Bacardi creates escape room with Inception Group

Inception Group has partnered with Oxley Gin owner Bacardi to launch an immersive escape room experience in London.

Escape The Power Cut at Control Room B, in Battersea, London, has been launched to feed into the ‘increasing consumer demand’ for experiential offerings from hospitality brands.

Charlie Gilkes, co-founder of Inception Group, said: “There’s an increasing appetite from our customers for more experiences in our collection of immersive bars.

“Launching Escape The Power Cut at Control Room B with Bacardi we hope to offer a deeper dive into the 1950s, through the themed ‘escape room’, tailored drink offering and era-accurate narrative, adding a further layer of immersion for our guests behind the dials at the heart of Battersea Power Station.”

Held behind the original dials of the Control Room, guests are asked to embrace their ‘inner engineer’ by donning lab coats before being treated to a welcome cocktail, which is also available in non-alcoholic form.

Following a briefing, teams of five will decipher cryptic clues, unveil mysteries, and complete problem-solving conundrums against the clock.

One particular clue will also unlock guests’ second cocktail or non-alcoholic serve.

Escape The Power Cut features batteries, padlocks, hidden compartments, ultraviolet clue, symbols and dials, ensuring that every member of each team can play to their strengths.

Cocktails on offer throughout the experience include The Synchroscope, made with Oxley Gin, Essentiae lemon verbena liqueur, ginger and lemongrass cordial, pear purée, cloudy apple juice and fresh lime juice; the Gas Wash, composed of Grey Goose L’Original vodka, bergamot liqueur, passion fruit purée, fresh lime juice and tropical fassionola syrup; and Battery Licker, created with Bacardi Ocho rum, Disaronno liqueur, orgeat syrup and coffee, as well as non-alcoholic alternatives.

Matt Bennett, prestige account manager at Bacardi, commented: “We absolutely love working with the Inception Group, bringing brands to life while creating amazing consumer experiences with premium cocktails like this is what makes this such a special partnership, and we are very proud to be working alongside them on this with Oxley Gin.”

Escape The Power Cut at Control Room B is priced at £50 (US$64) per person, and includes two cocktails.

Open every Saturday, the experience lasts for 90 minutes, following which guests can enjoy additional drinks inside the main bar.

Earlier this year, we spoke with Gilkes about the rise in popularity of experiential bars after data presented by IWSR Drinks Market Analysis showed that consumers were looking to the on-premise to provide experience-led drinking occasions in the face of economic uncertainty.