The best bars, beers, and cocktails to see you through this payday weekend
There's no excuses for ordering "the usual" when you could be drinking this lot (responsibly)...
North Brewing Co. Transmission, North Brewing Co.
Big punchy aromatics and bags of oh-so-trendy “haze” has made the this West Coast-style IPA North’s signature beer, and it flies off the shelves and out of the taps quicker than they can brew it. And that was before it was named the UK’s best IPA at the Imbibe Live trade show earlier this month, in a category of forty competitors. Your best bet for trying it and seeing what all the fuss is about is at its borthplace, North Brewing Co’s taproom. Head down on Saturday from midday and catch this weekend’s instalment of Leeds Indie Food’s EatNorth, with Yakumama and Mei Mei’s Street Cart, among others.
North Brewing Co., Sheepscar Grove, LS7 1AH
Zurriola, Pintura
Pintura’s brightest and best have been toiling away in the lab, trying to work out how to make gin & tonics even better, and they’ve actually gone and cracked it. The trick is...add a bit more booze. They’ve come up with a Gin & Tonic Plus menu of G&T/cocktail hybrids, served copas the size of a small moon, adding liquers and bitters which enhance the botanicals and flavours in the gin and tonic water. Our favourite is the Zurriola, an extremely Basque, savoury spin on a Martini, with Rives Special Gin, Lacuesta vermouth, olive bitters, and Fever-tree Mediterranean tonic.
Pintura, Trinity St, Leeds LS1 6AP
Nimbu Sour, Bundobust
Packing all the salty tartness of preserved lemons with the slightest hum of cumin, Bundobust’s collaboration with Chorlton Brewing Company isn’t going to be for everybody, but if you’re into sour beers or homemade lemonade (it was inspired by Bundo’s Nimbu Pani Indian lemonade mocktail) then this is well worth investigating in a half of. One of the most interesting beers on any tap in Leeds.
Bundobust, 6 Mill Hill, Leeds LS1 5DQ
Mexican Bulldog, Cielo Blanco
You’re getting two for the price of one here: a science experiment and a great drink. Marvel at the wonder of physics in action right before your eyes, as an entire bottle of Corona is suspended upside down, and gradually tops up your Lagerita as you drink.
This should go without saying, but: Do. Not. Steal. The. Drinkware. No matter how tempting it might be to try and recreate this at home. It’s immoral, and you’d only make a mess if you tried it yourself.
Cielo Blanco, Trinity Leeds, Albion St, Leeds LS1 5AY
Yorkshire Dale’s Pale Ale, Turk’s Head
Whitelocks’ third annual beer festival is on between Thursday 27 and Sunday 30 July, and this year all about the Red, White, and Brew - imported American beers, and ones inspired by American-styles by British and International breweries, including this one. Oskar Blues’ Dale’s Pale Ale is one of the most-renowned IPAs in the world, and Kirkstall Brewery have gone and brewed their own local twist on the recipe, packing four types of American hops; bitter as the wind on Gordale Scar.
Turk’s Head, 4 Turk's Head Yard, Leeds LS1 6AH
