The second Master’s Bar was held on Tuesday July 5th, in the stylish surroundings of Sparrow Italia, an Italian restaurant and bar known to new Livery member, Ruchira Neotia who facilitated the introduction of them to the Company to host our second Master’s Bar.
The Master’s Bar
The concept of the Master’s Bar, put simply, is our Livery meeting regularly on a very informal basis. Fellow Livery members meet for a drink and a chat for a couple of hours over a dram or two. This is specifically aimed at newer, younger members of the Distillers. It’s purpose is to create important quality time, to get together outside the more formal events where the opportunity to catch up with one another may be slightly limited. Master’s Bar also comes at a lesser cost (currently both have been £15 for members and £15 to bring a guest). With more time to network and connect to speak with fellow Livery members and introductions to their guests from the industry and they to our Livery community, it’s an event that will be a firm feature of future Livery life.
By kind permission of the owners and managers, we had our own space in the bar area on the ground floor of the four-storey restaurant as we welcomed 14 mainly new and recently joined members of our Livery.
The Event At Sparrow Italia
Those present enjoyed a unique cocktail specifically designed for the evening by Ruchira, with huge thanks going to her guest, Tim Simmons, founder and director of Surrey Hills based, Sipello for generously providing the base for our welcome cocktails for the evening.
This proved both very interesting and extremely popular, Sipello, with it’s gooseberry-led blend of British ingredients such as rhubarb and the little known chuckleberry with sustainably sourced botanicals from around the world such as sandalwood, gentian and wormwood, the perfect base for the unique cocktail for our evening – The British Summer Spritz!
For those who missed the evening – you can try it at home !
50ml Sipello
15 ml Bitter Truth Elderflower Liqueur
125 ml Tonic water (to top up)
Garnish – 1/4 slice pink grapefruit
Build in a ‘Rocks’ glass with ice.
The Story: It’s a bittersweet summer spritz, much like the British summer we are having with some sunshine peeking through at intervals. Sipello is a homegrown British Bitter that celebrates local / wild ingredients, chiefly gooseberries.
It was the perfect welcome to our event which was enjoyed by everyone who attended.
Thanks especially to the Master and our new Clerk, James Bryan, for attending and for their support.
The concept of informal events is something we’ll be developing further and next Master’ Bar is already in plan for October. Watch this space – we look forward to seeing you there!
Chris Porter
Master 2021-2022
