Liverpool Loves Cocktails all this week

In the minds of many, there are two types of cocktail.

There are the Don Draper drinks, the ones with an authentic New York heritage, first mixed in a Manhattan hotel bar at least as far back as the Roaring Twenties. And then there are the Del Boy types, the drinks with shoulder pads and half a pineapple shoved in the top, styled on Wham’s Club Tropicana video and featuring a possibly radioactive neon glow.

But if you think that’s where cocktails begin and end, a new city festival is about to put you right.

Liverpool Loves Cocktails (and heaven help the poor writer who suffers sudden keyboard failure halfway through writing the festival’s name) is a week-long celebration of the art of shaking, stirring and deploying tiny wooden umbrellas in pursuit of the perfect alcoholic intermingling.

Promising to “celebrate Liverpool’s incredible talent and diverse cocktail scene”, the event placates the fears of those who suspect it may be accompanied by a day-glo vomit fest by reassuring interested parties that it is about “drinking better, not more”.

Over 20 Liverpool bars are taking part, including Filter & Fox, Some Place, Constellations and Santa Chupitos, with Furnival’s Well acting as the main festival hub. Cocktail lovers can expect a full line-up of events running between September 18-24 along with, of course, a “unique” drinks menu.

Liverpool is the fourth city to play host to the Loves Cocktails festival brand, with previous events taking place in Leeds, Manchester and Nottingham.

Festival founder Nick Fox says: “Over the seven days we’ll be encouraging guests to ‘drink better, not more’ by exploring the story behind people’s favourite spirits, as well as some spirits they may have not come across before. Festival-goers can expect a diverse programme of events to satisfy everyone tastes, from music and parties through to expert masterclasses and unique tastings”.

Between the opening party at Aloha on Monday September 18, and the final headache-nursing sessions the following Sunday, cocktail fans will be able to choose from events including an Aperol Spiritz masterclass at Mojo, a “multisensory mystery tour” led by Diplomatico Rum’s European brand ambassador, and “a seminar with the award-winning Elephant Gin”.

Participating venues will also collaborate with “some of the world’s best spirit brands” to concoct their own special cocktail menus, with drinks available to festival wristband holders at the special price of £5 each.

The wristbands themselves are £10, with half price concessions available for “hospitality industry workers, students and NHS employees”.

Though with seven days of cocktail drinking in store right across the city, some of those NHS employees may also have to put in an extra shift.

So whether you’re a debonair cocktail aficionado, or a sick-in-your-hair cocktail glutton, Liverpool Loves Cocktails promises a week of alcoholic concoctions to remember. Or forget, as the case may be.

Liverpool Loves Cocktails take places from September 18-24. For more information visit www.lovescocktails.co.uk