Date night: House of Bols cocktail workshop

Paris was our Valentine weekend treat, but on Valentine’s Day, Marlon and I changed it up a bit. After years of staying in and ignoring this most commercial of holidays, we actually went out for a Valentine-themed date night.

Oh, stop cringing, themed dates don’t have to be cheesy. In fact, they can be fun—as we discovered when we did a Valentine cocktail workshop at The House of Bols: Cocktail and Genever Experience.

Home to the world’s oldest distilled spirit brand, The House of Bols has been distilling liqueurs in Amsterdam since 1575. Its signature product is jenever,  a blend of distilled malt wine and juniper berries that is Holland’s national liquor and the predecessor of modern-day gin. The house brand Bols Genever (hello, gorgeous bottle!) is one of the first-ever cocktail liqueurs and dates all the way back to 1820.

Our evening started with a tour of the House of Bols Museum, which has won the Dutch Design Award for Best Exhibition and Experience. From elegantly calligraphed labels to its gleaming copper distillery, this smallish, cozy museum offers a sensory experience of Bols’ history and heritage.

My favorite part of the museum was the room where we got to “taste” each of Bols’ 38 flavored liqueurs… with our noses. *sniff sniff* Such an unusual and fun experience!

The “museum” part of the visit ends when the “cocktail” part of it begins: with a cocktail at the Mirror Bar, which is included in the price of admission. I wish Bols had a standalone cocktail bar outside the museum—their menu features some truly fabulous cocktails!

I just had to snap this picture because it is the perfect example of what I have to deal with as a 5’1″/152cm Filipina living among the tallest people on the planet.

Compare how the cocktail table comes up to my chest versus how it comes up to just the right height on this typical Dutch couple. When the top of your cocktail glass hits your forehead… oh, short people problems!

Upstairs is where the action begins: at the Bols Bartending Academy.

Our bartender-teacher David began by demonstrating his techniques and tricks at the show bar, before sending us off to our own very professional-looking bar counters.

We started with a simple stirred cocktail called Perfect Bitter Love, which is both beautiful and easy to make. The pretty color comes from Bols Parfait Amour, a liqueur flavored with orange, vanilla, rose and violet petals.

Sufficiently lubricated, we moved up to a more complex cocktail: a muddled Vanillaberry Crush.

Finally, we learned a real bartending signature move: shaking. It’s harder than it looks! Marlon demonstrates his shaking technique. Okay, it looks a bit lewd…

but it resulted in this lovely Kiss from a Rose—shaken, not stirred!

As a bonus, our teacher David got his flair on and demonstrated how to whip up the coolest thing I have ever seen in a shot glass: The Jellyfish.

The best part: getting to drink all the cocktails we made! I can tell you we weren’t measuring perfectly precise 30ml portions by the time we got to the third cocktail.

Located just across the Van Gogh Museum on Museumplein, the House of Bols offers a refreshing break from the usual tourist itinerary, and a different way to experience Amsterdam. Check out their cocktail workshops and courses for a fun date night out!