Belvedere Vodka Trail, The Liqourists - Manchester

Booze, booze, booze – lots of booze on the blog lately and this post is no exception (and the next post might not be either…). But how can I resist from imparting to you my latest shenanigans with those professional booze hounds, The Liquorists, when it was a night out like no other?

Limiting itself to just one brand this time, Belvedere Vodka, the spirit trail started at the gloriously upmarket Lowry Hotel; we sipped Belvedere Pure (their premium vodka) amongst sumptuously dressed guests as we watched the lights ripple on the Irwell below. We tasted the brand’s signature cocktail, The Zephyr, a mouth puckering contrast of sharp grapefruit mellowed out with sweet almond syrup and ate delicate cubes of softly wobbling passion fruit jelly.

Classic, simple, sophisticated - Belvedere Pure at The Lowry

On to The Liquorists’ now eponymous headquarters, 22 Redbank; this time to sip the red peppery, spicy notes of Belvedere Bloody Mary. Made by macerating each different ingredient into the spirit so the actual essences are included (only premium brands do this, most only use flavourings) – this little shot was a fiery explosion of heady flavours that left you glowing all over.

To match the Bloody Mary vodka, what did The Liquorists do (apparently contrary to the advice of the brand), they made a Bloody Mary with it. Pretty good as far as Bloody Mary’s go; but it should be as Jody (of The Liquorists) used to own a bar that only specialised in Bloody Marys. To accompany these fiery drinks we ate platters of olives and chorizo, the salty food pairing perfectly with the savoury drinks.

Bloody Mary in a Bloody Mary - does that make it a Double Bloody Mary Squared?

Next stop Kosmonaut to sample the Belvedere Citrus – the brand uses both orange and lemon in this maceration to create a more rounded drink with layers of refreshing, perfumed flavour – this was my favourite of all the flavoured vodkas we tasted. Kosmonaut’s cheeky food pairing surmounted to the very posh and heady heights of Mr Kipling lemon fingers – well he does make exceedingly good cakes; it was good to see that they had put more thought in to the cocktail, The Belvedere Traingle; basically a rhubarb and custard in a glass. Belvedere Citrus mixed with rhubarb liquor, grenadine, clementine juice and egg white – creamy, sweet, vanilla, childhood memories in a glass.

Penultimate stop on the trail and very suitable for this upmarket jaunt through this premium brand, was champagne bar Epernay. Unlike the Citrus Belvedere, the Pink Grapefruit maceration we drank here only uses pink grapefruit to create as true a likeness to the fruit as possible – Belvedere have certainly got it right; this vodka has that same heady, floral, sharp sweetness as the fruit itself.

Staff handed round tiny squares of Black Forest gateaux with pink grapefruit vodka cream for us to daintily nibble whilst sipping the Hemingway Royale they created with Moet champagne (of course), pink grapefruit Belvedere (well of course) and kir soaked cherries. Decadent, delightful and playfully light, this cocktail was my favourite of the lot (well, this lady does have expensive tastes…).

Before you make insinuations, these weren't all mine...

On to our final destination, we landed on the slopes at Ski Club, Manchester’s newest winter bar that’s popped up at Spinningfields, bringing the style and sophistication of the winter playgrounds of the rich and famous to Manchester’s…er…sodden streets. The last vodka was the Belvedere Unfiltered – a heady, musky, almost after-sex bedroom smell to the nose and a rich, heavy warmth in the mouth.

Unfortunately the cocktail and food pairing at Ski Club didn’t match up to the brand or the rest of the (as per usual) faultless tour – the Ski Club’s take on a mojito was far too dominated by rosemary and sugar, basically like licking a Sunday roast created by someone who’s over-Jamied a lamb joint by stuffing a whole rosemary plant up its jacksie. The cheese and meat platters were good (but it’s hard to fuck up food that you take out of packets), but the accompanying fondue was claggy – the pots they are using are warmed by three small tealights meaning the cheese is not at the right temperature (plus it could have done with some extra garlic if I’m being picky).

Fon-don't at Ski Club (nice 70s arty shot to go with the old-skool ski club theme)

However by this time we were merry and warm so this little downer didn’t detract once again from an excellent, fun and fact filled night from The Liqourists. Raise your glass to many more!

Booking is EASY - just click HERE and see what other wonderful trails The Liquorists have got to tantalise your tastebuds with.

The Liqourists, tom@theliquoristsonline.com, Twitter

Ps I was comped this spirit trail, but I wasn't under any obligation to write anything nice about it - however I had a brilliant time and still think the trails are one of the best after-work activities you can get up to in Manchester AND for a very reasonable price too. 

The Liquorists Rum Trail - Northern Quarter, Manchester

What do you do if you want to a) drink a lot but not fall about with the masses b) go on a bar crawl but not have to queue for drinks/stand up all night/get refused entry for being a large group - you book a Rum Trail! (or Vodka, or Whiskey, or Tequila...).

The Liquorists are a plucky pair of alcohol aficionados that are using their considerable skills, knowledge and contacts mixed with verve, passion and cheeky chat to create The Trails - an upmarket bar crawl that aims to teach you about what you're drinking as well as get you well lubricated around the bars of Manchester's Northern Quarter.

As you all know, I like a drink; I'm not very good at drinking, but I do like one. With an invite from Tom (one half of The Liquorists) sitting in my inbox to try their new incarnation of the trail, Rumberdrone 3 (clue, this one is about Rum, it's in the name, see) and having no clue about rum mixed with a need to educate/distract/make a fool of myself I accepted in a heartbeat.

Tom  - our cocktail captain for ther night - "a gipping yarn I can tell ye"

This is the third rum trail The Liquorists have run and in order to debunk the myth that the third of anything is always bad eg albums/films/tv shows (they obviously weren't thinking about threesomes) they've gone all out on this trail and upped the number of bars/shorts/cocktails to six (from five) with a 'very special something at the end.'

We were met at Hula by the effervescent Tom and quickly got the first rum down us - a Plantation, which is special because each barrel is individually sampled and only those showing the true characteristics of the rum are bottled. Fact. Oh and it's bottled in oak casks, then transported to France and finished in cognac casks. Double fact. Hula had also created an Atlantic Boatclub Daiquiri with a Plantation 3 Star, which we matched with bananas and toasted pineapples. Think I offended Tom by leaving most of the cocktail, but I was seriously suffering from the Almost Famous Pig Out the night before and my hands were still shaking at this point.

Plantation rum, Atlantic Boathouse Daiquiri at Hula Bar

After a good chat and an introduction to the other ten rum-trailers (nothing like a good bit of booze to loosen the tongue) we headed off to THE home of rum in Manchester, Keko Moku - a tiki bar that makes insane cocktail creations and probably has more booze soaked in to its fabric than I do after a clumsy bar room fumble/night out. Here we tried my favourite two drinks of the night - an El Dorado 12 year - forget what you think about rum (yeah we all downed Bacardi aged 16 thinking we were both big and clever and no, this is nothing like that...) - this is the purest honey, caramel, toffee, butterscotch all the way from Guyana. Smooth and slipped right in; absolutely beautiful. This was followed by a Sanguine Sizzle, an award-winning cocktail created by Socio Rehab's (Keko's sister bar) head barman containing blood orange, grapefruit, peychauds bitters, maraschino liquor and earl grey tea. Looked girly, tasted fruity with sweet, floral undertones. I finished this on off and mysteriously my previous nights DTs were gone.

Smooth as silky legs - El Dorado 12 year Keko Moku

A quick trot across the road and we landed in Odd - a Manchester stalwart with seven years' service under its belt - however not a cocktail bar. Hmm, where was this going? First up the Matusalem to taste and during sipping we were recounted of turbulent tales, money lost and general intrigue from Tom. And then Odd showed us how a non-cocktail place does a cocktail; they give you a steel bottom. That's not a euphemism, but two glasses - one with rum in and one with beer, idea is you take a sip of each. I liked it, many didn't, horses for courses as they say. Here we ate mojito skewers - a cheeky rum based cocktail nod from the non-cocktail bar there.

A view of my steel bottom at Odd Bar

On again to Tusk, a new bar that's decked out like some exotic 70s boudoir and staffed by some of the friendliest people I've ever met; here we encountered the hard stuff - a 63% Wray and Nephew, that we were advised to 'soften' with water - I did, it could still knock me out at 100 paces. Luckily there was some kick ass homemade chocolates that contained the rum as a match - much softer, much more me, many were in my mouth, some of it dribbled down my chin - and a Hipster Daiquiri with so much lime in, that I continue to believe it was placed at this part of the trail to stop us slipping in to some comfortable alcoholic coma sleep.

After being thoroughly abused in Tusk we headed over to another Northern Quarter newbie - The Blue Pig. Very Parisian, very chic, very not like I would ever think to drink rum here. We settled back to a Brugal, very dry compared to some of the earlier rums we'd been drinking and a very luscious apple daiquiri.

Chic and sophisticed - Brugal and Apple Daiquiri at The Blue Pig

And then it was on to something special - a ten minute trek through some 'ahem' less than salubrious areas (yes, even less salubrious than the areas I usually inhabit) and into a railway arch. What was this? This turned out to be 22Redbank, or The Office, as The Liquorists call it (seriously, can I have a job here. Its has a bar and a ping pong table and golf clubs and a glass cabinet and everything). I'd probably call it something way cooler like 'secret underground booze bunker' but that's just me. Settled in leather couches we tried Pussers Navy Rum (yeah, I had a good time with that name), at 54.5% it's the original strength they'd drink in the navy and was as dark and thick as treacle. The guys also produced the Painkiller, a mix of Pussers and pineapple which did a great job at soothing out tongues from the spicy Thai curry we'd just been served up.

The Rum trail, or any trail that The Liquorists run, is a well thought out alternative to crowding in to sweaty bars, tipping overpriced drinks down your neck, jostling at the bar and generally trying to have a good time but it soon becoming a sweaty, rubbish cattle market. Each tour is well planned, all the bars know what time you're coming and have food/tables/booze ready for you and for the price you pay, you get more booze than I can drink in a week (well I am a cheap date), plus nibbles and a proper meal at the end. The Liquorists know their drinks, they can spin a yarn or two and it's been one of the most interesting nights I've been on for a while.

Ps All I can say is 'Sorry Tom, next time I won't have a hangover/go to Famous the night before. Promise.'

Rum Trail 3 is on for the next five weeks - book yours HERE. If not, keep an eye on their site for the upcoming Belvedere Vodka Tour and, rumour has it, some Tequila madness near to Christmas.

The Liqourists - Twitter - Website

Please note I was invited on the Rum Trail for free, but am under no obligation to write nice things, I just had a bloody good time! On and I got to meet some wonderful people - for their take on the trail click on their names; Old Fashioned Susie, MM Online, Drinks Enthusiast, Mel Hughs