Revolutionary iceless cocktail bar
Location: Hackney Style: Minimalist and molecular bar (think Heston does cocktails) Budget: ££ Please note that White Lyan has now closed and is being replace by Super Lyan and other exciting projects from Mr Lyan…One to impress your date or friends with, White Lyan offers Heston Blumenthal style cocktails – bizarre but incredibly tasty!
Unlike other cocktail bars the drinks here are pre-mixed to ensure the flavours are spot on, this has the added benefit of meaning service is a lot quicker (therefore more time to try more cocktails!) The menu is rather intriguing and unlike anything you have seen before with bone, avocado and chipotle sauce all featuring within various cocktails.There is even a cocktail that includes amergris (sperm whale excretion!)
We stayed for a while and worked our way through 3 cocktails each to make sure we could give them a fair review (at least that was our excuse). Our first two choices were the Salad, a fresh gin-based cocktail made with lettuce, and the Hedgerow, a fruitier gin cocktail made from a sourdough base. Both were amazing 5 star cocktails in their own right.
After that we tried Lada Lada (a risky choice for someone who isn’t a massive tequila fan) and Ribs, an interesting blend of spicy chipotle, sweet mint tea, smoky rosewood and Bourbon.
After admitting I’m not a tequila advocate I feel like I cannot judge the Lada Lada fairly, to be honest I wouldn’t order it again but it has gone a long way to changing my mind about tequila!
For our final round we went for a Beeswax Old Fashioned and Stone Daiquiri. The stone daiquiri was a clean, zingy take on a daiquiri and I was a massive fan of this drink, especially as nestled at the bottom there was a yummy chocolate pebble!
I can imagine that late in the evenings this bar is buzzing although it was not all that lively when we visited around 5pm. I would recommend booking ahead whatever time you visit though and beware the cocktails are strong
Please note White Lyan is now closed and undergoing a complete transformation into a new and exciting bar.
The first stage of this transformation has created Super Lyan, opened in the basement of the original location. I eagerly await their next venture and bet it will be just as enjoyable! Find Out More… White Lyan (now Super Lyan) – http://www.superlyan.com/
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