On Wednesday I Was

...underground.

Continuing the cocktail crawl, on Wednesday I ventured to quite possibly one of London's best kept secrets - BYOC. One flight down underneath an inconspicuous-looking juice bar in Covent Garden, BYOC (or Bring Your Own Cocktail) is a grotto of exposed brick work and speak easy decor which doesn't sell any alcohol. The concept is simple: bring your booze of choice, pay £20 on the door for a 2 hour stint and the barman will mix you up a concoction of cocktails using his trolley full of syrups and fruits.

The barman (trolleyman, whatever) was chatty and charasmatic and clearly had a wealth of cocktail knowledge. We were keen to try as many combinations as possible, particularly flavours we would never normally buy in a bar. Our theory was if we don't like it, make us another!

We'd brought rum and vodka so he started us off short and simple with a daquiri. I wasn't convinced I'd enjoy just the rum, lime and sugar combinations but it turns out this guy could do no wrong. Everything he shook turned to tasty gold and we lapped them all up. Throughout the evening, we worked our way through the flavours including cucumber, mint and lemon, espresso martinis and (more imaginatively, chilli and orange marmalade). He explained that he recognises three characteristics of customers - those (like us) who make a reservation and buy alcohol en route, those who come with half empty bottles of whatever they have lying around the house, and those that like to set him a challenge and bring something unusual.

 

BYOC is one of my favourite discoveries in the capital. Seating just 18 people at a time, it's very cosy - a bit of an awkward first date spot, but the experience does provide an excellent topic of conversation. Booking well in advance is essential - you're much more likely to get a spot midweek. It's the absolute perfect environment to try cocktails you'd never normally go for and I am keen to make my way through more of the exotic mixes. I'll be back.