Across three weekends this summer, bars have partnered with brands and to create a collaborative cocktail menu to showcase both bar and brand to the capital's cocktail fans.
Drinks International caught up with some of the bar operators, drinks consultancies and brand owners on the line-up to talk about what makes Cocktails in the City valuable to London’s bar community.
Georgi Radev, Laki Kane, partnered with Ron Santiago de Cuba: It’s an opportunity to work with different brands and promote one another. The clever thing about Cocktails in the City is that it puts brands together with bars and together they showcase what each side can do. You’ve probably got two or three thousand people who will come by. But it’s not just a showcase to those people but to social media as well, so it’s really important to make your serve theatrical. We are putting drinks in coconuts, garnished with flowers, coconut flakes and a little Laki Kane flag, it’s a crime not to take a photo and tag us in it when you are served that.
Max Tamagna Moët Hennessy bars account manager: With our brands, we actually don’t talk very much to the consumer. Normally, our brands are high desirability, high value, but the cocktail market is massive, and we need to find a way to talk to people normally, so doing things like this where we can talk directly to the consumer is loads easier and actually really important.
Tim Simmons, Sipello Aperitif, featured at the Disrepute x Moët & Chandon bar: It’s a great showcase. Some of the best bars in London are here and for a brand like my one, a one-man band, to be on the Moët & Chandon stand is gold dust, it’s hard to beat that kind of exposure. It’s one of the few events where a whole load of bars don’t actually compete with each other but are actually part of a broader community and that’s a wonderful thing to be a part of.
Max Tamagna Moët Hennessy bars account manager: With our brands, we actually don’t talk very much to the consumer. Normally, our brands are high desirability, high value, but the cocktail market is massive, and we need to find a way to talk to people normally, so doing things like this where we can talk directly to the consumer is loads easier and actually really important.
Lukas Etus, Strongman’s Tipple, partnered with Ardbeg: It’s a great opportunity for us because we don’t have a bar. Being able to directly face the consumer, talk about what we did and what we’re about, being able to highlight some of the projects that we’re behind and people get excited. It’s great for building a reputation, it’s great for networking with other brands. You meet a lot of brand ambassadors and brand owners.
Andrei Marcu, Coupette partnered with Coupette: It’s important for the collaboration that you can do with brands. It’s great for strengthening the bonds that we have with brands that we use every day behind the bar. Also, it’s good to be out meeting new people and showcasing the bar in a different way, being surrounded by so many amazing bars and bartenders that you might not get to see very often because you’re on another side of the city but here you can have a drink after and socialise.
Chris Tanner, Silverleaf, partnered with Martin Miller’s Gin: It’s fun! It’s great for the bar team most importantly, and it’s great for the bar. It’s a nice opportunity for us to get something back for the bar but also send the team off on a weekend away from the brick and mortar and actually just have a bit of fun.
Gregorio Soriente, Zetter Townhouse, partnered with Espolòn Tequila: It’s great for collaboration with brands but also, it’s a matter of visibility. We are a boutique hotel in a house and so we’re quite hidden, so these kinds of events are great for attracting people inside the bar in an informal way. It’s music, fun and tequila! If people like the drinks, then why wouldn’t they come to the bar?
Sergio Leanza, Funkidory, partnered with Glenmorangie: It’s really good to put yourself out there. You can be introduced to consumers who aren’t from your area but could come to visit, so it boosts your reputation by word of mouth. And then it’s also good to meet up with people from other bars, see what people are doing with their cocktails and just for networking too.
