The Bottle Cocktail Shop & Bar
This is an off-licence that will sell you one GBP 5 serve of a bottled cocktail before you commit to a bottle, and if you buy a wine or spirit off the shelf it will charge corkage and hand you the glassware to drink it on the terrace (venue site).
Why go
Ciaran Smith, a Top 50 Cocktail Bars UK award-winner, opened it on Upper Street in 2021 to turn the idea of a traditional off-licence on its head
(This Is Local London). The range is ten bottled cocktails built to be poured rather than mixed, and they are built properly: the East 8 Hold Up puts pineapple, passionfruit, Ketel One vodka, Aperol and lime in a 500ml bottle that ships with an instruction to chill two hours in the freezer and serve over ice, and yields five drinks for GBP 25. The Cazcabel Margarita reaches for Poblano chile liqueur alongside the tequila and agave. Alongside the shelves there is the Select Bar, where a short list of drinks is mixed live, and the shop runs hour-long classes at GBP 25 that include a bottle to take home. It sits in Unit G15 of Islington Square with a terrace, and puts on live music nights (Islington Square).
Order this / avoid
- Order: a GBP 5 single serve first, which is what the mini menu handed to you at the door is for. Then the East 8 Hold Up if you want the house style, the Session Negroni if you want something to keep, or whatever is on the in-house list off the May 2025 menu.
- Avoid: buying blind and walking out. The whole design of the place is that you taste first, or that you buy a bottle and drink it there on corkage. Note it is closed Mondays and shut by 10pm, so it is an early-evening proposition.
What locals & experts say
- The Bottle Cocktail Shop (venue, on its own model):
we want to turn the Idea of a traditional off-license on its head and that's where our Select Bar changes the game,
inviting guests totry before you buy, giving you the chance to purchase a single serve of our bottled cocktails, our selected wines, beers and a short list of some delectable in-house cocktails.
1 - This Is Local London, Bridget Galton (Oct 2023):
Master bartender Ciaran Smith opened The Bottle Cocktail Shop in Upper Street in 2021,
and on the flagship bottle,The East 8 Hold Up is a summery but balanced blend of pineapple, passionfruit, Ketel One vodka, Aperol and lime.
Read the piece knowing it carries a syndication disclaimer that conflicts with its own byline.2 - Local rec: Jeff has it as a bartender's tip specifically for sitting at the bar rather than for shopping. REAL, and it matches the venue's own framing.
Good to know
- Timing: closed Mondays. Tuesday to Saturday noon to 10pm, Sunday noon to 9pm (venue site).
- Booking: walk in. Tables can be booked for a try-before-you-buy tasting at GBP 5 per serve.
- Corkage: buy a bottle off the shelf and they will add corkage and supply glassware for the Select Bar or the terrace. Ask the rate at the counter, since it is not published.
- Dietary: nothing published on any venue page.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5 with a clean sheet on all three components, but the inspection dates from 19 June 2023, the oldest in this batch (FSA).
- Getting there: Unit G15, Islington Square, entered from 116 Upper Street, walkable from both Angel and Highbury & Islington.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Rec via: "Bartender rec to chill at bar" REAL.
Verdict
could-visit — The model is genuinely clever and worth knowing about: an Islington off-licence run by an award-winning bartender that sells single GBP 5 serves so you can taste before buying a bottle, and will pour whatever you just bought at its own bar for corkage. The bottled cocktails are properly built, down to the freezer instruction on the East 8 Hold Up. It is a stop rather than a destination: batching is craft, not cooking, there is no kitchen, and no critic or chef has ruled on it.