One of the main criticisms of batch mix cocktails is that they're often associated with low-quality, mass-produced canned cocktails that are sold in supermarkets and convenience stores. These pre-made cocktails are often overly sweet, lacking in complexity and character, and contain artificial ingredients that compromise their taste and quality. As a result, many people assume that all these drinks are of similarly low quality and lack the depth and flavour of freshly made cocktails.
Another criticism of pre-mixed cocktails is that they're seen as a shortcut, a way to cut corners and make cocktails quickly and easily without putting in the time and effort required to make them “properly”. Some people view this as “cheating”, believing that the art of mixology should be about carefully crafting each individual cocktail, rather than making a large batch and bottling it up.
While it's true that low-quality canned cocktails have given batch mixes a bad reputation, bespoke batch mix cocktails (say that 5 times fast) are an entirely different story. These cocktails are made with the same care and attention to detail as freshly made cocktails, with high-quality ingredients and a focus on flavour and balance. In fact, our bespoke libations can often be even better than freshly made cocktails, as the flavours have time to meld together and develop over time.
Another advantage of bespoke batch mix cocktails is that they're more cost-effective for both producers and consumers. Making cocktails individually can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, and can lead to a lot of wasted ingredients. With batch mix cocktails, the ingredients are measured out precisely and mixed together in one go, reducing waste and saving time. This makes these types of bespoke drinks more cost-effective for producers, who can make larger quantities at a lower cost per unit. And for consumers, batch mix cocktails can be more affordable than buying individual ingredients and making cocktails themselves.
In conclusion, while batch mix cocktails may have a negative reputation, bespoke batch mix cocktails are an entirely different story. Made with high-quality ingredients and crafted with care, our cocktails and other batch mixes can be even better than freshly made cocktails, with complex flavours and a balance that can only be achieved through careful blending. And with their cost-effectiveness for both us and you, bespoke batch mix cocktails are a smart choice for anyone looking for a delicious and convenient cocktail experience. So next time you're in the mood for a cocktail, don't discount the batch mix option – you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find, and why not start now with our new range of Libations.
Cheers!
Unlocked Libation
]]>On this business journey we’ve learnt a whole lot; immeasurable, valuable knowledge in this new world of e-shop commerce. One thing that sticks out is packaging, primarily the vessels in which we contain our cocktails.
Initially we would sent out a kit that contained glass bottles of cocktails and pourable juice pouches.
Both of these would become a problem, when the pouches of pineapple juice would ferment and explode and the glass bottles would smash to bits. We changed to the most organic pineapple juice on the planet but still would encounter the same problem, the freshest product on the planet would still cause a malleable container to explode. So we went back to the drawing board. Mixing in the alcohol meant fermentation couldn’t happen, meaning everything was fresher and therefore wouldn’t have said volatile properties, yet we then thought “what happens when we put everything together?” - you get a shelf stable product that maintains its form and consistency. Whilst this may seem boring and unrelated it was a key step in the journey.
After we figured this we then realised that no matter what extortionate level of pound notes you spend on packaging, covered in fragile labels, somewhere along the way, delivery men seem to play football with the packages and your entire gift box gets ruined.
So… we then invest in copious amounts of packaging; bubble wrap, cardboard bubble wrap (to save the world from dreaded plastic) blow up bags… nevertheless glass is a fickle mistress and tends to shatter under the most protected of circumstances.
We finally discovered that if you just put the cocktail in a plastic bottle, you can throw it down to the concrete with the force of Zeus and it won’t shatter.
As a cocktail barman with a First Class degree in Forensic Science BSc this intrigued the scientific part of my brain.
PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) is a type of plastic that doesn’t react with alcohol, acids and a bunch of other crazy substances (you’ve probably seen “PET” on your packaging products somewhere).
Whilst we all know plastic kills the turtles (my favourite animal by the way), it can be extremely useful. Specifically PET is the most recyclable plastic in the UK giving the spawn of rPET (recycled PET plastic) - SO! it doesn’t react with alcohol (and therefore doesn’t change the taste), is easily recyclable, is lightweight, carbon efficient and most importantly DOESN’T BREAK!
This led us to the decision of selling cocktail bottles out for delivery in PET bottles. What all this means is that we can send a full bottle of Watermelon Margarita to Scotland without fear that it will smash to oblivion. It gets you your cocktail on time (as we don’t have to resend another bottle) and saves us money, time, weight and carbon footprint.
Whilst plastic may seem an issue in the world, it’s actually the treatment of it, and it’s lack of recycling. Don’t throw the bottles in the ocean and upset the beautiful turtles, instead, be aware of your local recycling plant and/or bins provided by the council.
We send out Plastic bottles full of good times to you ensuring that no smashes occur; let’s be good and recycle those bottles so we can refill with banterous Libations.
Here at Unlocked Libations we don’t believe in waste. “Waste not want not” as they say, so thats why we made the decision to sell our Libations in PET bottles when sending it out to you beautiful people in the world. It ultimately makes it better for you and more efficient for us.
So check out our products and get some cocktails delivered straight to your face with no worries.
And don’t forget to recycle
Unlocked Libation
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The Pornstar martini we all love them. We may not admit that we all love them, but we do, all of us.
The Pornstar Martini was created by Douglas Ankrah of the famous Lab Bar in London, The cocktail was apparently inspired by a drink Ankrah tried at a “louche gentlemen's club” called Mavericks while visiting Cape Town in South Africa.
Ankrah wanted to create a drink that was “bold, sexy and playful”. He initially named it the Maverick Martini and later rechristened it to Pornstar Martini, for no particular reason; “The drink is very evocative and tantalising. I called it Pornstar because I thought it was something that a Pornstar would drink. There's nothing sexual there” he said in an interview with The Buyer Net
Ankrah’s original version consisted of Vanilla Sugar, Vanilla Vodka, Passionfruit liqueur and Passionfruit Puree, served with a shot of champagne on the side.
Nowadays the typical ones you get are usually vanilla vodka, passionfruit liqueur and pineapple juice; there are some variations to this; some people may add orange juice or other citrus just to balance it out, different pureés, I even saw one bar use popcorn syrup which was far too sweet for my liking; but essentially its always the 3 ingredients above. Now, usually a shot of Prosecco is served with the Pornstar martini (i’d imagine because its substantially cheaper than champagne) and no-one knows what to do with it! dDon’t worry I’ll get to that in a moment.
Pornstar martinis got a bad rep in recent years, whether it was from the “woo hoo girls“ who order far too many of these sweet, easily drinkable cocktails and end up dancing on tables when they shouldn’t, or whether it’s the “tough guys“ that walk around with two of these bad boys with their elbows out, sinking them in no time flat just to look “hard” in front of “the boys” and/or “the Mrs”. It’s understandable why you won’t find Pornstar martinis in certain places as some people might look down their noses at them. They’re incredibly sweet, you find them everywhere and lots of people don’t appreciate other cocktails because they just like drinks chock full of sugar. Any self respecting barman wouldn’t “degrade their craft” by doing something so “basic”, surely? Well, one fact remains as stated previously, we all have to admit that they are indeed delicious. I even talked with some barman friends of mine and we all agreed how fabulous they are and yet none of us were willing to put them on the menu in our establishments both in fact to not attract “the wrong crowd” and also so we could do far wankier things like apricot foams atop almond sours or some such, flexing our creative booze ridden muscles.
One key factor that I have noticed over the years is that people do not know what to do with the Prosecco shot. Do you pour it in martini? do you just chin the Prosecco shot say cheers to the Barman and then enjoy the drink you asked for?… You should do neither of these things. The actual purpose of the Prosecco is designed as a palate cleanser of sorts. The Pornstar martini is extraordinarily sweet as we have previously discussed so the idea was that you drink some martini then have a sip of the Prosecco from the shot glass, by alternating you balance out the flavours making the martini taste more sweet when you have something dry and it makes the Prosecco taste more dry when you have something sweet. Going back and forth like this was simply interesting to the tastebuds and it is a nice experience if you’ve ever actually done it.
I cannot stress this enough, do not pour your Prosecco in your martini! it just tastes vile and it offends me greatly.
So there you are a little bit of history behind the cocktail that as a nation we consume by the truckload, now all this talk has got me thirsty, I’m going to go find a bar.
Cheers!
LCC/ New and Improved Unlocked Libations!
]]>We started in Lockdown, it’s where we were born and we started a love of cocktails that can be shared with as many as were interested, AND you can have them from the comfort of your living room.
Lockdown has been over for a while, which is a great thing, but for us we’re just not getting the traction anymore as no-one wants to think about, never mind type into google “Lockdown Activities to do that involve drinking”
We finally agreed we have to change the name, change how we do things and I’d love to share it with all of you; both previous customers and supporters and new quizzical cocktail minds alike.
So, to all you lovely people out there, we introduce you to:
UNLOCKED LIBATION
Yes, we’re Unlocked out of said Lockdown BUT we’re also using our combined 2 Decades of hospitality and cocktail experience to bring you something new. We’ve been quiet and behind the scenes working on Batched Bottle Cocktails that can be simply poured over ice to bring you a Bar Quality cocktail in your living room, at a festival, at your home bar, party, in that local pizza place or pub that doesn’t have the room or time or training for cocktails.
We want to give you the people good drinks but also; something very close to our hearts, we want to help Hospitality.
The government and the general state of things means that small businesses are getting CRUSHED! I’ve worked for several of them and its just not even funny or fair, lovely wonderful people providing a great service, great beer, great food and a great respite for the weary traveller; those who want to read a book, work on their laptop, have a business meeting or torrid love affair. (ok maybe that last one was a bad example but I see it happen)
I worked for a bar thats energy bills went from £7000 a year to £80,000 a year… and they had to lock in at that price or it was going to go to £100,000 a year in 6 months…. how in gods name does that make sense for a small brunch spot that does great service… If we’re not careful we’re going to end up as a country of Wetherspoons… of course no offence to… actually loads of offence, I’m fairly confident in Dante’s Inferno one of the circles of hell was just several Wetherspoons one after the other that you could never find the toilet in.
But I digress.
We're also working with Manchester Artist Georgia Noble (Granted she is from Blackpool however; don't judge her too harshly); an incredible talent who has graciously agreed to plaster her glorious artwork all over our bottles. Her oil paintings of "Abstract Landscapes" (an enticing contradiction in itself) are simply wondrous to behold. And on a personal level, she is a lovely, kind, talented beautiful human being who I've had the pleasure of working with over the years. By all means, check her out here:
http://www.georgianoble.com/
The point of all this is, if we can get small business to have easy pour out cocktails that rival the top cocktail bars (bars that I’ve worked in by the way), art galleries able to pour out the finest of libations whilst perusing undiscovered masterpieces with minimal space, minimal training and minimal effort required;
Great people such as yourselves can get the phenomenal drink you want, anywhere… how can that be bad?
We need to pull together and help out the little guy right? Do things a bit different but get the same outcome?
Well, thats our heart on our sleeve view and the dream we build towards,
So in summary:
I hope you like this new direction, we hope it finds you well and we’d LOVE your feedback with it all.
Much love
From James and Catniss
Lockdow……
… Actually...
From Unlocked Libation.
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