Drinkskool offers expert online training in art of mixing drinks

There are only two official ingredients in a Gimlet, Plymouth Gin and Rose’s Lime Juice, but to make the classic drink like a pro, it takes ice, a shaker, a strainer, a martini glass and of course, a slice of fresh lime for garnish.

A Gimlet is just one of the drinks students can learn to make at DrinkSkool, an online training site created by a number of experts in the field.

“The real focus of this was to show people, help people understand how you make a drink, why you make a drink that way, what these techniques are like,” Doug Frost, one of the men behind DrinkSkool, tells KIRO Radio’s Let’s Eat.

The website offers history, recipes, instruction and video demonstrations so users can learn skills to make drinks properly.

Frost says while some drink recipes may sound easy, there are tricks to each step and technique. DrinkSkool clues students in to the subtleties of making a great drink.

Those offering the education are well known masters of the craft. Along with Frost, an American Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, there’s Andy Seymour, a top mixologist, Dale Degroff, who some call the father of the modern cocktail, cocktail columnist and author David Wondrich, writer and spirits authority F. Paul Pacault, and “wine geek” Steve Olson.

The site even allows users to become a CDE (Certified Drinks Expert). The title is really just for fun, explains Frost, but the serious can test themselves.

“It’s a process that we make available to people once they’ve gone through DrinkSkool and decide they want to prove it,” says Frost.

There are 10 lessons packed with multiple chapters covering subjects from general mixology to how to judge a bar.

Let’s Eat airs on KIRO Radio Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at noon. Listen anytime ON DEMAND at KIRORadio.com.