BarLifeUK

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Beesou Spring In Bloom Entry Deadline: March 31st, 2024 It may be February and a little chilly outside, but the buds and blossoms are waking up, which means that Spring, and cocktail competition season, will soon be with us. This brings us nicely to the first comp of 2024 to appear on BarLifeUK. It, like the year, is brand new, and we are very excited to be involved with this one because the liquid is delicious, a versatile modifier, and bound to inspire some first rate cocktails.

Aperitif 211

Aperitif Bitters Bartender Bartending 211

BarLifeUK

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

This morning I received a press release about Taylor Swift-themed cocktails introduced by a chain of bars to celebrate Tay Tay’s recent record Grammy haul. Regular readers might expect this to trigger a sarcastic rant about celebrity-themed booze because I have form in that regard, but no. Not today, and not about this. I was delighted when this release leapt into my inbox like an enthusiastic, engaged, and scientifically literate young adult, because it gives me the chance to tackle somet

Bar 172

Bar Liquor 172

BarLifeUK

JANUARY 30, 2024

National Sake Week: 15th to 21st April, 2024. Samuel Boulton, who is in with a shot of being the industry’s most proactive category advocate, has announced the launch of the UK’s first National Sake Week, which will kick off in April this year. Described as a celebration of Japanese Sake and Shochu, National Sake Week seeks to engage and educate participants by way of tasting sessions and educational workshops that will deep-dive into the artistry that underpins the creation of sake

Bar 193

Bar 193

BarLifeUK

JANUARY 30, 2024

People, in my experience, fall into one of two camps – Those who will read the statement ‘I have poo anxiety’ and know exactly what I’m on about, and those who will read it and say: “What the f**k is poo anxiety?” For the blessedly unaware, poo anxiety sufferers find the prospect of pooing (or pooping, for American readers) within earshot of another person extremely distressing, if not impossible (I shared a flat with someone for five years, and never once pooed while the

166

166

BarLifeUK

JANUARY 18, 2024

288 bottles of the ex-Bourbon cask single malt become available on Burns Night 2024 Matt Hastings (L) and Matt Morrison Nc’nean Creations is one of our favourite comps, as it provides an opportunity to work with lovely liquids alongside equally lovely people, all underpinned by a theme of environmental care and stewardship. The prize is awesome too – the creation of a signature single barrel release, of which you get to keep a not insignificant amount.

Bottling 166

Bottling Bar 166

BarLifeUK

JANUARY 17, 2024

“No damaging the environment, even if it means saying no or if it costs more” If we set aside the small matters of developing the Theory Of Relativity and mass-energy equivalence equation (E-mc²), Albert Einstein’s best-known contribution to our collective consciousness is a quote about honeybees: “ If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live. ” It’s quite likely this quote is wrongly attributed and that Einstein never said it , but t

Aperitif 201

Aperitif Bitters Gin Bartender 201

BarLifeUK

JANUARY 15, 2024

Neurita has been specially crafted for margaritas to inspire margarita and tequila drinking through simplicity and flavour Love Drinks continue to expand their spirits portfolio in 2024, with the recent addition of Neurita flavoured tequila. Launched in 2022, Neurita has been specifically created for use in margaritas, and started life right by winning ‘best flavoured tequila’ at the recent World Tequila Awards.

Tequila 185

Tequila Infusions Liqueur Bar 185

BarLifeUK

JANUARY 8, 2024

The RMT union has announced that strikes which would have wiped out Tube services this week have been suspended It’s a rare thing to wake up to good news these days, but London’s bar folk and bar patrons have been spared a week of travel trauma as the RMT union have cancelled strikes which would have severely disrupted services until Friday.

Bar 120

Bar 120

BarLifeUK

JANUARY 3, 2024

How well do you know your bottles? One of BarLifeUK’s extremely high-brow editorial goals for 2024 is to create more content that will keep you entertained while sitting on the toilet. With that in mind, have a crack at this little quiz – each image contains a closely cropped image of a well-known bottle of booze. Can you identify what’s what?

Bottling 214

Bottling 214

BarLifeUK

DECEMBER 17, 2023

Love Drinks have added vodka to its growing selection of spirits after confirming the UK distribution for Sweden’s handcrafted, organic Virtuous Vodka brand. The company’s Virtuous Vodka Rye received 99 out of 100 points at the IWSC 2023 and won the Spirit Gold Outstanding 2023 award and Vodka Trophy 2023. Virtuous Spirits was set up by Swedish chef Claes Stenmark in 2013, and strives to produce vodkas that could perfectly reflect the unfiltered, full-flavoured best of the Nordic food scene.

Vodka 130

Vodka Bitters Bottling Bar 130

BarLifeUK

DECEMBER 14, 2023

I first met Ali Reynolds shortly after BarLifeUK launched, over ten years ago. Since then, Ali has proved to me a master of making transitions – from bartender to ambassador, and now from established Old World whisky, in the form of Johnnie Walker, to upstart New World Whisky with Denmark’s Stauning Distillery. In this interview I talk to Ali about moving from bartender to brand, Scandinavian hospitality, influential folk he has worked with along the way, and his new gig with Staunin

Bartender 197

Bartender Bartending Bar Whiskey 197

BarLifeUK

DECEMBER 12, 2023

There are few better nights in the BarLifeUK calendar each year than the Final of Jägermeister’s Meister Hunter Competition. It combines so many of our favourite things – a big arse party, a free bar, a cocktail comp with guaranteed delicious drinks, superb company and a comfy bar stool. It also, to our mind at least, marks the end of the annual cocktail competition season, and what a way to go out.

Tiki 185

Tiki Bar Bartender Bartending 185

BarLifeUK

OCTOBER 31, 2023

Instagram’s algorithm thinks I’m really into yoga. The search page of my personal Instagram account ( @_maxipok_ check out the link to my Soundcloud ) consists of an endless stream of young women with names like Sveta and Danika bending over in tight shorts, and while I have no idea* how this has happened, I’ve learned to accept and suffer through it for several hours a day while looking for posts about world news and poetry.

Bottling 130

Bottling 130

BarLifeUK

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

A couple of weeks ago, the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) launched ‘ Listen For Life ‘, a campaign designed to encourage people working in hospitality venues to understand the risk of hearing damage that comes with exposure to loud music. The initiative was introduced to the House of Commons by Labour MP Jeff Smith, the NTIA published a bunch of videos by famous talking heads telling you to get your hearing tested, and Specsavers Audiology was announced as the official prog

Live Music 130

Live Music Live Music High Volume Pub 130

BarLifeUK

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) released two bits of news this week, one good and one bad – at least from the perspective of bars and the people who frequent them. Good news first: The RMT has agreed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with train operating companies, meaning industrial action taken by overland train crews has been put on hold until at least March 2024, while the various union memberships vote on a new proposal to end the long-runnin

Bar 130

Bar 130

BarLifeUK

NOVEMBER 12, 2023

This Tuesday you can come and watch 7 bartenders battle it out for the top spot at the Jägermeister Meister Hunter Competition 2023. Click to view full size Every year the final of the Meister Hunter competition marks the end of competition season and the start of the silly season, the last chance for us to enjoy and celebrate our industry before Greg from accounts makes us question the purpose of life.

Bar 130

Bar Bartender Bartending 130

BarLifeUK

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

In the very early days of BarLifeUK, when co-founder Simon Webster and I were young and full of vim, the TV show Californication , which followed the sexy mishaps and misdeeds of past-his-prime writer Hank Moody (played by David Duchovny) and his best friend and literary agent Charlie Runkle (no-one remembers who played Charlie), was extremely popular.

Whiskey 130

Whiskey Pub Bar 130

BarLifeUK

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

A cramped, twelve seater bus trundles through the street-art-riddled roads of Oaxaca… Inside, a bottle of mezcal exchanges hands like an adult game of pass the parcel. Broken speakers belt out classic Rock and Pop hits, completing the scene of sing-songing, drink-slinging new friends. A shared, joyous approach to new experiences held our enthusiasm, in spite of jetlag, lack of sleep and bellies full of Mezcal.

Bartender 130

Bartender Bartending Bar Rum 130

BarLifeUK

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

I normally delete product launch press releases because when a brand wants to advertise on BarLifeUK I think they should pay me, instead of paying a PR agency to try and get me to do it for free, however I’ve made an exception today because I think this is pretty neat and it’s raising money for a good cause. Redbreast have released a special edition of their 12YO single pot still Irish whiskey that comes in a copper shell which can be used as a bird feeder once the bottle has been re

Whiskey 130

Whiskey Bottling 130

BarLifeUK

DECEMBER 1, 2023

The Bitter Truth 10 Bottle Give-Away Entry Deadline: Friday 15th December, 2023 There are a few different dates kicking around for Bartender Appreciation Day, but because it falls right at the start of the month and is officially ‘nearly Christmas’, here at BarLifeUK we favour December 2nd. The Bitter Truth Black Cherry Bitters The next three weeks will see bars filled with office party warriors, many of whom will be drinking at an unfamiliar speed and intensity, resulting in vomit,

Bitters 154

Bitters Bartender Bartending Tiki 154

BarLifeUK

DECEMBER 5, 2023

By: Kelsey Martin, Severn Trent Advertorial Feature Do you have a dripping tap, leaky loo or shower that’s sprung a leak? What people may not realise is that those little leaks could be pushing up the cost of your water bill! If you’re a business owner and you receive Severn Trent water via your retailer, there are a range of free tools on offer that can help you to find and fix any water leaks you have on your premises.

Bar 137

Bar 137