This July will see the launch of the Bump Caves, a dive bar and distillery, from Charlie McVeigh, Founder of Draft House.
We are promised “An Underground Project to Breach the Limits Of Flavour, Aroma, Sound, Texture, Vision”…
Inspired by the late-60s psychedelic movement, the bar will take its lead from the ‘Happening’ – an underground party, which was an assault on the senses. Other influences include Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, light shows, freedom, the destruction of phony 1950s morality, ear melting music and hallucinogenic drugs.
Max Chater, Bump Chemist, Distiller and Rectifier will distill his own spirits for the Bump Caves using the rotary evaporator, and will also create syrups, liquors, vermouths and infusions. Leading proponent of The Beer & the Bump (contrasting beer and spirit pairings), Max will put together outrageous flavor combinations, matching house-distilled and rectified spirits (Bumps) to Charlie’s ever-changing and extreme beer list.
We talk to the guys behind Bump:
“I first fell in love with spirits and beer while working as a barman in Aspen, Colorado aged 21. Later on, with the nightclub Woody’s, I worked with London cocktail legend Ben Reed and we brought good drinks to W9 for the first time. Since then it has been all craft beer mania with the build-out of the Draft House across five locations in London. But now, with the launch of Bump Caves, I am reconnecting with the ætherial world of spirits.
Max Chater, who will be Bump Chemist, Distiller and Rectifier, came to me a year ago me with the idea for Bump and creating our own mind-blowing spirits using the Rotary Evaporator and other bits of pharmaceutical equipment. I told him to get lost and sell some more good beer. But he is persistent and passionate – and has an incredible nose and palate. While being the boss at our Charlotte Street pub he invented the Beer & A Bump (contrasting beer & spirit pairings) and blew many happy customers’ minds with outrageous flavour combinations. The Bump Caves is an extension of that beautiful thing.
What has been blowing my mind is how the pharmaceutical and kitchen equipment openly available now allows us flavour freaks to capture any aroma or taste in spirit form. This is surely a massive break-through for cooks and bar-keeps and one that lies at the heart of the trip which is Bump Caves. It also allows us to be needle-precise with flavour pairings and combining – as realised in our Beer & Bumps and House Cocktails.
I am a little bored of the Speakeasy – I promise you will not need to drink a cocktail out of a teapot.”
We love the sound of these crazy kids, and if you do too The Bump Caves opens on the 10th July 2014.
To Book: trip@bumpcaves.co.uk
Opening Hours: Mon-Saturday 5pm – LATE
