TASTE of Manchester has ben a fan of Cottonopolis from the start, giving its food a five star review soon after it opened a year ago. We were less enthusiastic about its Czech tank beer and have paid little attention to it cocktail offering – until now. More fool us.
The Northern Quarter bar, shortlisted in that category at the 2016 Manchester Food and
Drink Awards, has just launched the second edition of its cocktail menu as well as unveiling its own premium Cottonopolis gin.
The gin has been developed in conjunction with the expert distillers at Portobello Road and contains distinctive botanicals such as pink peppercorn, yuzu and Japanese orange and is a subtly spicy treat.
It’s so new they haven’t even designed a label for it yet. Hugely impressive on its own, it is a component – alongside calamansi lime, bergamot and mandarin cordial – in the citrussy Manchester Made, ironically my least favourite of the new cocktail batch.
They are an adventurous bunch. The delicious Cotton-Pollen adds blackberry and fennel pollen to Tanqueray to delicious effect, while It Came From Beneath The Sea caught me hook line and sinker with its weird mix of Linie aquavit (matured at sea apparently), Honjoko sake, sea salt, lemon whites, squid ink and peat monster spray.
The list abounds with almost tongue-in-cheek ingredients and playful titles such as Panic at The Pisco, Sloe Roses and Jigglypuff (above). The un-Pc latter is a real quencher. Ingredients? Tanqueray again, plum sake, lavender, beetroot, whites, lemon, sugar and Pokemon (no, we don’t know either).
We also like newcomer Tokyo Dandy (below), made from Nikka from the barrel infused with vanilla and anise, rhubarb vermouth, contratto bitter and salt. All cocktails are priced between £8 and £10.
Cottonopolis Food & Liquor, 16 Newton Street, Manchester, M1 2AE. 0161 236 5144.
