Hello, my name is Charlie and I’m a cake addict.
Whether baking cake, eating afternoon tea, or just snaffling something for the sake of it, I love the stuff.
So when Sugar Junction mentioned cocktails and cake… Well, what do you think? I was there as soon as they’d let me in the door.
But this time it’s not just cake. There are macarons, chocolate, gourmet jellies – yes, I said jelly and believe me when I say we’re not talking the stuff you got with ice cream at a birthday party when you were 8 – these are most definitely grown up – gorgeous morsels to tempt you and enhance the flavour or complement the flavour of the cocktail you’re drinking.
As an example, let’s start with our first cocktail, the Lady Bedfordshire – this clever combination of cucumber and gin, plays with elderflower tea, gingerbread liqueur and camomile – understandably, this is light, refreshing and floral. To compliment it is the lightest of cucumber jellies, softening the sweetness of the drink with a cool cleansing savoury taste. With the edible flowers on the plate adding both prettiness and a further depth to the floral notes, it was gorgeous.
To further our dip into jellies, my next choice was the Los Olvidados – a tequila and hibiscus cocktail, with a touch of agave and served with a Margarita jelly. Hibiscus is a bit of a love of mine and I thoroughly blame trips to our favourite Thai restaurant for this. Thai hibiscus tea is incredible. But I digress – in this the sweet hibiscus met with earthy tequila and they got on very very well. The jelly was incredible. Sour lime, earthy tequila, soft texture – you could see the separation of flavours with the Tequila sitting on top and a slightly cloudy citrus layer at the bottom.
My date for the evening, Keeley, had opted for the Vanilla Hot Toddy – perfect antidote to the appalling weather outside – the combination of dark rum, tea, lemon and honey warms you from the inside out, with nibbles of shortbread along side to soften the strength. It transported me to roaring log fires, cosy cuddles while the rain taps against the window.
We couldn’t leave without one more – Alex twisted our arm (not very hard, you understand, just enough). Keeley’s sweet tooth won out and she went for the Portobello Road Ice Tea, which was served with sweet raspberry and white chocolate macaron. This delicious combination of Portobello Road gin, jasmine tea, kaffir lime and rosewater was just heavenly – light, floral, slightly sharp it melded beautifully with the macaron. Normally this would have been my own choice, but I was swayed.
I was distinctly distracted by the Peppermint Old Fashioned. I’m trying to temper my taste for them as they are full of sugar (that old marathon training raising it’s head), but I couldn’t resist, the dark mint chocolate accompaniment catching my attention. The combination of Woodford Reserve, peach liqueur and peppermint tea lends my favourite cocktail a delightful southern USA twist, but then when you sample the dark mint chocolate alongside it, a richness of flavour pushes from down deep, turning it from something lovely into something very naughty.
So next time you’re in the Northern Quarter, looking for something a bit different, not rammed full of students, but perfect for a date night, or a relaxing evening with friends, Sugar Junction should be top of your list.
After all, the voters in the Vintage Manchester Awards certainly thought so.