A new pop-up bar in Manchester city centre opens this week, promising to “reinvent the hedonistic ritual of cocktail hour”.
The Kowloon Correspondents Club has been created by leading consultancy The Liquorists (pictured) in association with Belvedere Vodka in the former Kitchen Restaurant site at Barton Arcade, Deansgate.
Launching tomorrow (November 7), it will be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon until midnight for the next two months.
Recreating a 1930s club in Kowloon in Hong Kong, the bar will feature bespoke cocktails created by The Liquorists alongside signature serves in an elegant, colonial setting.
A Vodka Martini station with built-in seats and a dedicated mixologist will serve a “three-Martini lunch”, available at any time during opening hours.
From 5pm to 7pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, KCC’s Cocktail Hour will offer a chance for guests try cocktails at half price.
The lounge area, which features opium bed-style seating and lacquered oriental tables, will play host to free interactive “cocktail ritual masterclasses”, which will include two bespoke cocktails and the chance to taste a range of luxury infusions.
This will mark the first official UK outing for Belvedere Lemon Tea, normally only available in the US and duty free, which is a 100% natural blend of green tea, black tea, camomile, honey, ginger and lemongrass, inspired by iced tea.
Stepping up to KCC’s bar, guests will pick up a drinks menu in the form of a passport and follow the trail of Mr Albert Henry Belvedere, a fictional foreign correspondent from Manchester.
Drinks with exotic flavours and influences will reflect his travels from Victoria Station in London to the Kowloon watering hole via Liverpool, New York, San Francisco, the Polynesian Islands, Rangoon, Bombay, Mombassa, Cape Town and Madeira.
Visitors to Kowloon Correspondents Club will be able to choose from a menu of cocktails created by The Liquorists, including drinks made with Belvedere’s portfolio of macerations from Belvedere Black Raspberry, Citrus, Bloody Mary and Pink Grapefruit to Lemon Tea.
Tom Sneesby (pictured standing), who founded Manchester-based The Liquorists with Jody Monteith, said: “We’re thrilled to have been chosen by Belvedere, a truly global premium brand, to create and deliver a luxury creative cocktail experience, and where better to put it than Manchester?
“We’ve come a long way since quitting our bar management jobs and setting up The Liquorists in 2010. Jody and I knew there was a clear gap in the market to bring a splash of social history, creativity and world-class mixology together with the aim of inspiring and informing both bartenders and consumers.
“For the first time, Kowloon Correspondents Club gives us the perfect opportunity to showcase all our talents. We hope we’ve created a unique, enriching experience and, with free ritual masterclasses with cocktails as just part of the fun, we hope everyone will want to come down and share our love for cocktails created using the most versatile of premium spirits.”
Book online at www.theliquorists.com/KCC.
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