London Cocktail Week 2014

Here we go.  It's London Cocktail Week again.  Rather than write it up two months later like last year, I'm going to try and keep this updated during the week (let's see how that goes) so do check back again for more news.

Tuesday 7th September - Where to begin? Seven Dials of course, the real home of London Cocktail Week.  

There are now several "hubs" where you can pick up your wristbands (£15 once the week has started to qualify for £4 drinks & special events) - Chelsea, Spitalfields, London Bridge and Covent Garden are your starting points.  

Seven Dials has the most popup bars near it, and we made a beeline for The Cowbell on Monkey's Shoulder.

Monkey Shoulder Whisky ran "The Ultimate Bartender Challenge" to find a team capable of running a pop-up bar during London Cocktail Week.  The winners (Stuart Bale, Abigail Clephane and Ervin Trykowski) decided to pay homage to their favourite Saturday Night Skit, "More Cowbell", with a Glaswegian party bar complete with cowbells for you to play.  The fact that the three of them have cowbell tattoos tells you they mean business.

We worked our way through a Lord Wellington (Monkey Shoulder, Raspberry, Elderflower), Mr Berlusconi's Love Child (Monkey Shoulder, Amaro, Creme de Peche) and Curdled Colada - a Mr.Lyan special made with Monkey Shoulder, Coco Lopez and Pineapple that he invented whilst out and about with Monkey Shoulder brand ambassador, Dean Callan.  

The drinks were on the sweet side but had enough of a boozy kick to keep me interested.  Head over to 9 Shorts Gardens this week to see for yourself.

Deeney's Scottish Street Food at The Cowbell

Next stop was the Ketel One Vodka hub in Earlham Street.  When you pick up your wristband here, you get a free token which can either be for a drink, a Bloody Mary workshop, or an immersive Zacapa rum experience:

"A fully immersive flavour experience will await guests that locate the secret Zacapa tasting chamber. Guided on a sensory journey, rum lovers will ‘travel’ to Zacapa’s origins in The House Above The Clouds, 2300m above sea level in the Guatemalan rainforest and experience the story of Zacapa through all five senses."

That sounds pretty special, but it was rather busy at the time so we stuck to some Momo Sassy's Punch - Ketel One Vodka, lemon juice, sugar syrup, and blackberry & Earl Grey tea, served over ice with lemon and nutmeg 

Momo's Sassy Punch

Our third and final pop-up of the evening was The El Dorado Lost City of Gold on Monmouth Street. They have gone to town on the décor here - we loved the treasure map menus in particular.  I suspect you could also get rather sloshed off the El Dorado rum fumes.

Impressively, there are four £4 London Cocktail Week drinks on offer here - I recommend a Pineapple Pepper Daiquiri or a Dante's Sour.  Liquid Gold shimmered away in the glass, but didn't have the taste to match.  The wide range of drinks did seem to be slowing service down a little, and a taster of El Dorado 15yr old set us back an unexpected £10 (we just wanted a sip!) but it's a fine vintage!

They are also running rum & food pairing events amongst other things - read more here. Definitely worth dropping in.  

Liquid Gold and Pineapple Pepper Daiquiri

El Dorado 15yo

All pop-upped-out, we sauntered over to Opium, the wonderful Dim Sum & Cocktail parlour tucked away in Chinatown.  The bouncer is still there to ruin first impressions, but the three story climb past candles and wonderful smells gets you back on side.

Their £4 cocktail is the fiery Down to the Baijiu: Baijiu, Vodka infused Oolong tea, fresh lemon and pomegranate juice, a secret habanero kick and almond syrup, served in an adorable teacup.  Baijiu is a deadly distilled spirit - our bottle was only 52% but it often goes a few notches higher.  Grab a taste while you are there. And some dim sum if you know what's good for you.

Baijiu

Down To The Baijiu

Opium Cocktail No.5 - I think I had No.2 last year...

The last stop of our first outing was LAB - the classic party bar on Old Compton Street who are serving up £4 LAB Lemonade: Vanilla and fresh passion fruit laced with Stolichnaya Vanil vodka, lemon, LAB vanilla sugar, soda and finished with a Passoã float.  Easy going drinking to end the night.  They were running a DIY-lemonade session earlier on, but we arrived too late.

LAB Lemonade

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Wednesday 8th September -  Round 2 kicked off with a trip to the Angostura Butterfly House popup in Shoreditch:

"When the butterflies dance, the sugar cane is ready for harvesting. An array of butterflies will be dancing to the tune of Trinidad’s legendary rum and bitters in a specially created tropical garden for London Cocktail Week.

Take a laid-back stroll through the plantation, press your own sugar cane juice and let Mike Tomasic and a team of bartenders send you fluttering into the night."

That's right, live butterflies and rum, at the same time.

I took along biologist geek Cassie who tried (and failed) to play it cool in front of the butterfly experts.  We spent a fair amount of time inside the butterfly enclosure, though it's a sweaty affair. The lighting required to keep the butterflies happy doesn't flatter the rest of the room, but after a few Angostura rum concoctions you probably won't notice.

View more photos on Matt The Tumblr

All the drinks (named after butterflies) are made with Angostura Rum (either with 1919, 5 year old or Reserva) and freshly made sugar syrups.  Swallow Tail Flutter, Owl Butterfly and Blue Morpho Elixir are all fairly interchangeable fruity drinks laced with rum, available for £7.  Heliconius Dream is an odd mix of Angostura, Antica Formula, Campari, Sugar Cane, Egg & Nutmeg which grew on me as it went along.  

As well as butterflies and cocktails, you get to see sugar cane syrups being prepared live on site - make sure you have a chew on some unrefined sugar cane whilst you are there.  There are also some fun masterclasses (£9) going on at the end of the week - check the LCW events site for more info,

We then went on a tequila binge for a few bars, starting with Casa Negra.  The £4 drink here was one of the best so far, a frozen margarita slushie with a spicy kick that 184 Hackney Road would be proud of.  It's a good-looking little bar - worth staying for a couple of candlelit cocktails.

Frozen Margaritas at Casa Negra

Tequila #2 came from Casita, one of my favourite Shoreditch bars as it's tiny and the atmosphere is always fantastic.  For London Cocktail Week they have been taken over by Hidden, their sister (or parent?) bar in Ibiza.

We weren't huge fans of the £4 El Fenix (Ocho Tequila, Lime, Agave, Ting, Chilli and Grapefruit) which was way too sugary for our tastes, but I could have switched on to something else and stayed here all night.  Head down there if you've never been before.

Next we sped over to the Hoxton Hotel where you can find the Jose Cuervo Hacienda popup all week:

"Jose Cuervo, the oldest and best selling tequila brand in the world, has partnered with The Hoxton, Shoreditch to create Cuervo’s Hacienda, a week-long pop up Mexican tequila garden. Cuervo’s Hacienda will give you the chance to learn about tequila, its rich history and how to make delicious drinks with the Introduction to Tequila Master Class, as well as trying the seasonal Day of the Dead inspired cocktail for just £4 with a London Cocktail Week wristband.

Cuervo’s Hacienda will transform the hotel’s atrium space into the courtyard of the famous Cuervo’s Hacienda, complete with fresh fruits, herbs & spices and mini Agave plants."

We loved the décor, and the £4 Traditional Sour made with fig jam and garnished with sugar paper went down a treat.  That's probably enough tequila for now.

Hawksmoor Spitalfields was our penultimate stop.  Their basement bar is well known for its great drinks and awesome meaty bar food, so it makes sense to combine the two for London Cocktail Week:

"The Big Macquiri combines sweet with savoury and evokes childhood memories of a certain popular burger, with a healthy measure of Havana Club 3yo to boot."

In other words, Havana 3 year old, Fernet, Cynar, Dill Syrup & Lime, with a cheeky, Haribo-style burger sweet on the side.  The table was in agreement that it was effectively a classy pickleback, and very drinkable - another LCW winner.

And we finished in style by zooming up Tower 42 to find Jason Atherton's City Social on the 24th floor.  Here we were treated to skyline views and cutely presented $ Shakes (Diplomatico Anejo Rum, split milk, chocolate yoghurt and a hint of walnut) to a smooth jazz soundtrack.  Being told about curdled ingredients and yoghurt powder may be TMI for some, but the resulting cocktail is very accessible.  Drinks here are usually £10+ so it's a clever one to visit during London Cocktail Week.

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Friday October 10th - Covent Garden - tick. Shoreditch - tick. London Bridge - cross. Round 3.

A very early start on Saturday meant that the Friday LCW outing was limited to only a couple of bars.  First up was Cecil's in London Bridge, a Matt The List favourite, who were hosting a Paris in London with Grand Marnier pop-up in their wonderful opium den speakeasy.

We were whisked downstairs by a francophile, and thereafter waited upon by Jim whose service was fantastic.  And I'm not just saying that because he brought us tiny bottles of Grand Marnier and a fancy cocktail book...

The very drinkable £4 cocktail is Grand Vintage Breakfast - Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge, Vodka, grapefruit juice, orange & tangerine marmalade, lemon juice and egg white.  You also might be tempted by a deadly Grand Tiki-la too with Grand Marnier, tequila, chilli infused agave syrup, citrus, Falernum and Absinthe...

As well as great drinks, there are Crepe Suzettes, guest bartenders and live music aplenty all week. We caught a bit of an entertaining jazz duet before we left.

Tanner & Co.

A short walk down Bermondsey Street took us to Hide Bar, where we grabbed some food and a pretty bizarre bottled concoction of Campari, Diplomatico Rum and Red Wine called "Under The Influence".  It grew on me, but the bitterness will put many off - great presentation though.

And that was it for LCW action in London Bridge.  We carried on down to 214 Bermondsey for plenty of gin, and others then went on to Bermondsey Arts Club - both are excellent cocktail bars and its a shame that they didn't make it on to the LCW list this year.

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Three trips down - what's left? I have heard great things about the Bulleit Bourbon 1950s Pop-Up at London Cocktail Club on Shaftesbury Avenue and the Nikka "51.4" bar in Seven Dials, so I may need to return to that part of town if there is time.  Then there's a whole load of silly events going on at Nola Bar all week.  Also, the Vestal Voyages floating distillery and the mobile Tipple Taxi bar sound too good to miss.

Matt The LCWishlist also includes The Luggage Room, Merchant House, Bump Caves, 5CC Exmouth Arms / Electricity Showrooms, White Lyan, Somers Town Coffee House, Pond, Peg and Patriot, Loves Company, Jones Family Project, Looking Glass Cocktail Club, Worship Street Whistling Shop, and Dishoom.

Check the cocktail tours map / list to come up with your own route, keep an eye on the events page for more fun, and sign up for daily email updates.

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P.S. Did you know that it's Chocolate Week straight after this? The fun never stops.  You won't find much better out there than Chococo's award-winning luxury hand-made chocolates from Dorset. 

This year Chocolate Week runs from Monday 13 to Sunday 19 October 2014. To help celebrate all things chocolate, Chococo has a whole range of tempting chocolate filled experiences on offer.

Founded by Claire and Andy Burnet twelve years ago in Swanage, Dorset, Chococo makes all of its fresh handmade chocolates from fine origin cocoa from the Caribbean, Venezuela, Madagascar and Vietnam. It also uses local produce, including fresh Dorset cream, to make its mouth-watering creations. Since starting the business they have won 45 fine food awards for their fine chocolates.

For Chocolate Week, Chococo are launching an exciting new chocolate that will appeal to both food and drink fans.  Pictured below, the Totally Twisted Nose is the result of a customer competition run in their Winchester shop to create a chocolate incorporating local Hampshire flavours. The winning chocolate blends the Twisted Nose watercress-infused gin from the Winchester Distillery, and fresh locally grown watercress from The Watercress Company. They will be celebrating the launch of this exciting new chocolate collaboration with a party on Monday 13 October at their Winchester shop - open to all. The party will run from 4.00pm until 6.30pm for chocolate and gin sampling.

Totally Twisted Nose - a new chocolate with watercress-infused gin and fresh locally grown watercress

And here are two more Chococo classics that have both won Gold Great Taste Awards in 2014.

- Nutty Nutmeg - milk chocolate blended with hazelnut praline spiced with nutmeg

- Kumquat Twist (seasonal) - Cointreau-infused fresh Dorset cream & white chocolate ganache topped with kumquat jelly made by Rebecca's Kitchen with Dorset-grown kumquats

Nutty Nutmeg - milk chocolate blended with hazelnut praline spiced with nutmeg 

Kumquat Twist - Cointreau-infused fresh Dorset cream & white chocolate ganache topped with kumquat jelly

Claire Burnet, co-founder of Chococo says:

"Chocolate week is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate everything that is great about fine chocolate and focus consumers on the difference between fine and mass-produced commercial chocolate loaded with sugar and other additives. We're also really proud of what we have achieved at Chococo in creating truly fresh chocolates full of local fabulous flavours and we are thrilled to be working with the Winchester Distillery and other local foodie friends in Winchester, as well as the partnerships we have built up in Dorset. This is also a week to show that great quality chocolatiers creating exciting flavours do exist outside of London!"

To see more photos, head to Matt The Tumblr (10 photos) // Facebook (20 photos)

Date for Diary - Saturday 18 October: The Chocolate Show, Olympia, London - Claire Burnet will give a talk at 4pm at the UK’s top chocolate exhibition. She’ll also be sampling the Totally Twisted Nose pictured above

To keep up to date with what Chococo is doing over Chocolate Week 2014 visit the website - www.chococo.co.uk; follow them on twitter - @chococotweet – or Facebook – Chococo Chocolates; or pop into the shops in Swanage and Winchester.

Grillshack - Lab Bar - Dirty Burger - Dip & Flip

Wednesday 4th September - Team List popped along to the public opening of Grillshack, a new "all day grill" with a quirky technological edge.  As well as ordering at the counter, you can place your orders using touchscreens around the room, or by using an app on a smartphone.  I was sent some attractive Grillshack Coins in the post in advance, worth a free drink or dessert, so I downloaded the app and turned up with Taro and List Leader Natalie for some cheap eats.

As there were three of us, we decided to try out all three ordering methods.  Taro went up to the counter to order a pitcher of Grillshack Craft Lager (made by Brewers & Union) which unsurprisingly arrived no problem.  We were very impressed with this refreshing beer, though it is pretty expensive at £11 for a 2 pint jug compared to everything else on the menu.  The wine is particularly cheap at £3.25 for a 175ml glass. You can also have one free refill at the Soda Fountain for £1.95.  Let me know if you try the Green Juice -made with spinach, avocado, watercress, celery, cucumber and apple.

Natalie went for the touchscreen approach, and was rewarded a few minutes later when her food arrived impressively quickly.  That just left me, struggling away with the app on my Android phone.  A manager was very quick to notice my hungry expression, and came over to talk through the app teething problems.  I first needed to download an update for the app (which had appeared after I entered the restaurant!), before also joining the Grillshack Wi-Fi network to guarantee a good connection to the tills.  She demonstrated how simple it was after that by generously ordering us some sides on the house.  I put in my Bacon Cheeseburger order (only £6.45) and had finished it 10 minutes later!  The burgers and Taro's Halloumi Salad went down extremely well.  Next time, I might have to go for the £9.95 Rump Steak and Shoestring Fries - bargain! The Grilled Corn side with Chipotle Butter and Cheese also sounds tasty.

The app allows you to do a couple of fun things.  You can order a drink (or food!) over to another table if you want to get someone's attention! Also, you can order ahead if you are on your way and you know which table your friends are sitting at.  They have an online waiting list which will text you when a table is ready, so that you can stay in the pub as long as possible before heading over!  They also do takeout, although I'm not sure if you can currently order through the app for this, perhaps because they aren't quite sure how they would deal if loads of orders came in at once whilst the diner itself was busy.  

We moved on to dessert, which were all free thanks to our Grillshack coins.  Taro and I went for a delicious Triple Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich, whilst Natalie had the Carrot and Walnut Layer Cake.  The Ice Cream Sandwich was mysteriously presented in a bag, perhaps because of how it is stored in the freezer, or so that you can take it home with you. Who knows?  Anyway, we had a great time at Grillshack and the staff were all extremely helpful.  If I find myself in Soho at 8.00 am on a weekday, I might pop in to sample their enticing breakfast menu which includes Buttermilk Apple Pancakes and Cinnamon French Toast amongst other delights.  It is served from 8-11.30 Mon-Sat, and 10-11.30 on Sundays. 

Taro understood what I meant when I asked him to look more Japanese

The Grillshack team of Mark Askew, Hannah Bass and Richard Caring have already planned their next venture, Jackson & Rye.  It will open in December on Wardour Street, and will have the same all day diner style, with an East Coast slant.

We decided to squeeze in a drink at LAB Bar before heading our separate ways.  Pre 1999, LAB Bar was just LAB - the London Academy of Bartenders.  They continue to develop and showcase talented bartenders, testing their skills with a massive cocktail menu full of LAB Bar originals.

I am normally put off by such a large menu, but every drink had lots care put into it.  The garnishes were eye catching and the cocktails were spot on.  We were incredibly well looked after - there was a tiny mixup whereby I was brought the wrong drink.  The names of the two were pretty similar so it was an easy mistake to make, and I wasn't bothered, but they instantly took my drink off the bill!  We also joked with our waitress about how one of our orange peel garnishes looked slightly like a squid.  A few minutes later she returned with a new sea creature garnish that one of the bartenders had made for us!  All this place is missing is a proper happy hour (unless there is one I don't know about?) to help you get through more of the drinks. Most of them are around £8 which is reasonable, but when there are so many on offer it would really help if you could get two every time!  Points go to Taro and Natalie for Grillshack and LAB Bar adventures.

Wednesday 11th September - Dirty Burger was on my to do list for a long time.  I kept hearing wonderful things, but Kentish Town is pretty far away, so I was delighted when they announced that they were opening their second site in Vauxhall, where I work.  Hopefully, this will mark the start of a Vauxhall food & drink revolution, if anyone can find any good spaces to set up shop.  There are a few fun places around already (Bonnington Café, Estrela Bar, Brunswick House Café) but everything is randomly dotted around.

Dirty Burger is more of a fast food joint than a restaurant, and wouldn't look out of place in a scrap yard.  I mean this in the nicest way possible, as the tiny shack is made of random pieces of metal, some with locks and bolts still attached.  Your main choice has already been made - you are having a cheeseburger (£5.50). Then you can choose onion fries or crinkle cut chips (or both, each is £3), and pick a soft drink, milkshake or even a Brewdog beer.  If you want Sausage & Egg, or Bacon & Egg (with bottomless tea/coffee) then go along for breakfast before 11am - it opens as early as 7am on weekdays.

So it all sounds pretty simple, and it is.  What matters is that everything tastes fantastic.  The cheeseburger is streets ahead of your regular fast food fare (including the over hyped Shake Shack and Five Guys in my opinion) and good value.  The onion fries are the pick of the two sides but you won't be disappointed either way.  Cheap, quick and reliable - it is the perfect pit stop before braving the tube or the train after work, or after a night out. It is open til 2am on Fridays and Saturdays which should draw an interesting crowd in Vauxhall!  Thanks to locals Mary & Joe for having everything on the menu with me.

Saturday 14th September - One more place with burgers (I know, Mum) to mention.  Dip & Flip has recently opened on Battersea Rise near Clapham Junction.  If you don't like gravy, this is not the place for you. Nearly everything on the menu either comes soaked in gravy, or has a pot on the side for dipping. Never has a place been more suited to List Leader Natalie, who hails from the Yorkshire "Moo-ers" and is constantly bemoaning the lack of gravy based food in London.

We went for a Lamb Sub (with gravy soaked meat and mint sauce) and the Dip and Flip Burger, a cheeseburger with extra slices of roast beef that have already been dipped in gravy.  Both of these also come with a pot of extra gravy on the side.  We also ordered some Poutine which hails from Quebec - chips topped with gravy and cheese curds.  In Canada, you would find it on a regular McDonalds / Burger King menu.  It is a fairly messy meal as you might expect.  The Dip & Flip Burger is almost impossible to dip, but it doesn't need it anyway - the beef and the patty are both high quality, and it is pretty soggy already!  The Lamb Sub was a better shape for dipping, and was delicious.  The lovely mint sauce came through despite lashings of gravy.  The poutine was also a great success, and didn't last long at all.  The chips were seasoned with chicken salt, which was noticeable but not overpowering. 

On the drinks front, we both went for the Sambrooke's Pale Ale (who are just up the road, and opening their Brewery tap this Friday - 4th October).  It is a rare, carbonated version of the Pumphouse Pale Ale which you can only get in a few places around London at the moment - well worth looking out for.  It was a perfect match for our food.  There were a couple of bottled beer options, including Samuel Adams, but they are intending to get some more interesting ones in soon.

Dessert is supplied by local pudding expert, Laura Amos, who runs The Dessert Deli.  Her Mini Dessert Shots were on offer, as well as a Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart.  We went for the Banoffee Cheesecake and Honeycomb Chocolate Mousse shots, which came with teeny little spoons which we were very taken with. They are obviously quite small, and not especially cheap, but they are excellent.  After a load of fast food covered in gravy, I wouldn't normally go for a sweet course, so they have made a smart choice bringing in these quirky little desserts with the added bonus of supporting a small Battersea business at the same time. Look out for Laura's Dessert Deli stall on Northcote Road on Saturdays.

 

We were in constant contact with the manager who was very friendly and chatty.  His hope is to get a local, hungry crowd in regularly, but never just for drinks.  It will serve food right up to midnight Thursday-Saturday to pick up punters from the many bars on Battersea Rise and Northcote Road.  I will no doubt find myself there again soon, and I am sure that it will be a lot busier when I return!