The crew from serial ‘World’s Best Bar’ winners – The Dead Rabbit – crossed the pond from New York to Bethnal Green for one night only, to take over our taproom and kick off London Cocktail Week in serious style.
As soon as The Dead Rabbit sawdust went down at 6pm, the doors were swung open and the crowds started streaming in.
Cocktails were slung out by the dozen in trademark fashion all night long, and so too was the Dead Rabbit’s ubiquitous Guinness pints, which found itself onto our taps just for the occasion.
By the time 7pm rolled around, and the crowd had been warmed up a little, Genesis, Jessica & Anna got behind the stick to show us how it’s done in the Big Apple, serving out a three-serve-strong cocktail list curated by their fantastic beverage director Jillian Vose – all showcasing their brand new Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey.
Among the stellar line-up was the Lone Oak, – a heady mix of Irish Whiskey, Green Chartreuse, Curry Leaf, Lemon & Bitters – the ever-so-smooth Sweet Talker, – featuring the same Whiskey base, Passionfruit, Peach, Lemon & Orange Bitters – a classic Whiskey Highball featuring ginger beer courtesy of our mates over at Umbrella Brewing, and of course their world-famous Irish Coffee to round things off.
It was a special evening for the Umbrella boys, as their latest label art collaboration with the famous bar was also unveiled on the night. The new-look bottles drew their inspiration from the iconic comic-book style of The Dead Rabbit’s famous menus, and the exploits of the eponymous Dead Rabbit protagonist within. Fittingly, it coincided with the release of their 6th – and final – rendition, so it was indeed a special and poignant occasion.
The Musical soundtrack was provided by Dublin’s finest – Arveene – who took to the decks with a NY-heavy DJ set.
Plenty of Ramones, LCD Soundsystem, Beastie Boys, and other crowd favourites graced our airwaves during the course of his turntables stint.
Meanwhile, The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey was flowing like The Liffey, The Hudson, and the Ol’ Thames combined a the crowds revelled the night away and stuck around right ’til the bitter end.
One hell of a night all round then, and it was an absolute pleasure as always to work with the Dead Rabbit crew. Looking forwards to next year, and many more collaborations to come. Sláinte!