After spending one of the afternoons of our tropical, Costa Rican vacation in a wine-tasting class — albeit a wine-tasting class in a open lobby overlooking the beach — you might think we were done with improving ourselves. But no! As soon as my sister-in-law and I heard that our resort also offered a Mixology class, we immediately signed up ourselves and our husbands. Surely my mother would not watching her grandchildren while we furthered our education.

When we arrived at Mixology class in the same beautiful lobby that our wine-tasting class had met in, we learned from our instructor, one of the resort’s bartenders, that we would be making two special cocktails, a cranberry mojito and a cocktail called a congrejo, make with a local Costa Rican spirit, guaro. In front of us were all the ingredients we would need plus a large bamboo stick for muddling, a jigger for measuring and a stick for swizzling. The tools of the trade, if you will! I felt quite professional.

We began with the cranberry mojito. That may sound odd at first, but do not forget that cranberry and lime is a classic combination. This fruity twist on the mojito was actually quite delicious and not too sweet. To start, we put 8 to 10 mint leaves, 1/2 oz. simple syrup and 1 oz. of freshly squeezed lime juice in a glass. Next we used our heavy bamboo sticks to muddle the mint. Why bamboo? Well, it has a nice blunt end and it is not varnished or lacquered in any way. You definitely don’t want to over muddle the mint, which can lead to a bitter or grassy taste. Just give the muddler a few twists until the leaves are bruised, not shredded, and you smell the mint.

To this mixture, we added 1 1/2 oz. of Flor de Caña, a Nicaraguan rum that I am told is muy rico. As a final step, we filled our glasses with ice and topped the whole thing off with a splash of cranberry juice. In the interests of research, we all drank the whole thing. So if my report on the next drink seems less precise, please keep in mind that I was one mojito in at that point.

Our second drink, the congrejo, was a local favorite. As I mentioned, for this drink we used Cacique Guaro, a Costa Rican spirit made from sugar cane juice. (Cacique, which is the brand name for the drink, means a native chieftain. Guaro is actually the name of the liquor. I was confused by that.) The national liquor of Costa Rica, Cacique Guaro has a strong, slightly sweet flavor. While most people mix it with juice or soda, some Ticos (the nickname for the Costa Rican people) just do shots of it. One Costa Rican guy I met said that when you are at a bar in Costa Rica — and every single village in Costa Rica, no matter how small, has a bar — you drink a beer then do a shot of Cacique and so on into the night.  One of the participants in our class, who made the mistake of asking what Cacique tasted like, was immediately poured a shot and teased into downing it.

To make the congrejo, we mixed 1/2 oz. simple syrup, 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice, 1 oz. passion fruit liqueur, 1 oz. passion fruit purée, and 1 1/2 oz. Cacique in a cocktail shaker. We then filled the shaker with ice and shook the whole thing up. To finish, we poured the entire contents of the shaker including the ice into a cocktail glass. The result was a beautiful, bright orange drink that all of us thought was a little too sweet. I mean, I still finished mine and everything. But I liked the cranberry mojito better.

The best thing about Mixology class was learning about Cacique Guaro. I love ordering local beers and spirits when I am traveling. (My brother ordered quite a few Imperials, the local beer of Costa Rica, on our trip.)  That night at dinner, having decided that two cocktails earlier in the day was not enough, I ordered a Guaro sour and impressed the waiter with my familiarity with Cacique. An expert after only one class!

Tthe only thing I purchased at Duty Free before our flight home was a bottle of Cacique for the road. Only $10! I’m looking forward to reliving my Costa Rican vacation with these delicious cocktails now that I am back on U.S. soil

Cranberry Mojito

• 8-10 mint leaves
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 1.5 oz rum
• Ice
• Splash cranberry juice

Congrejo

• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 oz passion fruit liqueur
• 1 oz. passion fruit purée
• 1.5 oz. Cacique Guaro