If you know me or read my blog enough you will know by now that I love cocktails, whenever and wherever. My friend was visiting London from all the way down in Australia last weekend. We met at the 2012 Olympics at the men’s basketball finals and hadn’t seen each other since. Something fun needed to be done to live up to that major event (although nothing comes close) and I was thrilled to find out that there was a Cocktails In The City festival in London. Drinking on a rare sunny Sunday afternoon, don’t mind if we do!
It was tucked away right in the middle of central, in Bedford Square Gardens by Tottenham Court Road. This little garden was full of beautifully decorated pop-ups bars and plenty of space to chill. I wish there was more of this in London. As big as the city is, I always find it hard to find the right crowd and vibe. A place with sun, music, drinks, food, games and deckchairs was just perfect.
So many unique drinks were on offer – from champagne cocktails, rum sours and espresso martinis with a twist to beer cocktails and slushies. There were so many that we didn’t know where to start! The weirdest one must have been the Salted Caramel Sours by London Cocktail Club & Jack Daniel. This was definitely different but not my style, my tastebuds were a bit too confused.
While browsing around for the next cocktail, I was invited by one of the stands to come and make my own one. You probably didn’t know this but I used to work at a bar back in university. I must admit that I was a horrible barmaid and wouldn’t want to be served by myself. I once poured a single vodka-coke into a pint glass and served it whilst hungover. Talk about a watered down drink… the look on the guy’s face. : )
Pavel at Coq D’argent obviously didn’t know this!
Didn’t it look too pretty to drink? U’luvka vodka infused with kaffir lime leaves and chilli, Sochu with green tea, fresh lemon juice and Agave nectar.
On to the next cocktail at Mr Fogg’s, the Stay Sour was a mix of Disaronno liqueur, Briottet Manna Verde liqueur, fresh lime juice, blackberry puree, egg white and sugar syrup. This one won the best flavour.
The star of the show wasn’t actually any of the cocktails. It was the pulled pork bun from “The Joint”. It sounds like something you should be addicted to, doesn’t it? The bun was made of cornbread, Dutch style. Inside was filled with tender pulled pork, tasty BBQ sauce and rich coleslaw. We returned for a 2nd round before calling it a day – gorgeous.
We had a great afternoon at Cocktails In The City. I wish they would do this more often! Thank you Kapranos for the invite!
