The Cocktail Hour!

Jayna Patel | 27th August 2015

Epernay 2 edited

Epernay’s Just Dill With It cocktail.

The summer weather may have been a bit on the damp side in Manchester this year but we decided to whisk you away on a dream tour of Manchester’s best cocktails; from international favourites and summery gems that transport you to sunny lagoons, to full bodied creamy liquid treats and concoctions, boasting unforgettable unique twists.

Épernay- Just Dill With It

Great Northern Tower, Unit 1 a, Watson Street, Manchester, M3 4EE. Tel: 0161 834 8802 | Web: www.epernaymanchester.co.uk

Ingredients: 50ml, Caorunn Gin; 25ml, thick apple and dill cordial; – freshly made in house – 15ml, freshly-squeezed lemon juice; 25ml, of the binding agent – egg white – topped with soda and garnished with Dill for a strong yet mellow scent.

Just Dill With It is a tempting easy-to-drink beverage, especially with gin currently being the hottest trend in the drinks world. After vigorously undergoing a ‘double shake’ to chill the mixture to the right temperature, it’s clear this cocktail is something special and this is sure to be echoed in Eponay’s new autumn menu.

VIVA Verdict: This heavenly milky coloured cocktail feels silky when swallowed, leaving a thick mouth feel. Truly exquisite.

Epernay edited

Épernay’s Bartender, Dave Higgens said: “We always try to look at what is seasonally available, what will taste right for the cocktail. So apple and dill are two flavours that where they sit in the spectrum of flavours they are not opposites but just complement each other really well so you have fantastic, lovely apple flavours.

“Truth be told, we’re a bit whacky and a bit insane with what we do and what we try to bring together. Basically when we make these menus we try to look at what season they are appropriate to. We try to look at what’s exciting, maybe something you haven’t seen somewhere else and then we also look at how flavours complement each other and work together with each other.”

Offers: Sunday Sessions- a glass of any of their champagnes – both the £20-a-glass bottle or the £6.50-a-glass bottle – for just £6.50 until they run out.

Lammars 2 edited

Lammars- Foo Foo

57 Hilton St, Manchester, M1 2EJ. 0161 237 9058 | www.lammarsbar.com

Ingredients: Stolichnaya raspberry vodka; Chambord; (a prime French raspberry liqueur) fresh lemon juice; rum; strawberry puree and cranberry juice. Shake up with ice and serve straight into the glass.

Complementing Lammar’s zany drag-queen style dressing room themed interior is the bar’s signature beverage, Foo Foo, which has Manchester’s legendary drag-queen, Frank ‘Foo Foo’ Lammar, as its muse. The refreshing mixture is the bar’s longest-standing drink on the menu.

VIVA Verdict: Soothing and channelling a chilled vibe, this fruity creation is ascetically pleasing, accessorised to perfection with pieces of fresh fruit and tastes like liquid summer. We are literally charmed by cocktails and the Foo Foo is delivered with fluid flair, as smiley Warren makes cocktail-making look like an elegant dance.

Lammars edited

Lammar’s General Manager Warren Parsonage said: “A lot of people order this drink because it’s named after Foo Foo Lammar, who opened this bar and restaurant and also because it’s very hard to find somebody who doesn’t really like raspberry, strawberry or cranberry. It just ticks all the boxes.”

Offers: Happy hour is every day between 4-8pm.  Any cocktail on the menu, aside from the Zombie is two-for-one or £7.50 for two. Happy Hour offer also includes a bottle of house wine for £7.95 – a price you can’t get anywhere else in the Northern Quarter – plus you can buy a single spirit and mixer for £2.95.

Lolas 2 edited

Lolas- Mai Tai

57 Hilton St, Manchester, M1 2EJ. 0161 228 7813 | www.lolascocktaillounge.co.uk

Ingredients: A shot of Bacardi white rum; half a shot of Curaçao orange liqueur; half a shot of dark rum; orgeat, which is an almond syrup and a shot of lime juice.

Jetting your taste buds off to Hawaii, is the historic and traditional Mai Tai. Created by one of the original Tiki bar entrepreneurs, Trader Vic, in a Miami beach bar in the thirties,  this sunny, rum-based number is a big seller at the Northern Quarter cocktail lounge and, with its zingy features, it’s easy to see why.

VIVA Verdict: Zesty traits make this spectacular out-of-this-world cocktail a delicious summer holiday liquescent explosion.

Lolas edited

Lola’s Bar Manager, Chirs Robo, said, “The Mai Tai is everything that’s beautiful about Tiki bars, rum infused and you can just get that slight hint of almonds, which sweeten it up and give it that difference, making it unique.”

Offers: Don’t miss two-for-one cocktails every day from 5 till 8pm and Lola’s Special Board, which changes on a weekly basis.

Naighbourhood 2 edited

Neighbourhood- Modern Old Fashioned 

The Avenue North, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3BT. 0161 832 6334 | www.neighbourhoodrestaurant.co.uk

Ingredients: 25ml, Larceny; 25ml Wild Turkey 101; (both of which are quite sweet bourbons) half a strawberry; raspberries; some blueberries and blackberries. Flame over hot water adding cinnamon to the nice smoky feel and then pour over ice, rinse and stir until smooth.

Famed for emulating the taste of New York, Neighbourhood now brings Chicago to Manchester with the traditional Modern Old Fashioned, that originated in the ‘Windy City.’ Being the perfect marriage of sweet fruits and fiery bourbons, the Old Fashioned may be well established but Neighbourhood’s take on the iconic drink is truly unique.

VIVA Verdict: Leaving a satisfying burn down and your taste buds tingling, the Modern Old Fashioned is thick and strong, smoky but smooth. The firing and turning of the glass made for an entertaining watch too.

Naighbourhood

Neighbourhood Manager, Tano Icantalupo said, “Old Fashioned has been made for a long time in lots of bars so we needed to make something different. It’s suitable for men because it’s got a bit of whisky, sugar and a bitter taste yet girls are likely to appreciate the fresh fruit which offsets the bitterness.”

Offers: New cocktails to debut in the next few months.

Rosylee 2 edited

Rosylee- Manchester Bramble

11 Stevenson Square, Manchester, M1 1DB. 0161 228 6629 | www.rosylee.com

Ingredients: Lemon juice; gin and a little bit of sugar syrup to make the classic base of a Bramble then add Vimto for a fun Manchester spin on it.

With a Bramble being the epitome of English cocktails, Rosylee have put their Manchester stamp on this invigorating concoction by incorporating the popular sparkle of Vimto – a famed fizzy founded at the city’s Granby Row in 1908.

VIVA Verdict: This bouncy, breezy beverage is light and bubbly and the perfect accompaniment to whiling away a lazy summer’s day whilst getting in touch with your Mancunian roots.

Rosylee edited

Rosylee Bartender Jamie Tough said, “I’d sell the Manchester Bramble to any gin fans because there’s plenty of gin in it. It’s nice, fruity and uplifting with the Vimto, which takes the edge off the bitterness of the gin. So it’s just ever so slightly sweeter, pulling in non-gin fans to it as well. It just kind of sells itself to be honest!”

Offers: Enjoy 2 cocktails for £10 all day every Friday.

Tusk 2 edited

Tusk- The Leopard 

88 High Street, The Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 1ES. 0161 828 8700 | www.tuskmanchester.co.uk

Ingredients: Coconut cream; guava juice; lime juice; sugar; chilli infused rum and lychee liqueur.

An exotic staple cocktail of the bar since Tusk’s inception. Available all year round, this African-themed cocktail is sure to leave its mark with its edgy, chilli fusion. The flavours are flawlessly balanced, complementing each other impeccably, with the coconut nicely dampening the kick of the rum and the guava providing a smooth after-finish.

VIVA Verdict: With a creamy texture that makes for effortless drinking, laced with a bold chilli element, the Leopard is a memorable drink with a lasting flavour. A luxury reminiscence your taste buds will be delighted to revisit time and time again.

Tusk edited

Tusk Manager, Johnathan Swallow said, “I think everyone should at least try it. I think if you’re going to go out and going to have a serious cocktail, you need to push the boundaries. Go try and experiment a little bit. There’s a lot of very talented bartenders in Manchester that come up with amazing recipes and I think if people are a little bit more adventurous they might find things that really appeal to them.”

Offers: Between 4-8pm every day except Saturday get two cocktails for £10. Discounts on beer and wine are also available. A new festive cocktail menu is currently being designed.

Don G 2 edited

Don Giovanni- Honeymoon

Peter House, 1-2 Oxford St, Manchester, M1 5AN. 0161 228 2482 | www.dongiovanni.uk.com

Ingredients: Raspberry flavoured grappa; an Italian herb liquor called Amaro Montenegro; – which is a combination of various herbs and spices with a bittersweet taste – peach liqueur, lavender, ginger and egg white: smoked with a cinnamon stick to finish.

Having recently experienced an entire refurbishment, the quality eatery specialise in putting a twist on Italian classics to produce a harmony of flavours that satisfy all palettes. A talent that is more than illustrated in the Honeymoon.

VIVA Verdict: After impressively lighting a cinnamon stick and covering it with the cocktail glass to capture the gorgeous cinnamon aroma, the Honeymoon – topped with cloudy froth – boasted the perfect thick, smooth and creamy texture. We fell in love with it instantly.

Don G edited

Don Giovanni’s Bar Manager, Tom Motohin, said, “Honeymoon is on the premium list so we give some extra time to the drink. With the premiums we charge a bit more so they have to be something with good spirits, even these grappas are good premium spirits. We mix these together and it’s not just about the ingredients, we promise to make them presentable in front of you at the bar.”

Offers: 2 for 1 cocktails every day from 5 to 7pm and  9pm till late.