Cocktails In The City Preview Party

Cocktails in the City is just around the corner and the Great Baltic Warehouse is girding its iron loins ready for the eagerly anticipated event which promises to be just as great as the venue itself. Popular bars around the city and their magicians of mixology are all prepping for a day full of cocktail cheer and alco-education and we were lucky to be on the guestlist for the pre-event party last night. In fabulous company and in even fabulous-er surroundings, we got a sneak preview of what’s to come at the event next week (Friday 30th June) and I’m here to spill the beans and give you the scoop on what to expect from #CITCLIV this year. 

In comparison to some of the major cities around the world, Liverpool is pretty tiny in comparison. You can visit Stanley Street, Matthew Street, Seel Street and the infamous Concert Square all in one night without having to take your heels off to embark on any mammoth missions. Cocktails in the City are making your Fri-yay night even more intimate this month as they bring all of your favourite cocktail houses and bars under one roof in the city’s up and coming creative quarter. A stone’s throw from the likes of Camp & Furnace and the Botanical Gin Garden, the Great Baltic Warehouse is set to bring a kind of urban edge that the event is yet to experience. Trust Liverpool to make things 10 times cooler, right?

The preview event at Furnival’s Well last night was like a speed dating sesh for the cocktail connoisseur. Various bars from around the city centre took up camp to showcase what they’ll be bringing to the main event next week including Red Door, 81 Ltd, El Bandito, Roxy Ballroom, The Alchemist and Smuggler’s Cove. There was everything from Cointreau sorbets served Calippo-stylee and a pear-infused Tom Collins to a watermelon Zombie (a.k.a ‘Wombie’) and a raspberry dusted prosecco concoction slurped through a surgical syringe. What a time to be alive, hey…

Furnival’s Well itself was once a rusty old prison but somewhere in between when Charles Dickens was a lad and now, it has transformed into a unique watering hole, still keeping its cells and bare brick walls intact. The set up made it the perfect location for such an event as attendees ducked and dived between each cell to be taught a thing or two about cocktail making and shaking and that’s exactly what Cocktails in the City is all about. Mixology is quite the art form and when we’re slamming our change onto the bar after one too many Jagerbombs on a Saturday night, it can be easy to forget the craft and expertise that go into making your flaming Pornstar Martini so damn Instagrammable. 

Time flies when the sun is shining and the weeks having been whizzing by like greased lightning so if you do fancy spending your Friday night at the Cocktails in the City event, click here to get yourselves some tickets. They come at the princely sum of £12 which gets you entry into the venue and a drink on arrival. All cocktails thereafter are £6.50 so you can save yourself a pound or two on the standard bar prices. Go, go, go! 

Steph Whalley