Bristol Cocktail Week - It's here!

On Tuesday evening last week I found myself not snuggled up in a slightly hibernation like state as I usually am on a work night. Instead I was in the mysterious and wonderful realm of The Milk Thistle*. Not only that, I was also surrounded by a group of supremely talented people....and some of the best cocktails I have ever had. Sounds pretty good right? 

The reason I found myself in this downright delightful and rather luxurious position all started with a lovely email from Tara of The Style Rawr (if you haven't checked it out before, get on it!). In her day job, she is currently working with Visit Bristol to promote the fabulous Bristol Cocktail Week and was arranging a blogger masterclass to get a sneak peek before the events all kicked off! Being a lover of all things cocktail, I absolutely jumped at the chance.

Before we even talk about the evening, we have to talk about The Milk Thistle because honestly it is an absolute wonder in itself. Hidden in plain sight, the realm of sophisticated imbibery is situated right in the center of Bristol behind a big black door. Marked with nothing more than a thistle, you will not find anything obvious to let you know you are in the right place until the door opens. But once inside, you will find a veritable dreamhouse of gorgeous artifacts, chesterfield sofas and a distinct air of opulence. Spread across four floors, each offering a slightly different feel, it is certainly the perfect place to relax and enjoy a seriously delicious tipple. If you are a Bristolian who hasn't been here already, consider it on your to do list. If you are a visitor to this fine land, insist to anyone that will listen that you must take a moment to investigate what lies behind the mysterious black door.

Now onto the evening itself! Despite being really excited, I will admit to being a nervous wreck. I almost nearly wimped out at the thought of coming face to face with some of the people who actually inspired me to be a blogger in the first place. But I talked myself into being a grown up and threw myself into the situation. Complete with nerves, probably at times inappropriate comments and my feel good lipstick, I threw myself into it and I survived! In fact, I had a truly marvellous evening...sounds rather Mary Poppins's esque but what the hell, it's true.

Upon arriving we were greeted by the wonderfully enthusiastic Danny Walker of Psychopomp Distillery with a raspberry and gin collins. He gave us a fabulous insight into the world of cocktails along with some fantastic tasting opportunities. I avidly wrote down notes throughout the session to make sure I could remember all of his hints and tips. Suffice to say when I am next stood in front of my parents' formidable liquor cupboard, I will know exactly what I'm doing (in theory anyway!).

I must admit, it completely changed my view of cocktails. Usually upon deciding cocktails are a great idea, I am that person who stands in front of the spirit aisle and looks for the cheapest thing going. Because after all, it's just going to be mixed in right? I can practically see Danny shaking his head in horror while writing this because that my friends is the biggest schoolboy error of cocktail making. Cocktails are a sum of their parts...or in other words, you cannot add burn the roof of your mouth off, paint stripping level vodka to that old carton of orange juice you found at the back of your fridge and expect magic. No no guys... In fact, one valuable lesson I took away from this session was that if you buy half of the juices / syrups you normally buy and instead invest in some really great base spirits, it makes a previously "average" cocktail into something truly spectacular.

The other common alcoholic faux pas lies in punch making. You know, that stuff where you grab the biggest container possible and pour in whatever happens to be at hand? The same stuff that often happens to get more and more like pure alcohol throughout the night as several party goers decide to add their own flavour to the mix...I thought that was just how punch is. Apart from my mum's punch (because obviously mums can do everything), I literally always saw it more as a means to an end than something one would truly enjoy drinking. But no longer will we have to suffer bad punch because Danny shared the secret to getting the balance just right:

1 part sour, 2 parts sweet, 3 parts strong, 4 parts weak – and some spice to make it nice!

Just to prove his point, he started throwing together a tequila punch. At which a number of people groaned..urgh not tequila...quite understandably really as it's not generally a spirit that one considers outside of stumbling, salt licking, lemon sucking experiences. And yet, what was created was nothing short of spectacular. Everyone praised it despite many comments of "I usually hate tequila" to which Danny quipped "everyone secretly likes tequila, you just have to find how".

It certainly encouraged me to think of cocktails more as a science than a haphazard culmination of odd ingredients and I definitely came away with a new found respect for the bartenders of Bristol. I suspect the next time I get a tad tipsy and decide it's the perfect time to make a new creation the words "but it's for Science!" will be uttered...so yeah...prepare yourselves my wonderful chums.

If you would like to get involved in some of the frivolity, the time is now! In it's 5th year, Bristol Cocktail Week isn't a new thing by any means, but this year is going to be bigger and better than ever. It's going to be an amazing culmination of boozey brilliance ran by a group of volunteers in order to showcase the very talented individuals behind the bar. Taking place from the 19th to the 25th October, it offers more than 20 scheduled events with everything from craft gin tasting experiences and cocktail safaris to a masked ball and an all out bar war! If you consider yourself to be a rather discerning drinker, Bristol is the place to be this week.

You can purchase a wristband here which will provide you with free entry for all non-ticketed events as well as a cheeky £10 off of ticketed sessions. Not bad at all! If you prefer roaming wild through the bars of Bristol, having a wristband will also allow you to get a discount on special Bristol Cocktail Week drinks in certain establishments throughout the city. So go on boys and girls, make the most of this week of glorious alcoholic adventure!...Because after all, diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but cocktails are EVERYONE'S best friend.

*This experience was a PR event and was therefore at no expense to myself. However it truly was jolly well good and I will be personally taking part in some of the events this week with pennies from my own pocket. 
** The images in this post are all my own except the third and fourth which are official images kindly provided by The Milk Thistle.

Bristol Review: McQueens Hair Salon

I'm sure everyone knows the pain of trying to find the perfect hairdresser, makeup artist, nail technician etc, especially when you move to a new area. There is nothing worse than knowing that you need to get something done, whether it's filing your nails to perfection or getting rid of those roots that are now starting to reach your ears, and not knowing who to trust to sort it out.

What if I end up with half my eyebrow waxed off?! What if I want a trim and a scissor happy individual cuts 5 inches off my luscious locks? The struggle is real guys, but I'm here to help! Over the course of this blog I'm going to make it my mission to try out all types of beauty services in the Bristol area and review them. That way, if there is somewhere in the area you are wondering about, you can read a full review about the experience to see whether it's one to try out or one to steer clear of!

To get the ball rolling, I'm going to tell you all about McQueens Hair Salon. Until very recently McQueens was a hidden gem, tucked away above the bustling shops of Park Street with nothing but word of mouth and a small sign to lead you up to the salon on the first floor. Having lived in Bristol all my life I was really surprised when I stumbled across it after reading about them in the Bristol Post. Initially I thought it was new but a little more research told me that McQueens has actually been open for 25 years!

That's not to say that this place is quiet though. Upon entering I was greeted with a vibrant, buzzing atmosphere with every chair in the place filled. It quite clearly has a loyal following and is extremely popular with those in the know. They have very recently moved to a larger ground floor salon located at 16 Park Street which makes them far more visible. I suspect this move will promote McQueens even further, changing from being a hidden gem to one of the most well known and loved salons in Bristol.

Now I'll be honest, while I love the process of having my hair done, the actual act of going to a new hairdresser terrifies me. Why? Because I turn into an insecure mess. A thousand questions go through my head on approach to the door... what if everyone in there is the super cool type that make you feel like you need to go to hipster school? Will there be a horribly awkward silence when I can't think of a conversation topic or equally worrying, will I need to prepare for 2 hours of inane holiday chat? How am I looking today? Is it going to be painful looking at my face / outfit / ginormous arms in the mirror for the rest of the afternoon? On and on and on...honestly, my brain is a scary place to be.

So I'm sure it's pretty easy to guess from that neurotic brain dump that the most important thing for me on entering a salon is that I feel at ease. That's a pretty serious task but honestly, McQueens managed it within moments of entering. Every single member of the team is so friendly and while they are most certainly cool, they are definitely not intimidating. Emma Choremi, the owner of the salon is extremely interactive with the clientele and often welcomes you as you come in the door, regardless of whether she is your chosen stylist or not. I found this to be a lovely touch that instantly makes you feel so welcome and really valued.

Despite being located in the heart of Bristol their prices are refreshingly reasonable, making them accessible to a whole range of budgets (From £24.00 for a cut and finish). They provide a great number of services from a standard wash and cut to latest techniques such as Balayage and Ombre. They are also a Great Lengths salon and won the Great Lengths New Comer Award for 2014/15. For the uninitiated, Great Lengths are some of the best extensions around.

I chose to have my hair styled by Emma and I am so happy that I did. She is such a pleasure to talk to and is really open to ideas. Something I really love is that you can show her a few pictures and she will talk you through how it can be achieved and more importantly whether it is realistic and will suit you. For me, the key to really being able to trust a hairdresser is having one that will a) tell you if you will look like a washed out ghost with that platinum hair and b) will not be content until their client is 100% happy and Emma is most definitely both of those things.

On my first visit my hair was transformed from a mousy, flat non-do to a wonderfully multi-tonal blonde with a cracking fringe going on.

My hair transformation!

The second visit was just a touch up to keep my hair looking stylish but the third time, I fancied something a little different. I came across the picture below which served as inspiration and thought I would like a subtle ombre, so presented it to Emma the next time I went to McQueens.

As usual, straight away she came up with a way of creating the look and went off to mix the colours. After an hour and a half I had been foiled, cooked, and my hair was washed and toned. I had been entertained with many a magazine, fun conversations about wedding planning and a cheeky glass of vino. I was a very happy girl. 

Now, remember here that this was a little bit of an experiment that the pair of us had come up with, deciding the colours to use and the kind of look I wanted at quite short notice. Unfortunately the darker tones used at the top and the lighter tones at the bottom hadn't fully blended through so there wasn't quite the flow of colour change that I had initially imagined. So this might sound a little strange, but the fact that it hadn't gone 100% to plan is actually what has made me truly love this salon.

Straight away Emma wasn't content with the look and added in some extra highlights to break up the colour change which helped a lot. In the end I decided that I'd like a slightly cooler colour and for the ombre to be even more subtle and once again, everyone was more than happy to help me out to achieve the look I wanted. There was never a moment where I was made to feel like I was being "difficult" and it really felt like Emma and the team always want to make sure their customers are completely satisfied. Remember how I said that was one of the key things required for a "good" hairdresser to be a "great" one? Yup, you can definitely count on that here. 

Truly great hairdressing is a creative art, one which requires experimentation and adaptation. What goes hand in hand with that, is that there can be a teensy chance that sometimes things don't come out exactly how you first imagined and personally, that's fine with me. I'd much rather have a hairdresser with creative flare who you can really create a style with, than one that provides a template haircut for every person that enters.

Most importantly, I am SO happy with my finished look. It's exactly what I wanted with a lovely, soft transition from dark to light blonde and a sweeping fringe.

As I'm sure you've deduced from my ramblings, I would absolutely, definitely, 100% recommend this salon to anyone. In fact, since I have started visiting the salon earlier this year it's resulted in about 4 of my work colleagues becoming clients of McQueens too. The salon is glamorous yet comfortable, the staff are friendly and talented and the prices are more than fair for the amazing quality. I'm already looking forward to my next visit!

Have you visited McQueens before or are you tempted to visit soon? Or is there a different salon that you absolutely love? Have you tried an ombre look? Let me know in the comments!