Blind Bloggers :: Drinking in the Dark

This heatwave is really something, I'm actually feeling a little guilty for complaining about being so warm when I'd been grumbling so much about how miserable it was before. It got to the point last Saturday where I had to spend most of the day having a lie down, not the way to make the most of any time off.

You can imagine given this severe over-sensitivity to all things weather-related that an invitation to take part in Lola Lo Reading's cocktail-tasting event last Friday was a welcome one... and you'd be right.



[c/o Phil Maclean Photography]

I was a little nervous about going to my first ever 'blogging event', particularly when going solo - this was my own choice given that I know me and I'd just stick to who ever I brought (Moon) rather than mixing, but it wasn't that kind of event and as it was quite a small group, I didn't find it too hard to make a bit of small-talk in between tasting.

Not being any sort of clubber any more, other than last year's work Christmas party, I've not really sampled Reading's night life the whole time we've lived in the area, it is very different going to a nightclub before its usual opening hours though. We were instructed that we would be sampling a variety of cocktails from the menu and be quizzed on our bartending knowledge - did I mention that we'd be blindfolded too?



I suppose the idea was that being blindfolded meant our other senses might be heightened and we'd experience a new sensation of taste while sampling. I'm a little sad to say you've not backed a winning horse and I very much came last in the quiz. My palette skills goes as far as 'if it's tasty, I'll have some more, please'.

I was actually pretty happy with some of the answers I did guess correctly though, and while they can probably forget their Digga Digga Doo cocktail, a concoction of rum and chilli (actual chilli, seeds and all!), there were quite a few cocktails that I tasted that I did enjoy. They also used a few ingredients that I was happy to see, including my all-time favourite, Passoa, and Chambord, a blackcurrant liqueur I discovered after our friend, Long, bought it for us as a house-warming gift (because it looks like a holy hand grenade).




My favourites were probably the Pornstar Martini and the Flamingo, because, at least by my book, you can't really go wrong with anything sugary and fruity.



The Flamingo actually marks a new season for Lola Lo, as well as being a brand new cocktail in a specially commissioned flamingo mug, 10p of each sale will be going to The Flamingo Foundation, a charity that provide valuable educations, health and community projects in both the UK and worldwide.



These lampshades were dreamy ♥



Taking a couple of hours to sample some cocktails on a Friday evening was a nice way to round up the working week and even though I didn't win any prizes or get to take any of those neat cocktail vases mugs home, Lola Lo is definitely a place I'd consider for another evening of cocktails, this time full-size ones.