Hone Your Mixology Skills With A MasterClass Featuring Two Of The World’s Best Bartenders

Uncorking a wine bottle, cracking open a beer or pouring your favorite spirit into a glass will always be fine options for drinking at home. But now that at-home drinking is the only kind of drinking you can do, you might as well brush up on those bartending skills to expand your beverage repertoire.

Right now, bartenders across the world are posting DIY cocktail lessons on Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. But if you want to take things to the next level, you’re in luck. Because two acclaimed barkeeps—Lynnette Marrero and Ryan Chetiyawardana —have joined forces to host a new MasterClass dedicated to making great drinks.

Marrero has been at the forefront of New York’s craft cocktail movement for more than a decade, and was recognized as one of America’s best mixologists by the James Beard Foundation in 2009. She’s also the co-founder of Speed Rack, an all-female high-speed bartending competition designed to highlight up-and-coming women in the cocktail industry, while raising money for those impacted by breast cancer.

“I’ve learned that you can express yourself through a liquid art form, and turn that into hospitality and entertainment,” she says. “I’m so excited to teach this class because it really embodies everything that I’ve learned. I’ll teach you how to define your style and how to mix cocktails for anyone’s palate. I hope you follow the rules, then completely break them.”

London-based Chetiyawardana, better known as “Mr. Lyan,” opened his first bar, White Lyan, in 2013. It was noteworthy for being the first cocktail bar in the world to use no perishables. He went on to found Dandelyan, which was named the World’s Best Bar in 2017 and 2018, as well as Lyaness and Cub.

Throughout the 17-lesson MasterClass, the two barkeeps share their pro tips for stocking a home bar, constructing a balanced cocktail, developing a palate and curating a drink menu to pair with certain foods and occasions. They also demonstrate how to make 20 cocktails, including classics like the Old Fashioned, Negroni, Martini and Margarita. Other lessons include helpful guidance on batching punches and using egg whites in drinks.

Marrero and Chetiyawardana add some personal flair to each lesson. They demonstrate their own unique approaches to cocktail making and illustrate innovative ways to balance flavors using a variety of base spirits. Their philosophies, ingredient selections and even their favorite bar tools are peppered into the classes. At the end of the course, viewers should feel more confident with their own drink-making ability.

“I’m a fan of having things connect easily, especially when I am hanging out with family and friends,” says Chetiyawardana. “A lot of the drinks that I share in our MasterClass are things that bring a sense of intrigue and have these incredible backstories to them, and are also flexible, practical and authentic to your home.”

The MasterClass is available now for $90. Or you can purchase an all-access one-year pass for $180 that lets you take any of the 80-plus classes on the platform. Because this new normal of staying home might be your best chance to mix cocktails with a couple pros, learn to cook Italian food with Massimo Bottura and hone your singing voice with Christina Aguilera.