a musician sometimes! At any rate we enjoyed you Mr. Guitar Boy, your covers were on point! I especially enjoyed your Otis Redding Sitting On the Dock of the Bay, and Kanye/Duffy mashup.

I had such a fun afternoon, thanks again to Julia and Revolution Aberdeen for the whole experience! I would definitely recommend Revolution for the food and cocktails. On a Sunday afternoon it was both bustling and laid back in atmosphere, the perfect combination! I am someone who is a little bit (ok a lot bit) shy about meeting lots of new people at once, but I really enjoyed my second bloggers' meetup as it was so relaxed and fun. There are so many bloggers in Aberdeen (and shire) that I had no idea about until the meetups and the Twitter chat - find us on Twitter with #abzbloggers, #abzchat on a Wednesday 8-9 p.m. if you ever want to join in!





*All food and drink were provided gratis, all opinions are my own

** "Cheesy Wotsit" is a cheese puff in case any of my American readers were wondering! The puffy kind not the Cheeto kind, they don't have Cheetos here! :-0)


10 comments

  1. Honestly, this sounds like one of the most interesting blogger events out there. :]

    // ▲ itsCarmen.com ▲

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    1. These things are new to me, it was fun!

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  2. Quite the event, I would need two days recuperation afterwards. Great post!

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    1. ha, it was a lot of food! We made sure the leftovers got given away to the homeless and also some were taken home. Thanks for stopping by :-)

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  3. It was lovely meeting you on Sunday, I hope you have recovered from all that food I couldn't eat anything else all day. Oh and if you are looking for Cheetos you can get them in Tesco at Danestone 😊 Xx

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    1. Ha, thanks Denise! I was so full too! I didn't know that, I don't have a car so I do a big shop online, I've never seen them in town! Lovely to meet you too! :-) xo

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  4. Cocktails are my jam and those look AMAZEBALLSSSSS!

    Every once in awhile I look up bloggers in my area but I only seem to find super serious ones, not any lifestyle or hobbyists, so I'm a bit jelly of your meetings ;)

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    1. They did all look amazing, I really want to go back and try them all! It's quite a mix of hobbyist and some slightly more serious bloggers I think but there are so many of us it seems to even out. :-)

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  5. Oh my gosh that looks like so much freaking fun! I would definitely be on board to do something like that! Awesome!

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    1. It's weird, all of a sudden my city is engaging with bloggers, we're sort of behind the times I guess in that we are the third largest city in Scotland but it's still more like a town in some aspects. Anyway it was fun! I just want to go there and drink cocktails now!

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