Want to make cocktails from top UK bars at home? Here’s how

As the UK coronavirus lockdown continues, many distilleries and drinks venues are helping people to liven up their drinking experiences at home, whether it be through new products, new methods or new ways to get your friends and family involved.

But drinks wholesaler Speciality Drinks, which stocks bars, restaurants, hotels, clubs and pubs around the country, is bringing the bar directly to your door in a tie-up with online retailer The Whisky Exchange.

The companies have teamed up to produce cocktail kits which can help people make bar-quality drinks from the comfort of their home. Recipes are being contributed by bars and other venues around the country, with those already involved ranging from top UK hotels to quirky local cocktail spots.

The kits will include all the bottled ingredients needed to make the bar’s chosen cocktail and the recipe can be found on a dedicated page for that cocktail kit on The Whisky Exchange website. Many require few fresh ingredients and can be made with cocktail or kitchen cupboard staples, making them perfect at a time when it’s harder to pop to the shops.

The Whisky Exchange and Speciality Drinks will be promoting the cocktails through social media and encouraging bars to do the same with the hashtag #bringthebarhome. Proceeds from each kit will be split between Speciality Drinks and the bar that put forward the recipe – offering a helping hand to the hospitality industry at a difficult time for venues and staff.

You can find cocktail kits and a full list of bars involved on The Whisky Exchange website. Bars that would like to have a cocktail listed should email discerningdrinkers@specialitydrinks.com.

Find more inspiration for more “lockdown cocktails” here, and more companies that will deliver gin to your door here.