…Our masterclass in The Drink Factory ended with a trip to their latest bar…

Untitled in Dalston is an Andy Warhole inspired industrial bar with bar concrete walls, harsh edges and naked people. OK not actual naked people, but lots of artwork involving naked people. They were playing Bella Lugosi’s Dead by Bauhaus when we walked in. This amused me lots, as while talking about the recipes in their ‘Gothic’ magazine, it’d been mentioned that they listened to ‘a lot of terrible music’ (I should point out at this point that I have done the whole goth thing to death and have seen The Cure on multiple continents, so I liked it!). The menu here is twelve drinks long, each described with a single word. They are trying to get you away from ordering by what’s in it (although they do also give you an idea of what’s in them) and and order by vibe of the drink. They are also very Marmite drinks, they are not designed for everybody to love.

The first drink we were presented with was a ‘Waif’. Fun and bubbly. It was a sweet drink with rhubarb, rose and champagne. Pleasant and fun, but not really my bag. I much preferred the snacks we were given to the drink. That said, other people round the table adored it. We were then given a taster of a Violin. Far more my thing. It was designed to evoke ideas of Violin. It did this by smelling like playing a violin. It had notes of rosin, beeswax and wood and a lovely warmth to it.

Being as we were there, it’d have been rude not to stay for another, so we did. I opted for a Sicily – which contained bitter citrus vodka, lemon verbena and orange bitters. I loved it. It was everything I love about negroni’s but also very different. Bitter, sweet, aromatic, citrusy and both heavy and refreshing at the same time. Lovely Girlfriend was less of a fan. She had an Amber (after her Burlesque name) which was honey, musk vodka and champagne. Far to sweet for me, but she loved it. Marmite drinks!

We were chatting with one of the waitresses while also eating some delicious barbecue they had going on in the back garden (they have a cocktail garden!). She says it’s difficult to recommend drinks to people. The drinks aren’t mass market, and she doesn’t like all of them. I don’t envy her (although I also sort of do, because all the nom drinks). Untitled is worth a trip out to Dalston for. I’ll be going again soon, not least because they also offer a tasting menu on the first Sunday of every month, which sounds delicious!