What a great week this has been. With both London Cocktail Week and National Chocolate Week we can be sure our diets have been put out…detox next week!

Top 3 highlights…

1)The Tradicional After Supper Club – fantastic treat when I managed to nab a couple of tickets to this event. It was only the bar side of things not the full supper club but amazing all the same. They gave us the cutest little wristbands made up of 5 bits of thread and a skull and the bar staff cut a thread for each free drink - genius idea!

After having been out drinking beforehand I only managed a couple of Margaritas but wow were they good…saved enough room for the yummy complimentary taquitos though. Made me extremely jealous that I wasn’t next door sampling the full supper club!

 2) Discovering the true art of ‘proper’ cocktail making at Circus. Getting to see Swanand Korgaonkar work his magic was pure joy. Ever the perfectionist see below the beautiful Moshi Moshi (hope spelt that correctly!) cocktail made with Beefeater 24 Gin

3) The wonderful and different flavours of cocktails on offer at the  Monkey Shoulder pop up. Its lovely to witness such a wonderful range of flavours in a cocktail. I went for:

Drop It Like It’s Fall

Only a few days now until London Cocktail Week kicks off and we couldn’t be more excited! A whole week of £4 cocktails, plus a host of seminars, pop-up bars, tastings, parties and master-classes, aimed at both novices and experienced professionals. This year, the festival’s events will be held in a concentrated area of London – the historic and beautiful Seven Dials – so come explore and join in the street party atmosphere.

We are super excited about our own event, taking place on October 13th. We’re hosting a Soho Bar Crawl, sponsored by our friends at Yelp! Starting at 4.30pm in The London Cocktail Club we will be guiding you around four of our fantastic Soho based venues; Covent Garden Cocktail Club, LAB and Adventure Bar. For £20 you get a Drink Deck London, a free drink at every bar and £4 cocktails courtesy of Love Drinks! So if you are a fan of any of the below, this event is a MUST

To be part of the Cocktail Tours and enjoy delicious £4 drinks – you need to
wear a wristband. Register Here!

If you are looking for somewhere a bit different for that all important first date then we couldn’t recommend Bar Pepito any more highly!

Set away in The Regent’s Quarter, you would never know you are just a stones throw away from one of London’s busiest stations (King’s Cross St Pancras International). Sitting in this small bodega bar (get there early to nab a table) it is easy to be carried away into thinking you are in the heart of Spain. It even has the cobbled streets to boot!

The real magic of this place however is the sherry! Don’t be scared if you have never tried sherry before, this is the perfect place for the sherry novice! The staff are willing to educate and guide you through your sherry journey! We went through 3 of the sherry flights, which were extremely reasonable (£15 being the most expensive) and enabled us to choose which we liked the best (mine being the Palo Cortado ‘Apóstoles’, González Byass). And what a great conversation starter.

But there is no need to stop there, the food is equally as amazing. We went for one of the specials – stuffed peppers with chorizo and selected one of the cheeses.

Don’t be alarmed – no gnomes were killed in the making of this dish!

If you would prefer something bigger then you can always pop across the way to Camino, their sister restaurant!

The following video gives you a great guide to the bar and has some great tips on what to eat and drink when you visit – presented by Richard Bigg (Co-owner of the venue)

Don’t forget to play your Drink Deck card when you visit to get £7 off!

We’d like to welcome the lovely Andrew as our first Drink Deck London Ambassador! He is single handedly trying to get round as many of the bars as he can and in the process provide us with some snippets from his fabulous nights out. A new twist on a mystery shopper some might say… but with an amazing cocktail in hand!!

“52 cards, 52 bars, 52 weeks in the year…perfect!”

A great one to start off with…Barrio Central:

Q&D Summary:

Barrio Central (“BC”) is good for a chill night with friends but more for getting your drink on!

- Amigo Hour from 3-8pm (3-7pm on Fridays & Saturdays) with £4.50 cocktails
- High bartender to bar space ratio = quick drink service
- Table service for no extra charge
- Reserve a place in advance for no charge and get queue-jumping privileges
- Staff are very friendly and helpful

The Full Monty

I flicked through my Drink Deck in search of a place to hold birthday drinks. Barrio Central ticked the key boxes: ✓ happy hour, ✓ central location, ✓ reserve a space in advance, and ✓ reasonably priced for the area. Sorted!

Getting there

BC is located a short 5 min walk from Oxford Circus and a slightly longer one from Piccadilly Circus. Despite being warned in advance that there would be a line even on a Thursday night, there was no problem for me or any of my friends getting in. The hostess led us to our space and had no qualms about booting out some people who had disregarded the “reserved” signs and taken up residence. A good start for us (although perhaps less so for the squatters) and we were off!

Drinks brought to me = Awesome

A plus point was the availability of table service even though the bar was just beyond our area. I personally hate queuing for a drink as it takes away from time with my friends (which is damn precious) and then you are faced with that slight problem of how to carry everything back through the crowd. Luckily, the lovely waitresses at BC take care of all of that for you. If you start a tab, they’ll give you a little square card with your table number that you can use to order your drinks rather than shouting out a name and risking others using it (it’s happened before!). Minor problem is that the card is pretty damn small which means you gotta be careful or you’ll lose it.

The Grub, the Booze, and the Other Stuff

Food is served all night provided you’ve snared yourself a table. It’s fairly standard Spanish/Mexican fare with the chorizo and quesadillas being the most favoured in our group. But we weren’t here to eat.

Overall, the drinks are well conceived and tasty but the alcoholic content seemed to differ depending on which bartender you had. Those that really stood out for me were the Barrio Zombie, the Bahama Mama, and the Yummi Gummi.

The Barrio Zombie is the signature drink. Those familiar with Zombies, flaming or otherwise, know it’s a potent beverage consisting of variety of rums and little else. It is served in a luchador head mug (think Nacho Libre’s mask) and is big enough to give even the most die-hard American college frat boy a good buzz. At £20, it’s the most expensive drink on the menu by far, but just being able to walk around and sip out of a head makes it good value.

The Bahama Mama is BC’s take on a Piña Colada with dark rum, coconut rum, a bit of coffee liqueur, and finished off with
citrus. Served with a pineapple garnish, the sweetness of the rum and slight bite of the coffee liqueur make this a truly tasty
libation. I also got hints of caramelized pineapple which were absolutely brilliant and to top it off, this drink is served in a barrel! Yep, definitely my favourite of the night.

The Yummi Gummi is a sweet rum, pear, and lychee mix but the real draw are the handful of gummy bears used to garnish the drink. Why don’t more bars use gummy bears as garnish?

Well I’m done and going to start looking for the next card to play. As my favourite rabbit says, that’s all folks!

What’s more Andrew managed to get a whopping £34 off his bill and still 51 cards to use!!

If you are looking for a guaranteed night of fun, and more importantly, something different –  then Guanabara is the place for you! Drink Deck held this month’s ‘Pay-day Drinks’ here and it more than delivered a fun-filled evening!

Venue: HUGE! Lots of areas available to book and a huge dance floor and stage to keep you entertained!

Music: A bit of everything on offer, from lively salsa music, a live band and then to end the night they pulled some absolute chart classics!

Cocktails: Don’t be put off by the small cocktail menu – here is quality over quantity! Try the Apple and Vanilla Mojito!

All drinks (including champagne) are half price until 8pm so best to get in early, you can then ‘play’ your Drink Deck card for the rest of the evening for 20% off!

Some of our pics from the evening:

The bank holiday is fast approaching… so if your plans are looking bleak we have the perfect nights out for you to pick from, plus there is something for everyone!

Don’t forget to ‘play’ your Drink Deck card in all of these venues and post the best pics of your night online!  

BARRIO BIG BOOTY BANK HOLIDAY | NORTH EDITION - By Barrio North

Want to avoid the craziness of the Bank Holiday but drink and dine in style!? Throughout all of August and September, Monday to Friday, every bottle of Joseph Perrier Champagne (£50) ordered after 8pm and before the clock strikes midnight will magically turn into a magnum (worth £100) – yes, that’s double the Champagne for half the price!

SOUND SYSTEM LOCKDOWN- By Trailer Happiness

We got to witness a real treat last night…one of our venues attempting to make the biggest El Dorado Rum Swizzle. With the final only 7 days away Wax Jambu took the opportunity to put their pros to the test and we have to agree it was a total success…well if our heads this morning were anything to go by!!!

For the final Pietro, one of Wax Jambu’s cocktail connoisseurs will be making two drinks, firstly the Swizzle that got him through to the final ( see the ingredients below) and a second drink that the guys over at Wax Jambu are keeping close to their chest until the final itself! The entrants are judged on both the drinks and the representation the El Dorado brand gets in their bar.

Please help support Wax Jambu as much as possible as we’d love them to win. Follow them on Facebook or Twitter to leave them a message of encouragement!

The final will be taking place at Trailer Happiness on Thursday 23rd August.

Pietro Rizzo, Wax Jambu, – Diamond’s Dirty Stop Out

- 37.5ml El Dorado 8
- 12.5ml Grand Marnier
- 7ml La Penca Mezcal
- 3 dashes Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters
- 12.5ml coconut water
- 12.5ml pineapple juice
- 10ml sugar cane syrup
- 12.5ml lime juice
Garnish with mint and pineapple leaves. Serve with a flaming bowl of Caribbean rum-tobacco blend.

Great night guys so thank you, and GOOD LUCK!

Jimi show’s us how it’s done!!

The Olympics is over, the sun looks to be retreating but fear not. Drink Deck have put together some recommendations to get you through to the weekend and they are all awesome!

Tonight 

Wax Jambu – The BIG ASS Swizzle Cocktail!

The guys at Wax Jambu are attempting to make the biggest El Dorado Rum Swizzle ever seen by man! Intrigued?? Head over tonight to celebrate the beginning of the 7 day count down to the El Dorado Swizzle Competition Final 2012, and cheer on Wax Jambu to win!

The Shoreditch -  Lower Your Guard, Mackley Drive, Black Gold Buffalo

Head over to The Shoreditch tonight – for just £6 on the door you get to sample 3 different bands. Not to mention the fantastic Happy Hour: 2 for £10 Cocktails and 4 for £10 beers!

Thursday 16th August

Camden Town Brewery – Beer tour

Book your ticket now for a fantastic beer tour. You get to learn everything about the brand  and see how they make beer. Then, go back into the bar and have a taster of all the beers they have on tap!

For you money you get beer on arrival, tour, knowledge and a 1/3 pint taster of all the beers – just £12 a ticket

Dirty Martini Hanover Square –  Summer Nights

Why not kick off your weekend with the summer nights. Along with their usual happy hour, Dirty Martini have created six refreshingly fruity cocktails so that you can enjoy the summer vibe underground with an added touch of style.

Friday 17th August

Cargo –  Connected with Max Chapman or The Monto Presents: Crystal Él

Cargo bring you the best of live music with this great line up. You get to choose from two great acts!

See the website for more details and prices

The Olympic Torch is set to head through Hackney today so be sure to get the best spot!  We have put together a suggested itinerary including Drink Deck London spots for the day to ensure you have an awesome time – come rain or shine!

11AM: Get yourself down to Jugged Hare for an early hearty lunch. We’d recommend the ‘On the spit today’ section of the menu every time!
(Get 20% off when you spend £20 or more with the Jack of Spades)

1PM: Then head down to The Shoreditch to really get the party started!
(20% off when you spend £20 or more with the 4 of Hearts).

3.54PM: Ensure you get a good spot for the Torch which is due to come directly passed Shoreditch Station!

 5PM: Keep following the torch on its route but be sure to stop off at Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes even if it’s to pick up one of their awesome pizzas to take along with you.
(30% off when you spend £20 or more with the Jack of Hearts)

 
Before the day is out you will surely need to refresh the pallet. So keep on track with the torch and stop by Hunter S in Dalston (£7 off when you spend £20 with your Jack of Diamonds card)

And… if the above isn’t enough check these other cool FREE activities on offer in and around Hackney:

Shoreditch Festival 2012: http://www.shoreditchfestival.org.uk

The One Hackney Festival: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/one-festival.htm

Don’t miss out on these offers. Download the app or visit www.thedrinkdeck.com to purchase a Drink Deck London

DOWNLOAD THE IPHONE APP

                                              DOWNLOAD THE ANDROID APP

Harry, our wonderful croupier!

Massive thanks to everyone that attended the event on Wednesday evening – we’re still recovering! We’ve uploaded all of the pictures here. We’d like to say a particular thank you to Ferdie and the team at Barrio Central and Love Drinks for making some amazing cocktails. They even created us a special Drink Deck Cocktail menu see below

For those of you that couldn’t attend we are continuing the deal we had available on the night! Buy 2 or more decks and get 25% your order! To take advantage of this offer please visit thedrinkdeck.com add 2 or more London decks to your cart and then enter the following card in the ‘View Cart’ section (within ‘Shopping Cart’ at the top of the page).

launchcode*

*Offer expires 31st July 2012

Get great bar recommendations on the go!

Explore London with food, drink and entertainment savings! We’ve taken our playing cards and turned them into an app for those who prefer swiping their phone over shuffling through the deck. Find 52 of London’s best food and drink establishments, each hand selected, from Craft Cocktail Bars to Gastropubs. From a free pint up to 30% off your tab, Drink Deck will save you money.

Whether you are new to the city or a regular but simply want to check out a new place in a different area of town & get an incentive while you’re at it – this is the perfect app for you! See the full list of venues and offers  here .

Not only does the app include the easy-to-use playing cards (which you simply show to the venue for them to tap and redeem the offer), but there is a nice search feature for you to look for a venue by genre or neighbourhood! Plus, we have integrated this with Google maps, so if you are out and about and need directions you won’t get lost! Plot a specific venue’s location and even call them through to app to make a reservation!

Everyone will be rewarded with free updates when we add new venues! Just purchase Drink Deck one time and we’ll always send you updates when we reprint the small batch print run of physical playing cards.

Whats more…with up to 30% off food and/or drink the app pays for itself in just a couple of uses! What are you waiting for!?

Download the app now!

Want to be some of the first people to get your hands on Drink Deck London?

Come and help us celebrate the launch of Drink Deck London in true style! On Wednesday 18th July we are taking over the basement of Barrio Central to introduce you to the latest concept to hit the streets of London. Thanks to Love Drinks we’ll offer a complimentary cocktail* and the chance to be some of the first people to buy Drink Deck London!

Barrio Central

From 6pm-8pm the event will be limited to registered guests only, so be sure to RSVP asap if you can attend –  only 100 spaces available!!

We have the following lined up:

• Special Drink Deck Rummy Cocktail Specials at a lucky price of £5.55 all night!
• The opportunity for you to use your card for the first time and receive a 30% discount on your bar tab!
• Latin Cantina serving up tapas to tacos until 10pm
• DJs, drink decking & dancing until 1am

For those that miss out on a ticket fear not! Please head down from 8pm to join in the fun. Drink Deck London will be available to purchase all night. So invite as many friends from 8pm as possible!

Last but not least, a massive THANK YOU to all of those people that have already been online to purchase Drink Deck London, please be sure to share all of your experiences online we want to hear all about it and hope you enjoy using the deck!

* Complimentary cocktails only available to registered guests that have RSVP’d and between 6pm-8pm

The wait is over for all of you that attended our launch. We can now reveal the recipes to the yummy cocktails provided on the night, courtesy of Love Drinks and El Dorado Rum. All lovingly prepared by the awesome team at The London Cocktail Club:

LCC (London Cocktail Club) Swizzle

    Ingredients

- 30ml Goslings
- 25ml Vanilla sugar
- 25ml Lime juice
- Dash of bitters
- Crushed ice
- Swizzle

Drink Deck Punch

- 30ml  El Dorado 3     

- 25ml  Lime juice

- 25ml Sugar syrup

- 25ml Martini Rossato

- Crushed ice

- Dress to please!

A massive thank you to everyone who helped make our media launch possible last night. The London Cocktail Club provided the perfect setting and the staff were on fire concocting fabulous cocktails thanks to Love Drinks and El Dorado Rum: LCC (London Cocktail Club) Swizzle and Drink Deck Punch. Plus, we had some fantastic beers sent over from Camden Town Brewery! All in all a great set up, photos to follow.

We are also extremely grateful to everyone for attending. It was great to be able to introduce the concept and talk about the great venues we have involved – especially over a blackjack game…or two! Will was our croupier for the evening and he definitely looked the part!

Of course we are biased and can’t wait to see how well the product does but it looks like you agree; we had some fantastic tweets and coverage so far, for example, Thrillist

The physical product is now available to buy online with our mobile application due to launch shortly! We’ll keep you posted!

Last night Drink Deck London were out helping the team at The Gun celebrate the launch of the amazing A Grelha (Portuguese for ‘grill’); The Gun’s entirely al fresco Portuguese BBQ restaurant and bar.

As well as having a passion for British pubs Tom and Ed Martin, owners of the Gun have a passion for Southern Portuguese food and wine and this is evident when sampling the delights on offer last night! Free Superbock, Pimm’s and ETM wine as well as tasters of the amazing Portuguese menu were all in full flow. If this is a sample of what’s to be served up at A Grelha this summer we would highly recommend booking your table now! Plus, we’re told that if you book before the end of June quoting ‘A Grelha Launch Party’ they’ll treat you and your guests to a pitcher of Pimm’s – we’re already picking up the phone!

Hardly room to get to the bar...what a night!!

Tha famous 'Grill'

So whether it’s a chilled day out, drinks with friends or romantic riverside date you are after, we couldn’t recommend this enough! P.S please try the Portuguese Salt Code Croquettes they are to die for!

What a view!

Don’t forget to play your Drink Deck card at The Gun for 20% food and drink (min. spend £20)!

For Immediate Release
Rachel Plumb
Drink Deck LLC
(0) 7940 213 293 / rachel@thedrinkdeck.com

Introducing the bar enthusiast’s guide to London

London, England — 25/5/2010 — Getting a drink on the house is nice, but it only happens when you know the bartender. Don’t worry, it’s “in the cards” with Drink Deck London! Our quirky concept combines urban exploration, perfect for exploring London’s neighbourhoods, and spontaneous fun with a deck of playing cards featuring 52 special offers at some of London’s best venues for food, drink and entertainment! Not sure where to go tonight? New to the City? On holiday in the Big Smoke? Let Drink Deck London help! Organise a food and drink pub crawl, discover the hottest craft cocktail bars or dance the night away…all while saving cash!

Media Only Launch Party
Pop in after work and see “what’s in the cards”! Come mingle with us over hand crafted specialty cocktails from El Dorado Rum at London Cocktail Club on Shaftesbury from 6PM-8PM on June, 20th! Each guest will receive their own copy of Drink Deck London and play Blackjack using Drink Deck with Will Glass, the concept’s founder. RSVP required, maximum 50 attendees. We will be planning a public launch event in July, so stay tuned for details on that!

More Than A Deal of the Day
Not just a coupon, Drink Deck’s playing cards are a great keep sake to remember your trip to London or to share with friends when discussing a night out. We work with venues that typically don’t do “the Groupon thing”; representing a curated list across numerous bar genres & neighbourhoods. Discover great venues while saving up to 30% off your bill on food and/or drink at Wine Bars, Craft Beer Houses, Cocktail Bars and more! See the full list here.

About Drink Deck, LLC
Founded in December, 2009, Drink Deck LLC has a mission of providing locals and visitors with a curated list of venues in top food and drink travel destinations in the US and UK. Our concept is currently available in Chicago, IL; New Orleans, LA; Portland, OR & London, England.
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For more information, press only: Will Glass, (0)20-3286-5976 / will@thedrinkdeck.com

To RSVP – Click Here

For more information on Drink Deck: http://www.thedrinkdeck.com

With our expansion across the pond we wanted to share a little more about our concept for future “Drink Deckers” in the UK. Our mission at Drink Deck is to provide locals and visitors with a fun way to explore a city’s neighborhoods by presenting a curated list of 52 special offers at excellent food, drink & entertainment venues. From the well established to what’s fresh on the scene Drink Deck represents a wide variety of venues to suit any mood. Shuffle through our deck of playing cards to plan a day or night on the town, or download the app to your phone and use our location based map to plot your course!

Our playing card decks are produced in small batches so we can continually update our list of Venue Partners, keeping you up to date on what’s fresh and new in each city’s ever changing food & drink scene. We focus on destinations in the US and UK that are known for excellent food & drink, and help you by cutting down on the amount of research you need to do prior to planning a night out; or a visit to a new city.

Drink Deck is not for coupon clippers, but for those who enjoy a drink on the house or a little something off their bill at a venue that typically doesn’t play the deal of the day game. The special offers can add up though and using your Drink Deck just 1-3 times will pay you back on your investment. We recommend organizing £ offers by neighborhood and using those cards to create mini bar crawls. Spend £20, redeem your card and move on to the next venue! With % offers gather a group of friend, open a tab and the more you spend, the more you save! In one food and drink session spending just £100 you save £20, paying yourself back for your Drink Deck. Now you’re playing with house money…as they say!

Below is an example of a Drink Deck London card and some basic rules of engagement for using Drink Deck:

With great pride we share with you a google map of Drink Deck London Venue Partners. Check out the descriptions on each for a little bit more detail. Each of Drink Deck London’s 52 playing cards (or smart phone app images) will get you anything from a free drink up to 30% off your food and drink tab. Organize them by neighborhood and create a mini bar crawl with free drinks OR hit a spot offering 30% off with a group of friends and watch the savings add up! Either way you’ll find new venues to discover while getting over £500 in savings; with no expiration! The product will be available for sale soon. Stay tuned for details on our Launch Party!

View Drink Deck London in a larger map