Preview: London Cocktail Week 2011

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 149 months ago
Preview: London Cocktail Week 2011

Apologies for not bringing you much word of this earlier (although Friday night hangers-on may have caught our interview with a mixologist), but truth be told, we've been in a gin-encrusted funk trying to coax our liver out of the deep malaise that it's been under ever since it heard that, yes, London Cocktail Week is upon us once again.

Those who remember last year's inaugural shenanigans will know the score: it's all about taking advantage of the 'golden age' of cocktails that London seems to be experiencing right now, as witnessed by the sheer variety of speakeasies, cubby-holes and tucked-away drinkeries that one can find in all corners of the capital.

If you want to partake of the beverages on offer this week, your first port of call should be Selfridges, where you can pick up your wristband from a pop-up branch of Gordon's. The wristbands cost £10, which is a bit naughty as they were free last year; anyhow, you should buy them in advance from the website. This will act as your pass into London Cocktail Week and grant you entry into Cocktail Tours, which are taking place at over 200 bars across the city: each bar has a signature cocktail which is yours for £4 once you flash the wristband. You'll also be able to get onto the LCW bus tours (on yet another of London's many recycled Routemasters). Oh, and the price includes a festival guide too.

There are plenty of other events over the next six or so days; delve into the website for more. In the meantime you'll find us elegantly propping up the bar with an Sazerac cocked gracefully between thumb and forefinger (before midnight, at any rate — come the witching hour we'll be the one trying to reason with the barman as to why we should be allowed that fifth Tom Collins).

London Cocktail Week runs until 16th October.

Photo / fatfoodtaxi

Last Updated 10 October 2011