Nottingham has gone bleddy mixed-drink mad this week. Here's the best of the best according to It's In Nottingham...
If you remember from the last issue of our magazine, this week is National Cocktail Week, where loadsa bars in the city are doing great deals on their bevs.
Over 60 bars also entered a competition to battle for the best cocktail, and the grand final saw nine (well eight as one was a bleddy no-show) go glass to glass, where three judges picked the top three in each category and the overall winner.
One of the top ones was LeftLimon, our collab with Boilermaker, featuring Reka Vodka, Limoncello, Cacao Blanc, rhubarb and cucumber. It even comes with a cute lickle Overheard in Notts attached.
The Twist on a Classic winner was Hart of a Lion from Hart’s Hotel, which has Apricot consomme, dandelion-infused Chase vodka, a lemon-kick plus a flower shaped ice cube.
Packing a punch to win the Nottingham Themed category was the Cherry Bendigo from Curious Manor, with the mouth-waterin flavours of 5 Muddled blackberries, 2 dashes of cherry bitters,
Lambs Navy Rum, elderflower cordial, and lime juice.
The drink that pinched the crown for Collaboration and won the competition overall was Summer at Starkey’s, which was a collaboration with Bar Iberico and local juice brand Starkey’s Fruit.
It contains Absolut citron, apricot brandy, thyme, J Starkeys Bramley & Cox Apple Juice, and elderflower cordial. Dora Parodra, the bartender who made the bev, said: “I’m really happy, there are so many great cocktail bars and I’ve tried so many of them.
“I think this drink is really simple, and the thyme is really important in there as it's not really common, and it makes the drink more interesting. We are not a cocktail bar, and we only have eleven cocktails on our list - I think now we are going to try and make much more nicer cocktails!”
Richard Johal, Director of Nottingham BID said about the week: “We felt it would be great to celebrate the diverse restaurants and bars that Nottingham has to offer. We feel most people enjoy cocktails and thought this would be a great opportunity for the staff and bartenders of these great venues to showcase what they can create. Hopefully the week will attract the people of Nottingham to come out into the city centre, and visit venues that they might not normally visit because of the cocktails.”
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