Uncommon Goods just started offering online classes—but are they any good?

With the holiday season coming up, many of us are looking to nab a creative,out-of-the-box giftfor our loved ones. One such gift is Uncommon Good's new service calledUncommon Experiences, which lets you pick and choose between multiple online classes taught by experts. There are a ton of different Experiences to choose from including classes in mixology, baking, crafting, and more.

我们尝试了两种经验，一种在调酒中，一项在烘烤中，这是我们的想法。

How does Uncommon Experiences work?

The first thing you’ll want to do is navigate toUncommon Experiences. You can also find the service below the featured section on the Uncommon Goods website. Once you’re there you’ll see a variety of Experiences available. These include options like ‘Grapefruit Cocktails,’ ‘塔罗牌阅读,’Truffles Class, and more. Depending on your hobbies or your giftee’s hobbies, feel free to click on whichever Experience you like.

The Experiences range in price from $25 to $75 and run anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half—they also include kits pre-shipped to you before your online class, which will include the basic materials you need (more on this later). After that, you’ll pick a date and time for your class and get your device ready to tune into the live class (they run on Zoom). Though the classes are recorded, you won’t be getting a copy so you’ll want to make sure you’re on time!

因为每个instructo每个类设置不同r has their own unique way of running the class. The only part that remains constant? A facilitator from the Uncommon Goods staff makes sure the instructors are both staying on time and answering each attendee's questions. You can choose to keep your camera on or off but the facilitator requests you definitely keep your mic off and type your questions into the Zoom chat. Make sure your devices are charged and ready to go through and that you have a decent internet connection so you don’t miss anything.

The fine print

No matter what class you choose, there will be some materials you’ll need to supply yourself. For example, I tried out theHome Bars Mixology class以及Rain Drop cake making class，对于这两个课程，我都必须提前准备其他材料。也就是说，您将有明确的说明，因此您可以在将来轻松准备或重做这种体验。

I tried two Uncommon Experiences classes and here’s how they went

While many of the classes available intrigued me, I wanted to try out something that taught me skills I could reuse in the long run. That's why my final two choices came down to a mixology class and a rain drop cake making class. Keep on reading to find out how they went.

Class:家庭酒吧英雄：调酒课和简单糖浆

Class cost: $55
Out-of-pocket materials cost: $45 (I bought miniature sized 50 mL bottles to cut cost)
Total class cost: $100

I’ve always been fascinated by the bartending process and figured what better way to spend Saturday night than to learn how to make one of my favorite drinks: A Manhattan. The Home Bars mixology class was taught by mixologist Amy K. and lasted a full 90 minutes. You’ll also get a reminder for your Experience class about 48 hours before, so you know when to tune in. Amy walked us through making three cocktails: a Cucumber Chili Margarita, a Cherry Almond Manhattan, and a Grapefruit Basil Vodka Gimlet. Each cocktail (or mocktail if you don't drink) used one of four syrups which were sent to me in advance as part of the mixology kit. Unfortunately, those are all the ingredients I received. You’ll need to supply the soda or ginger ale if you’re making mocktails, or vodka, gin, bourbon, bitters, vermouth, and tequila yourself if you plan to make your drinks alcoholic. Not to mention, you’ll need either mason jars or some sort of cocktail shaker to make each drink. Finally, the instruction sheet recommends using either a different type of glass for each type of drink (I bypassed this step to save some money).

至于班级本身，艾米（Amy）对调酒有很多知识，并为我们提供了整个精美的技巧，例如使用硅霉菌作为冰，这样您的饮料就不会被浇水。与会者还可以问她其他问题，例如替代鸡尾酒中使用的酒或有趣而有创造力的方式来提供鸡尾酒。最好的部分？您可以让多个人加入您的经验。我和几个朋友一起加入了它，有多个家庭庆祝生日和周年纪念日，这也更值得您这样的钱，因为您和您的客人可以分配费用。鸡尾酒本身非常美味，我个人最喜欢的是葡萄柚伏特加酒，既令人耳目一新，略带酸，又美味。

I liked the idea of a mixology class and Amy was a great expert on the subject, She knew how to command the class’s attention and had a fun, personable presence. I was also ecstatic that I could finally make some of my favorite drinks straight at home. That said, the actual cocktail making lasted only about 30 minutes of the class. The other hour was spent answering questions and letting attendees finish their cocktails, which can get a tad bit boring if you’re doing this class solo on Zoom.

Class:食用艺术：DIY Raindrop Cake类和套件

Class cost: $56
自付材料成本：$ 0
Total class cost: $56

Rain Drop cakes became increasingly popular over the last year and they're the perfect fun challenge for both novice and experienced bakers. The class is one hour long and led by Darren Wong, who rose to fame for inventing the aforementioned dessert himself. Thankfully, the kit for the Raindrop cake class already included all the ingredients I needed so I didn't need to spend any extra money on materials. I did need saucepans and a couple of cups of water during my prep though, so make sure to check your recipe beforehand to be prepared. The kit also had enough ingredients to make two batches of six raindrop cakes which meant that I could prepare this recipe again if I wanted to. Not to mention, all the ingredients were both vegan and vegetarian friendly as they used agar instead of gelatin.

Darren started the class off by explaining how he created the raindrop cake, and how it immediately sold out at its debut in New York. This particular recipe includes a brown sugar sauce for added flavor but Darren mentions you can try other toppings like fruit or even try to modify the recipe to include alcohol (although he didn’t give us the proper measurements if we wanted to incorporate additional ingredients). The class itself was fairly short and Darren went through each step of the already-provided recipe. Unfortunately, since the speaker view was pinned on Zoom, the facilitator forgot to switch to Darren’s second camera which showed us exactly how he was preparing the cake. (You could switch to it manually since otherwise you'd be stuck seeing Darren’s back for the entirety of the class.) Darren also went through the steps rather quickly and a ton of attendees were struggling to catch up (including me).

另外，请注意，此课程需要将蛋糕冻结约两个小时，这样您的甜点才能准备好后才准备好。但是，达伦（Darren）确实向我们展示了一旦​​准备就绪甜点，我们就知道一旦将它们从冰箱中取出，我们就会知道该怎么办。我和姐姐一起上课，这肯定是一种愉快的经历，试图与她一起烘烤一些新东西。不幸的是，对于我们来说，我们的蛋糕没有设定（即使是第二次尝试） - 尽管我们按照说明向下遵循。

Are Uncommon Experiences worth it?

If you’re looking for an unusual holiday gift this season, you might enjoy gifting Uncommon Experiences. There are a wide variety of price ranges that won’t break the bank and it’s a fun way to try to learn something new. Since it’s also all virtual you can do it straight from your living room in your PJs. The instructors were also incredibly engaging as well as very receptive to answering any questions we had.

Do keep in mind though, you won't be provided with all the ingredients, so there’s some prep required before class, and depending on the class you choose, a substantial part of it will involve the instructor just talking about their background and answering questions to fill up the time.

That said, there are a wide variety of classes to choose from and they're sure to be a big hit with your family and friends especially if you team up to enjoy an experience together—but only if you pick a topic you're all interested in.

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Prices are accurate at the time of publication but may change over time.