Rum and Blackjack at the London Launch of Drink Deck
The London launch of Drink Deck, a new scheme to select top bars and pubs around the city was accompanied by a fine range of rum-based goodness at the newest instalment of The London Cocktail Club.
Founded by Will Glass in 2009 (and already active in three U.S. cities – Chicago, New Orleans, and Portland), the Drink Deck initiative features a pack of playing cards (though it is also available as a smartphone app) that gives customers hefty one-off discounts at a carefully selected range of 52 bars (one for each card in the deck) across London – providing a great excuse to track down a new bar and sink some discounted cocktails.
Speaking of cocktails, there were plenty of rum-infused concoctions at the London launch, in keeping with the ethos of The London Cocktail Club’s underground rum parlour on Shaftesbury Avenue. Whilst attendees played blackjack with Will Glass, using the Drink Deck cards, they sipped specially brewed punch (served in old-school camping mugs and mixed with El Dorado three-year-old rum, Martini, lime, and lemon juice), ‘Twizzlers’ (made with dark rum, Angostora bitters, plenty of ice, mint, lime and a selection of fruit juice), and bottles of Camden Town Pale Ale.
Although our blackjack judgement left something to be desired, we certainly felt we came out on top at the end of the night — clutching a deck of desireable cocktail discounts and having sampled some excellent rum punch, it was difficult to feel otherwise.
