Are you ready to find your inner flair and a touch of je ne sais quoi flamboyance to create a perfect cocktail using Jim Beam’s finest bourbon whiskey? This is exactly what you should be prepared for when you visit the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse in downtown Louisville to enjoy an epic mixology class experience. Whether you are an expert bartender or don’t know the difference between a whiskey glass and a shot glass, the mixology class is the perfect experience to learn all about the bourbon whiskey cocktail scene.
Bourbon whiskey may not be the first liquor you think about using to create a perfect cocktail but after enjoying a mixology class at the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse, you likely will want to reconsider this thought process. Thanks to our awesome bartender teacher for the night, Daniel, we can now well and truly say that we are experts in the field of bartending!
Ok, so that’s a slight exaggeration…perhaps a HUGE exaggeration, but regardless of our talent levels before and after the mixology class, nothing can take away from the amazing experience we enjoyed thanks primarily to Daniel’s awesome lesson.
If you are planning a bourbon-inspired weekend in Louisville, you have picked the right blog to read! We enjoyed an amazing 48-hours experiencing some of Louisville’s finest bourbon distilleries and we will be posting more of our experiences from around the city. But this post is all about creating that perfect cocktail. Let’s find out how we did and hopefully you will be inspired to add this creative experience to your Louisville itinerary!
Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse Tours
Ready to head downtown Louisville to enjoy one of the amazing tours and experiences at the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse?
If you already enjoyed the Jim Beam American Stillhouse in nearby Clermont, this is definitely a great alternative with a more “modern, urbanized” feel to the location. Both offer a great experience and we highly recommend visiting both Stillhouses if you have time when you are in the Louisville area.
Here is the selection of tours currently available, including the awesome “mixology” class that you can participate in.
Tour the Visitor Center
No reservations are necessary and anyone can just walk inside the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse located on the vibrant 4th Street Live in downtown Louisville to enjoy a small working distillery, a bottling line, a tasting experience and of course, the opportunity to create your very own personalized bottle of bourbon.
Taste of History
For those wandering around downtown Louisville and want a quick introduction to Jim Beam’s iconic bourbon flavors, head inside the Urban Stillhouse and participate in the “Taste of History” tour.
For only $6, you can learn about the history and heritage of this brand while at the same time enjoying a sample of four flights, including the rare Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse Select, only available inside this location. Two other favorite options are chosen by the expert guides while the fourth option is entirely personalized dependent upon your own preference!
Jim Beam’s bartenders and guides will lead you through the process of enjoying the perfect Jim Beam bourbon while also learning about Booker’s signature “Kentucky Chew.” Did I also mention that you get to take home your very own commemorative Jim Beam shot glass?
Tableside Cocktails Tour
We were delighted to participate in a brand new experience that the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse has recently introduced. The “Tableside Cocktails” experience is a great way for anyone to become a bartender in just 30 minutes. These experiences are available every hour between 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, Monday through Saturday.
Adults – $18
As there is limited availability on this tour, we strongly recommend making reservations by calling the Urban Stillhouse at (502) 855-8392.
Enjoy A Personalized Mixology Class
Welcome to your very own bartending bourbon 101 mixology lesson!
After briefly speaking with the manager of the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse, we learned that this tableside cocktail experience has only been offered since March 2017, so we were honored to be able to enjoy such a new attraction in downtown Louisville.
I recently read an article on the Insider Louisville website that indicated the following…
Mixology doesn’t have to be intimidating (Insider louisville)
I have to admit that I fell into the category of being slightly nervous about what to expect. These nerves didn’t last long thanks mainly to our awesome guide!
Our personal bartender for the evening was Daniel and we quickly realized this was going to be an awesome experience. He immediately made us feel comfortable despite neither of us having any bartending experience (Heather “claimed” to have some but I will admit that I had zero experience!) and shared a brief history on the use of bourbon in creating cocktail concoctions.
Introducing us to the ingredients that can be used to create the perfect whiskey sour, we were ready to watch Daniel throw together a delicious cocktail. We quickly realized that we should probably pay close attention as it would soon be our turn.
As we learned the difference between a strainer and a shaker and all of the associated techniques to be used with each of the cocktail making tools, we were ready to enjoy the hands-on experience and create something that “hopefully” would be drinkable.
The first step was to mix together the Jim Beam bourbon and the lemon juice. After combining the egg whites, we were ready to add some personalized flavor in the form of jam (or jelly depending on where you are from).
A range of flavors was available from peach jalapeno to blackberry and Heather and I both opted for a different option so that our final cocktails were very different. I think there was a little bit of “internal” competition going on between the two of us but fortunately, Daniel was there to ensure both of us stayed on track!
Creative Cocktails – The Result
I am sure you are ready to find out what our final products looked like. I have to admit, we were both proud of what we created, especially given this was our very first experience in the world of mixology. My creation of a peach jalapeno whiskey sour tasted great though Heather will argue that her blackberry concoction was the better of the two. Either way, both looked great and the taste was acceptable.
Daniel gave us both kudos and although neither of us can compete with his talent in the bartending industry, it’s the experience that makes this such a worthwhile place to visit.
experience first-hand how to craft a truly unique and great tasting cocktail and lots of laughs as you and your friends experiment and enjoy a well-balanced cocktail that will make you the life of any party! (Jim Beam)
The experience is advertised above as having “lots of laughs” and we can both well and truly attest that this is definitely true! Whether we are going to be the life of the party moving forward, well only time will tell, but thanks to Daniel, we can both say that we know how to create a unique Jim Beam bourbon cocktail!
Summary
Visiting the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse and participating in the mixology tableside cocktail experience was one of the most entertaining activities we have done. If you are planning a visit to Louisville to experience the awesome bourbon distilleries, be sure to add this to your itinerary because you won’t be disappointed.
It’s very different to anywhere else in Louisville and offers a “hands-on” experience rather than simply just learning about the history and process of making bourbon and then having the opportunity to sample the different flavors.
You may find the inner bartender inside you or perhaps you will realize that you need to find an alternative industry. Either way, one thing is for sure, you will have an AMAZING time experiencing this and thanks to Daniel, we both cannot wait to go back and enjoy this again!
Disclaimer – We would like to thank Go To Louisville for hosting us on this trip and to Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse for allowing us to participate in the Tableside Cocktails experience. These are solely our personal opinions/experiences and we were not financially compensated for this post.