On Saturday, February 9th we joined a mixology class offered on the ship. Sebastian Houdemon is a Frenchman who grew up immersed in the worlds of catering and restauranteering. As a teen he saw the Tom Cruise movie, “Cocktail,” and fell in love with the idea of blending his love of catering and food with cocktails. Over time he combined his formal catering education with personal research and began creating his own cocktails. He experimented on friends, and even used customers of a deep sea fishing operation he ran for a while to hone his craft. Customers would hire Sebastian and his boat to take them fishing, and once they were situated he would go to work asking about their individual taste preferences, and then make up cocktails on the spot just for the individual. He has now advanced to offering his services at corporate or special events, blending unique cocktails for those in attendance or teaching them how to make their own concoctions. Not long ago a mutual friend invited Sebastian and the head chef for all of Oceania to a party, where the two of them met. The chef was intrigued by Sebastian, and after a follow up meeting where he sampled his cocktail making talents, the chef invited Sebastian to board a leg of our Around the World journey to share his gifts with Oceania guests. We spent an entertaining 90 minutes learning the importance of balancing the flavors of our ingredients, how critical it is to the flavor of the drink to properly muddle ingredients like cucumbers, basil and mint using ice and a shaker, and even how to smoke ice. Smoked ice? Really??? Who knew this was even a thing???
JodockWorldTravel 
I’ve seen Mom make lemon drops. I’m not sure we should ket her behind the bar!
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