Espresso Martini Festival

Espresso Martini Festival 2019

According to legend, the Espresso Martini was invented here in London, when a notorious supermodel marched into a Soho bar and demanded a drink that would “wake me up and fuck me up”.

Luckily, bartender Dick Bradsell didn’t fuck it up.

He threw some vodka, coffee liqueur, and espresso into a shaker, and poured drinks history into a martini glass. So it’s no surprise that a whole festival dedicated to the drink is springing up in its hometown this summer.

It’ll work on the same basis as London Cocktail Week, meaning that you, dear punter, will need a festival pass before embarking on a long, caffeinated weekend visiting some of the capital’s greatest bars. Only, seeing as it’s the tenth anniversary of the group behind LCW, they’re making those passes completely free. All you need to do is register online, and you’ll unlock £6 espresso martinis – in all their various, glorious guises – across the city.

For this third year, the festival lineup includes Chinatown speakeasy Opium; Shoreditch’s three-tiered temple to booze, TT Liquor; Bloomsbury’s elegant Coral Room; art deco drinking den Bar Américain and the newly opened Murder Inc. Each one will be serving up their signature take on the cocktail, and with your pass you’ll only be spending £6 a pop. And with Espresso Martini masterclasses at Hackney Coffee Company and intimate tasting sessions at Callooh Callay‘s Jubjub Bar, you won’t even think about calling it an early one.

It’s espressly forbidden.

NOTE: The Espresso Martini Festival takes place from 7th-11th August. Festival passes are free, and you can get one right HERE.

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