LONDON, UK – Fifty bars around London are to take part in the UK’s first festival dedicated to the Espresso Martini, organised by the team behind Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur.
The Espresso Martini Fest will run from August 10 to 12, organised in collaboration with DrinkUp.London, the company behind London Cocktail Week, London Wine Week and London Beer Week.
The three-day festival will see 50 leading cocktail bars across London pouring £5 variations of the famous cocktail.
Alongside the core serve, each bar will also offer a unique coffee-based cocktail that makes use of Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur.
Bars taking part include the legendary Milk & Honey, Jason Atherton’s Blind Pig at Social Eating House, Grind’s five café-bars, The Cocktail Trading Co, Original Sin, 46 & Mercy, Bourne & Hollingsworth’s two bars and all the London Cocktail Clubs.
Other bars taking part include 7 Tales at Sosharu, Beagle, Bull in a China Shop, Drunken Oyster at Hai Cenato, Hot Box, Merchant Tavern, Merchant House in Bow Lane and Fleet Street, Sager & Wilde Paradise Row, Temple & Sons, The Fat Bear, The Vaults and Treves & Hyde.
The celebration follows the success of the Espresso Martini Festival in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia – the home of Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur – and brings it to the city where the late great Dick Bradsell invented the cocktail while working at Brasserie Soho in the 1980s.
Tom Baker, the founder of Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur, said: “London keeps step with the world’s 24-hour cities for nightlife and cocktail excellence, so it’s no surprise the legendary Espresso Martini has its origins in Soho.
“If we were ever going to expand our Espresso Martini Festival outside of our home country of Australia, then it had to be London. Brits have embraced coffee culture in a big way and the Espresso Martini means Londoners’ caffeine hits can run all day and into the night.
“Coffee is one of those things that runs deep with people – like sex and religion – so we use our festival as an opportunity to bring people together and indulge a little.
“We had huge success with the inaugural festival down in Melbourne last year, with tickets for the Friday night session selling out in 60 seconds, so we thought we’d give it a spin here in London.”
Attendees will need to buy a £10 festival pass via DrinkUp.London and download the free app to get into each of the cocktail bars where they can enjoy cocktails for just £5.
Festival passes for Mr Black Espresso Martini Fest go on sale from today (July 3) and are limited for the first year so Espresso Martini lovers will need to act fast.
Search for the DrinkUp.London app on the App Store or Google Play or visit drinkup.london/espressomartinifest/.
