A little hard to find but worth looking for, The Cocktail Trading Company is tucked in the basement of Central & Co on Great Marlborough Street, next door to Cats (the musical). A recent opening in Soho just off Oxford Circus the bar is the brainchild of of award-winning bartenders Andy Mil, Elliot Ball and Olly Brading, co-owners of The Cocktail Trading Co, who have previously worked with London Cocktail Club and Steam & Rye.
The bar gives off the illusion of a speakeasy as you enter, dark and lowly lit, it’s small (50 capacity) and inviting but you also get a sense that maybe you are entering a ‘secret’ bunker or something.
As with most things in London at the moment there will be a constantly changing menu of experience-led cocktails alongside trial dishes from upstairs’ brasserie. An ongoing experiment for the team, the cocktails served are to remain fun and unique much like the bar which has a quirky eclectic mix of classic Victoria ‘gin palace’ spliced up with elements of vintage and industrial London thing going on.
Olly Brading was our host and was super attentive and considerate with his recommendations. We eased ourselves into our experience with a bellini and a silver bullet, after which we felt brave enough to venture for some of the more daring creations; an apt named tu-whit-tu-whoo-woo caught our attention, presented in a cute little owl mug but don’t let the cuteness fool you – the drink is potent. We also tried the delicious looking Scouts Honour which came with smoked marshmallows (thats dinner sorted then) and a tin can that you open up for more surprises (party poppers and jokes), a grown up non seasonal Christmas cracker equivalent. We finished with a ‘deadly’ Corpse Revived no.2 which had real turf for the grave from Wembley.
The presentation is impeccable, the cocktails are, innovative, fun and well thought through and price wise pretty decent for London (around £8ish), we have a feeling this may become a regular haunt for us…
