THE Dead Red Zombie, like a lot of the cocktails they whip up at the city The Alchemist, is a bit like the word Auntie Joan uses to describe herself on her dating profile: “Bubbly”.
In the drink’s case, that would be down to the infusion of C02 which brings a wild touch of gothic to your goblet; smoke pouring out of your beverage a la Carry On Screaming.
The Alchemist opens to all-comers today (Monday) and promises to raise the bar, so to speak, on the city’s already burgeoning cocktail scene.
There are around 60 potent concoctions being served in the Grade II listed surroundings of the former Noble House on Brunswick Street.
But hey, you are in a pair of safe hands with Living Ventures, who own the Alchemist brand, a soaraway success in Manchester, Leeds and London already.
The Alchemist teamYou say safe: one or two of those bubbling Dead Red Zombies (£9.25), sipped slowly at the Alchemist’s sneak peek preview last week, left three of us coming over all Ernest Hemingway and thumping the table in animated discourse. And it was not yet eight o’clock.
Two kinds of rum - Bacardi and Wray and Nephew - Grand Marnier, with fresh juice and some spice.
But, wait, what was that we were getting? A little aniseed?
“We’ve put a shot of absinthe into all the cocktails tonight, it’s a one-off,” confessed a ‘tender as he demurely twirled a bottle of the Green Fairy across his head.
“It’s only a little bit,” another server assured us.
There is a forensic approach to the Alchemist’s cocktail menu which is divided into sections: Molecular Madness sees the likes of Ball Breaker, Bubble Bath and Green Eyed Monster, all for around the £7.50 mark.
Toothsome treats in the resurrected Heywood House on Brunswick StreetThen there is an extensive Classics section, Hip Flasks and Drinks To Share such as Fools Gold in a soda syphon (£40.00 serves 6), mixed up and charged with C02.
“We use a variety of molecular drink-making techniques to surprise, baffle and confound your taste buds in a most pleasant manner,” they say.
But cocktails are only Part One of the story. The Alchemist serves food morning, noon and night, in this handsome resurrection of a building which shows yet more confidence in the city as a food and drink hotspot. But that was for another day.
Before the tulips started appearing on our legs, as Oscar Wilde once reported after a night on the fabled spirit, we called it a day.
Perhaps we will be back for more at the opening party this Thursday. After all, absinthe does make the heart grow fonder.
