Cocktails & Dreams

Into my mouth you go, Mr Cocktail. The annual Brum celebration of mixology, Birmingham Cocktail Weekend, returns for its seventh iteration, August 6, 7 and 8 and zookers does it look like a beaut. Even pared back for obvious reasons, 33 venues will be serving up £5 signature pours as part of the tasty three-dayer. The final venue list features JQ faves Grain & Glass and The Button Factory, Cocktail Weekend veterans Malmaison, Hotel du Vin & Bodega Cantina and new openings Ikigai, Medicine Mailbox, Jojolounge Bar & Restaurant and The Pineapple Club. One of the most inventive serves this year, surely, comes courtesy of The Alchemist where their tequila-powered 'Pop-Sickle' includes an extraordinary cherry-filled bubble wobbling about on the top (above), all ready for you to pop (below) and inhale. Properly good fun and madness at just £5. Slurpy workshops include 'Smokehouse', which sees whisky specialist Joe Ellis (Edrington-Beam Suntory) popping up at Gaucho and taking wristband wearers through a tasting of four of the Laphroaig range, while everyone digs into small Argentine food bowls (empanada, carpaccio, cuadril and chimichurri) provided by the steakhouse hosts. At the The Canal House, Maker’s Mark will be running a class on ‘A History of American Cocktails’ while The 180 Club will be hosting a giant darts tournament, the winners of which will earn a whisky prize box as well as two rounds of whisky sours for them and their teammates. I've barely scratched the surface here and can't think of a better way for everyone to get back out there and into our city. Wristbands are £10 plus booking fee for the full weekend. No brainer. More