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Whether you are looking for a ground-breaking cocktail creation, want to watch some of the world\u2019s best bartenders in action, or fancy taking a step back in time to the age of prohibition, Belfast\u2019s first and only Cocktail Week has something for everyone.\u00a0\u00a0 \n<\/strong>
\nRunning from October 16 – 22, the inaugural event invites cocktail lovers to whet their whistle and enjoy a jam-packed calendar of bespoke events taking place in bars across the Cathedral Quarter.<\/p>\n
Kicking off the week in style, award-winning London establishment Swift will take up a special residency in The Merchant Hotel\u2019s iconic Cocktail Bar from October 16.<\/p>\n
Fresh from a big win at the Spirited Awards, where the bar was named Best New International Cocktail Bar 2017, husband and wife duo Bobby Hiddleston and Mia Johansson will bring the Swift team to Belfast for a week-long takeover with innovative cocktails and their renowned Irish coffees on offer.<\/p>\n
Festival-goers can also take a step back in time and experience the atmosphere and excitement of the birth of the cocktail at The Luggage Room takeover of Sixty6 (upstairs at The National).\u00a0 Enjoy signature creations from the prohibition age from the acclaimed London based Luggage Room staff who will be mixing up The Darb (Citadelle Gin shaken with apricot brandy, Italian vermouth and lemon juice) and Barney Barnato (pisco stirred with Cocchi Americano, Pierre Ferrand dry Cura\u00e7ao and aromatic bitters) along with juleps, cobblers, swizzles, imperials, punches, sours, flips and other popular concoctions of the time.<\/p>\n
Continuing the festivities, Club Sixty6 will host an intimate whiskey masterclass on October 19, where guests will get a behind-the-scenes insight into the magic of whiskey distilling.\u00a0 The bar will also cater for those who want to enjoy a non-alcoholic tipple with a Future of Mocktails Masterclass and an innovative mocktail menu, which will be available all week.<\/p>\n
Ending the week on a high, guest speaker, author of the Curious Bartender range of cocktail books and award-winning bartender, Tristan Stephenson, will host a seminar exploring the art of mixing the perfect cocktail on October 22.\u00a0 The famed bartender, co-owner of two of London\u2019s hottest cocktail bars, Purl and Worship Street Whistling Shop, will give guests an exclusive opportunity to taste contemporary and classic cocktails with his own unique twist during the masterclass.\u00a0 Tickets for this event will cost \u00a310 and includes a drink on arrival.\u00a0 Following the event, guests will be invited to raise a toast to end the week of celebrations with a free after party taking place in Club Sixty6.<\/p>\n
Bronagh Bennett from the National Grande Caf\u00e9 and Club Sixty6 and creator of Belfast Cocktail Week said;<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cBelfast Cocktail Week is a way of showing that Belfast can compete on an international level alongside cities with great cocktail cultures such as London, Edinburgh and even New York.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBelfast and Northern Ireland\u2019s hospitality sector has come a long way in recent years and customers are really broadening their horizons.\u00a0 The wide range of events taking place during the festival will appeal to everyone and I hope it encourages people to try something new.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe are looking forward to bringing this week-long event to Belfast\u2019s Cathedral Quarter and hope it will be the first of many.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston, co-owners of Swift said; <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe are so excited to bring Swift to Belfast and The Merchant.\u00a0 We will be bringing each of our bartenders over and will have something new and exciting on for each day as well as our Swift favourites.\u00a0 The Merchant has been a long time inspiration to us so it will be incredible to showcase a little bit of London in the heart of Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/em> Most events at Belfast Cocktail Week are free of charge and first come, first served.\u00a0 Please check the website for details for ticketed events.<\/p>\n For a full line-up of events and further information on optional festival passes, visit BelfastCocktailWeek.co.uk<\/strong> More events are still to be announced and will be added to the line-up over the coming weeks.\u00a0 A limited number of festival passes will also be available to purchase from The National Grande Caf\u00e9. The optional festival passes are priced at \u00a310 and includes 25% off selected cocktails in participating venues (excluding The Merchant where instead festival pass holders will get a complimentary taster of punch with each cocktail purchased at The Merchant Hotel\u2019s Swift Takeover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A brand new week-long festival aimed at cocktail lovers will bring a top line-up of special events to Belfast this October. Whether you are looking for a ground-breaking cocktail creation, want to watch some of the world\u2019s best bartenders in action, or fancy taking a step back in time to the age of prohibition, … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15069"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15072,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15069\/revisions\/15072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/em>Bars taking take in the festival include The Cocktail Bar and Berts Jazz Bar at The Merchant, The National Grande Caf\u00e9 and Club Sixty6, Bullitt Hotel, Bootleggers, Muriel\u2019s Caf\u00e9 Bar, The Spaniard and Babel, the new rooftop cocktail bar at Bullitt, on its opening weekend.<\/p>\n