This October, DrinkUp.London is celebrating ten years of London Cocktail Week with a mammoth ten-day festival (4 – 13 October) and the biggest celebration to date of all things cocktail-related.
You’ll need to download the £10 digital festival pass from the DrinkUp.London app and then you’ll have access to over 300 bars serving £6 cocktails; unlimited free entry into The Cocktail Village at Truman Brewery on Brick Lane and the brand-new London Cocktail Week Pop-Up in Covent Garden.
As the largest festival of its kind in the world, London Cocktail Week 2019 you can expect the best parties, masterclasses and pop-ups taking place across the capital. Here are the ones not to miss!
THE COCKTAIL VILLAGE, BRICK LANE
(OPEN 9 – 13 OCTOBER)
At the heart of London Cocktail Week 2019 is The Cocktail Village, once again returning to Brick Lane. Signature cocktails will be served from over 40 bars, all priced at £6.
A first for 2019, London Cocktail Week has joined forces with Street Feast, owners of several legendary street food markets across London, to provide the food, plus stellar music nights from Sink the Pink (Friday), Ultimate Power (Saturday) and Hip Hop Brunch on Sunday 13 October.
Highlights of The Cocktail Village include The House of Suntory’s Izakaya Alley, a re-creation of bustling Japanese street bars; Bourbon & Bites, a tasty collaboration between Maker’s Mark and Crosstown Doughnuts; and The Fentiman’s Rum Bar with N1 favourite Laki Kane – a virtual reality rum bar transporting visitors to a tropical island escape with matching cocktails to boot.
A hidden Drambuie Skye Bothy will also be in place, offering cocktail masterclasses by day and exclusive Isle of Skye dining experiences by night from chef Ruaridh Emslie. Returning for 2019 will be the Monkey Shoulder Mixer Truck dispensing a range of whisky cocktails and playing host to the world’s loudest silent whisky tasting.
For those trying to stick to a low or no ABV lifestyle, the world’s first No-Groni bar by Seedlip featuring Æcorn will be offering the deliciously bitter flavour of a Negroni – without the booze. STRYYK will also be debuting at London Cocktail Week with a non-alcoholic cocktail bar and offering festival-goers the chance to capture the spirit of STRYYK with an immersive camera experience to share their best snaps instantly – #STRYYKaPose
The Cocktail Village, 146 Brick Lane, London E1 6QR | Price: Free entry with a Festival Pass, cocktails: £6, additional food and drink: as priced | Wednesday 9 – Sunday 13 October | Wednesday – Saturday: 12pm – 11pm and Sunday: 12pm – 7pm | Festival Pass, £10, available from DrinkUp.London
THE LONDON COCKTAIL WEEK 2019 POP-UP, COVENT GARDEN – OPEN: 4 – 10 OCTOBER
London Cocktail Week will be recreating their Covent Garden pop-up for this year’s festival. Complete with demonstration bar, masterclasses, and a shop selling cocktail equipment and books, with the new barware by S’well available to buy. A downstairs speakeasy will serve a daily menu of cocktails made by the world’s best bartenders – who will be dropping in to show off their masterful mixology skills. The Covent Garden pop-up will also act as a handy drop-in site for those looking for tips and pointers on their perfect night out during London Cocktail Week. For those feeling nostalgic about the festival’s ten-year anniversary celebrations, guests will be also able to collect a special commemorative London Cocktail Week wristband here!
Each day will see a different takeover of activities, from learning how to make delicious alcohol-free cocktails, to an Espresso Martini Masterclass with Ketel One Vodka and an immersive tasting experience with wine aperitif cocktails.
- On Friday 4 October the team from London Cocktail Week will be revealing their brand new, special-edition London Cocktail Week gin, made in perfect partnership with Portobello Road Gin.
- On Sunday 6 October, La Maison Wellness will be devoting the space to living like a healthy hedonist, with a range of non-alcoholic cocktails and demonstrations
- From Monday 7 October until Thursday 10 October, World Class will be taking over the basement speakeasy with a different spirit in residence each day and some of the world’s best bartenders mixing drinks.
Capacity at the The London Cocktail Week 2019 pop-up will be limited, so don’t miss out!
5-7 Grape Street, London, WC2H 8DW | Price: Free entry with a Festival Pass | Friday 4 – Thursday 10 October | 12pm – 11pm | Festival Pass, £10, available from DrinkUp.London
HENDRICK’S GIN TINI MARTINI TOWNHOUSE – OPEN: 4 – 6 OCTOBER
Hendrick’s Gin will be opening the doors to its Hendrick’s Gin Tini Martini Townhouse, taking punters on a journey of unusual experiences including tini pianists and microscopic games, as well as perfect Tini Martinis from a roster of the world’s best bartenders.
On Friday 4 October, NoMad Bar from New York and Singapore’s Manhattan Bar will go head to head with their Tini Martini creations. Saturday 5 October will see Europe compete with Barcelona’s Two Schmucks and Amsterdam’s Super Lyan vying for the best Tini of the day. On the final day, Paris’ Little Red Door and Edinburgh’s Panda & Sons will battle it out with their compact cocktails. Tickets give guests access to Hendrick’s Gin Tini Martini Townhouse for two hours and include entry, entertainment, immersive journey and six complimentary Henrick’s Gin Tini Martinis.
Hendrick’s Gin Tini Martini Townhouse, 9 French Place, London, E1 6JB | Price £15 | Friday 4 October: 6pm-8pm, 9pm-11pm | Saturday 5 October: 6pm-8pm; 9pm-11pm | Sunday 6 October: 6pm-8pm | Tickets available from DrinkUp.London
THE ESSENCE HOUSE BY THE LONDON ESSENCE COMPANY – OPEN: 4 – 10 OCTOBER
Discover your palate profile with The Essence House from The London Essence Company. Take part in an interactive experience curated by renowned gastronomy and flavour expert Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart to explore how nature and nurture play a role in taste, before some of the world’s best bartenders use the profile to create a bespoke cocktail with London Essence’s range of mixers – the perfect match! Each ticket entitles guests to a 45-minute personal palate profiling experience and two cocktails.
5 Great Newport Street, London, WC2H 7JB | Price: £10 | Friday 4 October – Thursday 10 October 12pm – 10pm | Tickets available from DrinkUp.London
THE HOUSE OF SUNTORY MASTERCLASS & COCKTAIL KARAOKE – OPEN: 7 OCTOBER – 8 OCTOBER
The House of Suntory will be running two masterclasses in the subterranean Shochu Lounge at Roka Charlotte Street. Guests will be taken on a journey through Japanese culture with tastings of Roku Gin, Haku Vodka and Toki Whisky. Alongside Roka’s LCW menu, visitors can also opt to play ‘Cocktail Karaoke’ whereby they chose a base spirit of gin, vodka or whisky and their favourite track following which the Roka team will create a Japanese riff on that song choice.
Shochu Lounge, Roka Charlotte Street, 37 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 1RR| Price: £6.98 | Monday 7 October and Tuesday 8 October | 6pm – 11:30pm | Tickets available from DrinkUp.London
THE WHISKY HOUSE – OPEN: 4 – 12 OCTOBER
Whisky brands from around the world including Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, Talisker, Copper Dog, Johnnie Walker and Roe & Co introduce The Whisky House, a whisky-lovers paradise.
London Cocktail Week’s first-ever, The Whisky House will take over Black Rock, East London’s specialist whisky bar, to host an immersive maze of pop-up whisky takeovers, experiences and late-night DJs across the nine days. Sessions will include Bulleit Old Fashioned masterclasses, Talisker Wild Spirits foraged cocktail workshops and Johnnie Walker blending sessions. The themed events will take place around Black Rock’s 185-year old interactive cocktail ageing tree trunk and within the newly furbished first floor Blending Room and ground floor Tavern.
Black Rock, 9 Christopher Street, London EC2A 2BS | Price: Free entry into The Whisky House. Masterclasses from: £15 | Tickets available from DrinkUp.London
LONDON COCKTAIL WEEK 10TH ANNIVERSARY BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH MOËT & CHANDON IMPÉRIAL ROSÉ – OPEN: 10 OCTOBER
On the 10th of the 10th to celebrate the 10th anniversary of London Cocktail Week (geddit?), The Cocktail Village will play host to the ultimate birthday in collaboration with Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial. The party will feature Champagne cocktails, performers and musical guests to ensure the whole of London knows that this is London Cocktail Week’s big birthday!
The Cocktail Village, 146 Brick Lane, London E1 6QR | Price: Free entry with a Festival Pass | Thursday 10 October | 12pm–11pm | Festival Pass, £10, available from DrinkUp.London
BACARDÍ DIEZ – OPEN: 10th OCTOBER
BACARDÍ will return to London Cocktail Week from Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th October with its Caribbean-flavoured ‘Rum Room’. Bringing an immersive celebration of its 157 years of rum-making heritage along with infectious beats to Dray Walk, opposite the Old Truman Brewery – with guest bar takeovers from the iconic Laki Kane, Trailer Happiness, The Curtain, The Blue Bar at the Berkley Hotel and Edinburgh’s Panda & Sons. Expect a series of tasty events showcasing Bacardi’s premium rums, all aged under the Caribbean sun. BACARDÍ will also be revealing some very exciting news!
Address : 4 Dray Walk, London, E1 6QL | 10-13 October
WHITLEY NEILL GIN
Whitley Neill Gin, the award-winning premium gin, is taking a chosen few on a journey of discovery, with its Whitley Neill Gin taxi at the ready for four friends with a thirst for adventure and a desire to sample some of the best cocktails the city has to offer.
A taxi ride like no other, the carriage will collect the competition winner from work on Thursday 10th October and whisk them and their friends away on a botanical-packed adventure across the city’s gin hotspots. To enter, simply head to @WhitleyNeillGin on Instagram or @Whitleyneill on Facebook and tag three friends who would like to take a gin ride of a lifetime. Winners of this amazing prize will evade the queues, forfeit the bar tab and forgo the food bill, while being ferried to some of London’s best venues for cocktails including Cinnamon Anise, London Cocktail Club, Century Club, The Gibson Bar and Hush Mayfair. A winner will be chosen at random on Friday 4th October 2019.
Address: Your work | Price: Free to enter | Thursday 10 October | From 6pm-10.30pm | Enter at @WhitleyNeillGin on Instagram or @Whitleyneill on Facebook
