Your bar in a box – a monthly cocktail kit

A monthly cocktail home delivery club has been launched by Shaken in London. Each Shaken kit contains exactly the same ingredients customers would receive from expert bartenders in a high-end cocktail lounge, to enjoy in the comfort of their home. Or, in the words of Shaken, 'it’s your bar in a box.

Their recipes have been developed with some of the most experienced professionals around, including bartenders who have spent years mixing drinks at The Ivy, Callooh Callay, The Groucho Club and Nola - as well as experts from more surprising backgrounds.

Previous kits have produced unique collaborations and some remarkable recipes:

• Shaken worked with world-champion chocolatier Paul A Young to create a Chocolate Bramble, featuring a chocolate syrup hand-made by Paul himself, topped up with crème de mûre and Plymouth dry gin.  
• Joining forces with coffee connoisseurs DunneFrankowski, Shaken produced a version of the Old Fashioned cocktail called the Antipode, which used Rittenhouse 100 rye whisky and a specially formulated ice cube made of frozen coffee that transformed the drink as it melted.
• Shaken also worked with Notting Hill nightspot Trailer Happiness to create a delicious Daiquiri and a wild variation on it called the Poison Oak, incorporating eucalyptus sugar and pomegranate molasses. 

Looking ahead, Shaken plans to continue its campaign to bring innovative cocktails to a wider audience, educating their members along the way.

Shaken members are sent the ingredients, as well as the recipes and expertise, to help them mix their own drinks so they can impress their friends with their cocktail skills while expanding the contents of their drinks cabinet, affordably.

For the July kit, Shaken has gone back a century to revive a couple of colourful classics – and they do mean colourful.

The first is the Aviation, which has been called ‘the only blue drink you should ever order’. Its delicate hue comes from the crème de violette at the heart of the recipe. But while that might sound flowery, don’t worry – there’s a hefty dose of Broker’s London Dry Gin in there to give it some oomph, along with a dash of maraschino and a refreshing measure of lemon juice.

The second recipe in the kit is another pastel-shaded potion: the Last Word. Created in 1916 by vaudeville comedian Frank Fogarty, it’s like a verdant glass of limelight.  Shaken give Frank’s recipe an extra kick by starting with an absinthe rinse of the glass. The rest of the drink calls for gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino and lime juice, making the Last Word a potent way to begin or end an evening.

About Shaken
Shaken was founded by three London friends with a love of cocktails. Alex Heeton has been developing software and websites since he was a teenager. He’s worked as a CTO-for-hire for a number of startups near Silicon Roundabout, and now he’s combining his tech skills with his out-of-hours passion for cocktail concoctions.

David Varela is a writer who grew up in a pub, working behind the bar before he could see over it. His varied career has seen him writing an adventure for Sherlock (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman), creating the story for a hit mobile game called Samurai Siege, and acting as script consultant on the acclaimed fitness app, Zombies, Run!

Zara Hale is an experienced manager in the drinks business, having held positions at Brewdog, the Craft Beer Co and the legendary Euston Tap. She’s the expert when it comes to licensing, logistics and getting the drinks to your door.

Pricing
Membership is by rolling monthly subscription at www.ShakenCocktails.com and can be cancelled at any time. The cost is £24/month including P&P. 3-month, 6-month and 12-month packages can be bought in advance. Gift packages are also available.

21 July 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor