When life gives you an opportunity to be an alchemist for one day, you just don’t grab it, you drink it ,too. Thanks to Airbnb, Dewar’s and Nitin Tewari, I got to be a mixologist for a day. By Nidhi Kandari
Excited as ever, I press the elevator button for getting to the restaurant — Together At 12th, Le Meridien Gurgaon. While the event waited for other guests, Tanisha takes me on a little tour showing how each element at the restaurant represents ‘togetherness’ and ‘community’. I also get to eat fennel seeds right from a fennel plant there, one of the many varieties of plants being grown inside. Thanks to the previous night’s drizzle in Delhi, the clear sky and chilly breeze made my 10 minutes on the terrace surreal and worthwhile.
On entering the private area for activity, I felt like my 11th grade self in a chemistry lab, as beakers, jars, test tubes and measuring cylinders resembled the setting. We were to use these ‘tools’ for creating unique blends out of the floral, smokey, fruity and flavourful whiskeys we had. In no time, the award-winning mixologist Nitin Tewari walked us through the basics of spirits and the whiskey making process. Taking mental notes, I and the other participants were now excited and looking forward to create our own whiskey blends as per our own individual preferences. We would create it the way we liked and carry it home in tiny 150 ml bottles with our names on them.
After creating our spirits, we head to the bar counter for mixing some cocktails. [Not boasting] but, if you had a sip of the ‘Gold Rush’ I mixed, you won’t be able to tell it was a first timer’s creation. As we reached our table with the cocktails we created, a luscious food spread curated by Chef Vanshika Bhatia awaited us. While the veg chip bowl, sweet potato gnocchi and black rice were delightful, I just cannot take the burrata, fig & puff pastry dish out of my mind.
I thoroughly enjoyed this experiential day created by Airbnb, Dewar’s and Nitin Tewari because who doesn’t love food, drinks and DIYs!
Related: 10 Unusual & Interesting Experiences Listed On Airbnb That You HAVE To Try
