London Cocktail Week 2015 in pictures
London Cocktail Week was bigger and better than ever before when it returned to the UK’s capital from 5-11 October. With an itinerary jam-packed with pop-up bars, Europe’s biggest cocktail festival once again offered special drinks promotions and parties for consumers, as well as insightful seminars, tastings and fun competitions for the trade.
In need of a larger home, the event relocated to the east and took over the entire Old Spitalfields Market with a specially created cocktail village. Overlooking the Cocktail Village sat The House of Angostura pop-up, which hosted a party every night with DJs and an array of Angostura cocktails.
Another key location launched at this year’s LWC was the World Class London Cocktail Week Hub in Soho. Described as the “biggest and best heart of the festival yet”, the hub was the go-to place for LCW visitors.
It even featured a speakeasy style pop-up hidden at the back of the Vinyl Factory record shop at 51 Poland Street.
Trade-only opening party, Old Bar Superstar Takedown, returned for another year – and it did not disappoint. Presented by Pernod Ricard UK, the event saw some of the spirits world’s most well-known ambassadors go head to head in an unmissable shake off.
The team from the Dead Parrot bar in Horsham hosted their fun-filled circus-themed pop-up bar during the week after winning the Monkey Shoulder Ultimate Bartender Championship. For the final, the group created a circus experience for guests, including a high striker, candyfloss machine and the chance to win cocktails through hook-a-duck.
Cocktails served at the pop-up, called The Flying Circus, included the refreshing Bearded Lady and Hook A Duck, which were served in a host of creative ways from slush puppies in coconut cups to coke floats. Punters were treated to glass eating and fire eating tricks from fully trained performers Ruby True and Eve Dearbhail Travis. Visitors were also rewarded for performing one of a selection of circus tricks during a dedicated “circus hour”.
Bartenders from London, Paris, New York and Singapore competed in LCW’s frantic 24 Hour Bar Build competition. Each participating city was challenged to create a bar from concept through to cocktails with the support of a different drinks brand; London with Patrón Tequila, Paris with Bombay Sapphire, Singapore with Bacardi rum and New York with Grey Goose vodka.
Team London, consisting of Iain Griffiths of Dandelyan, Sly Augustin of Trailer Happiness, Nathan Shearer of Callooh Callay, Luca Missaglia of Aqua and Andy Shannon of The London Edition Hotel, and was led by Duck and Waffle’s head of cocktail development, Richard Woods. Their bar featured distressed walls and cacti littered around the bar for an “authentic Mexican feel”.
London Cocktail Week is renowned for its potential to allow brands to connect with both bartenders and consumers in an interesting and engaging way. Here, Stolichnaya promotes its vodka-lemonade serve in a summery pop-up drinks truck.
Italian spirits expert Giuseppe Gallo joined forces with Bar Termini, an Italian coffee and cocktail bar co-founded by drinks pioneer Tony Conigliaro, to create Café Italia – described as “the ultimate Italian coffee and cocktail destination”. The pop-up was open for three days only at LCW’s Spitalfields hub to showcase Italian spirits and coffee and celebrate the aperitivo and digestivo traditions.
Held at Trailer Happiness in the heart of Notting Hill, where Martin Miller and friends Andreas Versteegh and David Bromige first conceived the concept of Martin Miller’s, was Martin Miller’s Notting Hill Champion competition. Bartenders from the best cocktail venues from across Notting Hill were invited to enter a signature cocktail, which represents their establishment and their region, as well as encapsulating Martin Miller’s quest for “Romance and Adventure in a glass”. Ashton for the Portobello Star stormed to victory.
Leading London bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, teamed up with SodaStream to create a total of 1,100 sparkling cocktails at the futuristic Alchemy Lounge. The SodaStream Mix machine is designed to carbonate “all things liquid” and features a digital interface, app and bluetooth connectivity. Chetiyawardana described the device as a “gamechanger”.
The popular cocktail showdown, Speed Rack, returned to London and featured all-female bartenders testing their speed cocktail-making skills to raise money for breast cancer charities. Chelsie Bailey swiped the winning title, not the stormtrooper.
