Liquid City

“I am Trisha Barroll,” the woman at the head of the class said, “and I am your martini instructor tonight.” I had seen the course--”How to make the perfect martini”--in the Creativity & Fun section of the Learning Annex catalog, adjacent to listings for feng shui and erotic photography classes.

Two dozen of us paid our $19 ($29 for couples) and a $10 materials fee and gathered at the Hyatt West Hollywood. We were served our choice of a vodka or gin martini as we entered. These were very good, indeed, thrown together by Ms. Barroll, well-chilled and poured into elegant, long-stemmed glasses. This first martini got the class off to a fine start. (As the Learning Annex brochure says, “High school was never like this!”)

Joan Gamson, one of four women friends who came together, said, “I always thought the Learning Annex was like the pornography end of education.”

A short compilation of clips from “The Thin Man” through “The Firm” showed the history of the martini on film, and we tested our knowledge of martini arcana with a three-page written exam.

For Jim and Sissel Hawkes, the evening was “a cheap date, and a chance to get out of the house.” After a few sips of his potent gin martini, Jim reconsidered the proposition: “I may have to get a room here tonight.”

Barroll gave us each a handout with a dozen cocktail recipes, from the classic martini to the Creamsicle, made with orange- and vanilla-flavored Stoli, and poured small samples of two “modern” variations, one a tasty blend of coffee- and vanilla-flavored Stolis, the other combining raspberry-flavored Stoli, Chambord, Rose’s Lime Juice and cranberry juice. “Robitussin,” one woman said dismissively of the latter. (Her credentials: She’s a vice president of marketing communications for Carillon Importers, the people who bring in Stoli and Bombay Sapphire, among other liquors.)

Did anyone leave having learned the secret to the perfect martini? Probably not. But after those cocktails, who could be bothered to worry about it?