Meet the London Cocktail Society

Emma Stokes: 'Gin Monkey'

Most people would prefer not to have a stranger approach them in a bar and ask if they’re ‘the gin monkey’: not Emma Stokes.

Emma was in a bar in Shoreditch one evening, and Tweeted that she was waiting for a friend to join her. A man came over to her, and introduced himself as the Cocktail Geek. He was Mark Gill, and he later introduced Emma to Kate McGinlay, who runs the London Cocktail Guide. Together, they founded London Cocktail Society.

The project was Mark’s brainchild. He says: “My wife and I had been trying out many different cocktail bars across London, but found that many of our friends didn’t share our passion for decent drinks. So we were often left to enjoy bars on our own.” In a city the size of London, he reasoned, there must be others who wanted to bar-hop – and that they might be looking for company too.

The inaugural meeting was held in the laboratory over 69 Colebrooke Row after Mark managed to persuade the licensee that he wasn’t organising a bar crawl. The event sold out twice, with punters exceptionally impressed with the bar’s horseradish vodka, and with their host Tony Conigliaro.

Apart from bringing like-minded people together, Kate explains, the society offers ordinary punters a chance to try out new brands and learn about techniques in a way usually only open to journalists and trade. “We’re finding there’s power in numbers,” she says. “Brands and bars that would ignore us as individuals are keen to talk to us as a group.”

The next meeting will be in the Jub-jub bar at Callooh Callay on October 11, with Sean Ware behind the bar. Meetings are monthly, with plans for a distillery tour and a ‘field trip’ to Paris in the pipeline.

Their First – and Worst – Cocktails Ever:

Mark Gill

By day, regional manager for veterinary practices. By night, founder of LCS
“I was celebrating an anniversary with my wife with at a hotel about four years ago. Unfortunately the hotel was not quite up to scratch so we decided to look for an off-licence. But on our way we got distracted by what looked to be a house party in a little cottage.  Closer inspection revealed a drinks menu by the door – it turns out we had accidentally discovered a cocktail bar. Up til that point we had never drunk ‘proper’ cocktails and had no idea what most of the drinks were.  We ended up agreeing to submit ourselves to the mercy of the bartender.  That decision was a real turning point for us as he decided to give us a taste of classic cocktails – we spent the night trying everything from Manhattans to margaritas to mint juleps and Old Fashioneds.   We resolved to take the first opportunity we got to move to London and make the most of its bars.”

Kate Mc Ginlay

By day, freelance web editor and journalist. By night, blogs at the London Cocktail Guide
“My worst ever cocktail experience was about 18 years ago at lunch in Café Rouge. I really ought to have known better but when I saw they were offering a martini I decided to risk it and order one. My friends tried to dissuade me but I merrily laughed, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ It was a warm wine glass of vermouth. When I pointed out that was not a martini, the bartender made a phonecall, tipped out some vermouth and added a splash of vodka. I now always order a martini when going to a new bar as the litmus test.”

Emma Stokes

By day, works in science policy and comms. By night, runs GinMonkey.co.uk

“My first ever cocktail experience was up in Newcastle during my student days. My boyfriend at the time started working in a bar that took the decision to introduce a cocktail menu. Given that many of the staff (him included) had no experience of making cocktails I was their guinea pig to varying degrees of success…but he started dragging me along to as many of the bars in the city that he could find that had a cocktail menu. This started the ball rolling and for that I will be eternally grateful…even if it was a messy breakup!”

Read more about the people running London’s cocktail scene: Anna and Heather, PR and creative director at the Queen of Hoxton and the Book Club, and bar owner Will Foster, of Casita fame.

Website: London Cocktail Society