Stirring for a whole week of cocktails in Leeds

WONDERLAND: An Alice inspired creation from Oracle, which is taking part in the week-long event.

Following on from three sell-out Leeds Cocktail Experience events, party PR firm Pink Gorilla is set to stage The Summer Cocktail Experience.

Instead of participating bars having to create one bespoke drink for a night of cocktails under one roof (previously at Aspire), they will now be coming up with a ‘cocktail experience’ taking place in their own venues. It could be a cocktail-inspired brunch, food and drink pairings or a ‘make your own’ cocktail masterclass.

The full programme for the week-long party, starting on May 21 and running to 27, will be revealed nearer the time but there are already 17 bars signed up with more set to confirm.

They are Alchemist, Banyan, Botanist, Blackhouse, Victoria Gate Casino, Manahatta, Liquorist, Revolucion De Cuba, Be At One, Thewlis, Epernay, Vice and Virtue, Oracle, Malmaison, Maven and Lost and Found.

Pink Gorilla director Jordan Odu, who is also a guest columnist in the YEP, said: “The Summer Cocktail Experience aims to celebrate the city’s diverse bar scene, and allows party people to experience a range of bespoke cocktail-centric events within the confines of some of Leeds’s most iconic hotspots.

“The cocktail scene has come a long way in the past decade. Gone are the days when you could rustle up a standard five cocktail classics menu and get away with it – people of Leeds expect more now, so it’s go hard or go home, and the bars we’ve chosen are among the city’s best when it comes to the art of cocktail-making.”