Women & Whiskeys with Kara Elise
We loved hosting this beautiful event alongside one of our favorite ladies, Kara Elise. It's hard to beat learning about whiskey while drinking delicious cocktails, nibbling on a gorgeous spread of food, surrounded by vibrant, glowy women, at one of our favorite places in LA.
Kara Elise is one inspiring chick (she loves food as much as we do! And celebrating it too) so when she asked us to host one of her Women & Whiskeys events we jumped at the opportunity and felt honored to be a part of it.
We hosted the event at Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills at their stunning outdoor patio, equipped with twinkle lights and pastel cabanas. The setting creates a magical vibe, and is one of our favorite places in LA for happy hour. When drinking hard liquor, it's important to always have snacks! And Viviane provided the most epic snack table ever-- everything from charcuterie, tapenade, hummus, olives, to figs and cheese, it was an endless array of the most delicious bites.
As Kara perfectly describes the evening:
"Ryan, who runs the bar program over at Viviane, crafted three delightful cocktails. We sipped a round of each, jumped in and out of conversation, and enjoyed our evening by the pool. The cocktails were the Jimmy’s Collins, which is Russell’s Reserve 6yr Rye Whiskey, lemon, bitters, and muddled orange. Then we moved onto the Kentucky Buck, made with Wild Turkey Rye, cold pressed ginger juice, lime, and soda. Lastly, but honestly my favorite whiskey cocktail (you can see a recipe here!), we sipped the Boulevardier with Russell’s Reserve 10yr Bourbon, Campari, and Cinzano 1757.
After a few cocktails and all the delicious bites, we gathered for a 30 minute class called Whiskey 101, taught by Chantelle of Women & Whiskies. I think this class is probably my favorite part of W&W events. Not only do I learn something new every. single. time, but I also happen to love watching my friends ooooh and ahhh over gaining a new language and understanding of whiskey. For example, do you know the difference between Whiskey and Whisky? It’s all in the countries' name! For example, if your whiskey is made in a country whose name has an “E” in the spelling, then it’s Whiskey (i.e. America, Ireland, etc.). BUT if your Whisky comes from a country whose name doesn’t have an “E” then it’s Whisky! (i.e. Canada, Scotland, Japan). Nuts, right?"
Autumn and winter are perfect seasons to get your whiskey on... there are so many cozy, warming cocktails to make and we're super excited to keep experimenting.
Photo Credit: Krista Mason Photography