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Speciality Drinks Limited

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Speciality Drinks Limited

Speciality Drinks is the UK’s premier supplier of whiskies, spirits and champagnes to the on trade.

We were launched as an on-trade supplier to meet the growing demand of bars, restaurants and hotels for interesting and rare products. As a family-owned-and-operated business, we are committed to providing bespoke consultancy and exceptional service. With access to the largest product portfolio in the industry (10,000 products at any one time, shared with our sister company The Whisky Exchange), w

e deliver our expertise on an international level to independents, groups and prestige accounts. Through our unrivalled knowledge and passion for the drinks industry, we endeavour to promote future trends and drive our customers’ business forward

20/05/2025

Spritz season is upon us and so we're sharing some of our new/newish products to inspire some innovative thirst quenchers. Spritzers are a time for the no and low category to shine - some of the best non-alcs are brilliantly complex - so here's five of our faves to mix and match ✌️

19/05/2025

Umbrella Workshop serves as the R&D bar for the Umbrella Group [Sun Tavern & Discount Suit Company], and while it’s as big as a peanut, it’s a hidden gem. we caught up with bar manager, Jack Allen.

Q: Jack! Tell us how you started out in the trade…

So I went to uni in Northampton, which is the armpit of the nation! I didn’t properly finish my degree and got a job in a pub called the Picture Drome.

Q: What are you proudest of?

There’s not one defining thing, I think it’s just the sum of all I've done. I’ve not achieved as much as others - I never wanted to do cocktail competitions - but the things I’ve done have taken me round the world, and I’m happy with my knowledge and where I'm at. That being said, I got to go to Shanghai with Happiness Forgets, and presented an award at Shanghai Cocktail Week. But it was also a blur of drinking so maybe not my proudest moment!

Q: You were at Happiness Forgets for 5 years. When you’ve learned the making of classic cocktails to such a high standard, does that style of bartending stay with you?

Absolutely. When I got there I really had to start over. It had such prestige and all the people there were so intelligent, so my learning classic started all over again. You get so much better at balancing drinks and visualising what could go well together.

Q: What makes a good team?

I think you have to have different levels of experience, cause the younger bartenders are enthusiastic and excited to try new things, and you need to be able to guide that. The aim is to have no egos involved, which is so hard to achieve. Once you have that one person who decides they are better than the rest - and I’ve been that guy! - it just makes the team a prickly place to be.

Q; What is your favourite drink on the menu right now?

Currently, the Master Baker - an Old Fashioned with Two Stacks Irish Whiskey aged in blackberry brandy casks, infused with Biscoff Lotus biscuits, with cognac, strawberry jam, white port, Cocchi Americo, and fat washed with butter. It tastes kind of like a jam doughnut but with a punch!

13/05/2025

Waltz feels like a bar that has been a lifetime in the making 💫

Having worked at the upper echelons of the industry in Sydney, Singapore, and most recently under the tutelage of Erik Lorincz at Kwãnt, owner Gento Torigata has coalesced his learnings into Waltz, a bar where your every sensory experience has been designed to the letter.

We caught up with the man himself 🎙️

Q: Gento you have worked in some of the best bars in the world! Where did that desire to travel come from?

Well, I was always hoping to see the whole world by living in and experiencing new cities. I was in Singapore during the pandemic and restrictions were very tight there, so I moved to London. I was visiting Amaro when I saw Eric [Lorincz] at the bar. He had just got back from Singapore where he met my boss from Jigger and Pony, who had asked him to look out for me!

Q: What did working at Kwãnt add to your experience?

Everything that Eric expected was the best of the best. Everything we did had a detailed perfection that needed to be met every time. As a manager I was trying to keep up to that standard. But what's special about Eric is that even though his standards are so high, the way he communicates them is very calm and kind, so we never felt intimidated. So I think that was one of the best things I learned from him.

Q: Tell us a bit about the concept of Waltz

So the bar is inspired by jazz, and nature. Nature because, though a lot of places are doing things seasonally, I wanted to follow them more closely. Seasonality is really in me, rooted to my Japanese background [Japan has 72 kõ - micro seasons]. And the name is inspired by a Bill Evans' song that introduced me to jazz while I was at uni.

Q: What are you enjoying drinking lately? And what music would you have on while drinking it?

My favourite cocktail is a Gibson, and the one here is Sipsmith and Tsuchida 99 (a unique sake with 99% koji ratio that gives really nice acidity and umami), and a drop of shio koji for salinity, served with our pickles. And for music, I am always seeing what is working here in the bar - I listen to our playlist and adjust it on my journey to work. So probably that!

12/05/2025

Our second trade seminar for this Friday's Tequila & Mezcal Show will feature two of Tequila's most loved talking heads - Sergio Mendoza from Don Fulano, and Jaime Orendain from Arette tequila. They'll be fielding questions from Hannah Lanfear on how the innovations and technologies that cause tequila's divergence from a regional mezcal, to a globally appreciated entity.

If you haven't yet got a ticket to the show, it's your last chance to sign up! RSVP via the link in our bio. See you there!

Tequila & Mezcal Show
16th May, 12pm - 5pm
Glaziers Hall

07/05/2025

We are very lucky to be welcoming some of Jalisco's most respected experts on agave spirits to the Tequila & Mezcal Show, so we're putting them to work!

In Decoding Tequila we'll be finding out which attributes count in separating good tequila from great, and who better to ask than this pair? Our own Hannah Lanfear will be quizzing luminaries Dr Iván Saldaña of Casa Lumbre, and the creator of Lost Explorer's brand new tequila, Enrique De Colsa.

The trade session of the Tequila & Mezcal Show is on the 16th of May, 12pm - 5pm. RSVP through the link in our bio, and you'll receive an invite to join our free trade seminars. Don't delay, tickets are getting snapped up like blended margs at a beach party 🍋‍🟩

06/05/2025

New show who dis? 🕵️

Next week we fling open our doors to welcome you to the inaugural Tequila & Mezcal Show!

We've saved a special slot for the trade so you can come and geek out on the good stuff. We've got cocktails from Side Hustle & Cantina 1910, a mercado so you can fill your pockets with treasures, and a clutch of truly exceptional trade seminars, led by Hannah Lanfear and featuring Sergio Muiz, Iván Saldaña, Enrique de Colsa and more!

RSVP via the link in our bio 🔥

Tequila & Mezcal Show
16th May, 12pm - 5pm
Glaziers Hall

05/05/2025

A couple of our team were lucky enough to take part in last week's Bruichladdich Academy. One of the most innovative and exciting distilleries on the island, Bruichladdich takes a terroir-driven approach to making whisky that was the beginning of a little revolution in the way the industry thinks about delivering flavour.

When you think of Islay, you think of peaty whisky, so it's sometimes a surprise to folks that Bruichladdich itself is completely unpeated. Of course that doesn't mean that's all they make, and the heavily peated Port Charlotte is a delicious iteration of sooty, barbecue-laden malt, however rather than the maritime peat used in the trio of southern Islays (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, & Ardbeg), it uses Highland peat, evading the usual elastoplast notes that Islay whisky often imparts.

But if it's Islay peat you want, it's Islay peat you shall have! Octomore was first released as a middle finger to those decrying the lack of peat in Bruichladdich. Using peat from the Octomore farm, this is the world's most heavily-peated whisky, released in limited editions with ppms as high as 309.1ppm, and yet it is alarmingly delicious in spite of its gruffness.

Thank you to all the team for your tremendous hospitality!

📷: Hannah Lanfear

30/04/2025

Over the last few years, Hackney Wick has transformed from being the infamous host of many a dirty rave, to now boasting a pocket of eateries and bars that have become an enclave of excellence.

Just across from the Overground, Lucias is the first opening from chef Jo Kurdi. With barely a dozen seats on the inside, amd a few tables outside (when the sun shows its face), this is a pretty special experience. Bellied up to the bar, you’ll be treated to the soothing sight of choice cuts spitting and sizzling over hot coals. The open fire cooking is at the heart of Lucias, a cooking practice that Jo honed while at Temper, then Brat. And while Lucias is cut from the same cloth, its a more informal spot, that has become famed for its tacos 🌮

Since we heard they have a lovely shelf of agave spirits, we popped in to find out more…

Q: You started out at Temper, right Jo?

JK: Yeah, and it’s where I started learning how to cook over fire. Lucias was never meant to be a Mexican restaurant, it was more about cooking over the coals, but I was always like, I’m gonna do tacos. And then, well we’ll do more tacos, and more tacos, more tacos. And yeah, everyone said we were Mexican so I’m like, alright, I guess we are! But yeah, I love eating tacos, they are probably my favourite food, so we just did it. I travelled to Mexico a lot. It all just felt natural. We didn’t overthink it.

Q: Do you use some weird and wonderful cuts of meat?

JK: One of our best sellers at the moment is bone marrow; another really popular one is jowl, like pig cheek, same part as guanciale. So we do use things that are many not so common as well. We did ox-heart tacos and they were super popular for a few weeks. We switch it up!

Q: What’s the Hackney Wick scene like now for F&B?

JK: I live around the corner. There’s no lack of great things to drink round here. Maybe food there’s a little further to go, but we have Silo, and a couple spots so it’s really growing.

Q: What’s next for Luciole?

JK: We have plans to expand, ‘cause in the summer we have 30 covers, but in the winter we can’t get outside so it’s 10 seats and can be a bit tough. But we’ll have to see when and where, but yeah. It’s coming!

23/04/2025

We popped over to the unlikely enclave of Earls Court to say hello-how-are-ya to this lovely pair, who have just installed a totally world-class bar within Templeton Garden, a wonderfully calm and verdant luxury hotel from the Miiro Group. Meet Will Meredith (bar director) and Dominic Royle (bar manager) of Sprout!

London's finest new bar launch is just over the road from Twice Shy (the brilliant sister bar to Top 50 favourite, Amaro) which means that Earls Court is now officially London's top spot for excellent cocktails 🙌

As alum of the Lyan Group, Will & Dominic both boast exceptional cocktail pedigree. Given their lustrous CVs, you'd be right in expecting a stunning drinks list for their maiden launch. Their serves focus on elevating the flavours of fresh, local produce, with a stripped-back approach that focuses on fermentation and cordials over more cerebral preparations. Each one makes a hero of an ingredient and allows that flavour and provenance to sing out.

Kensington is now lucky enough to have a cluster of fantastic cocktail spots, all within a mile of each other, so get yourself over to West London to experience its glow-up for yourself! 💫

10/04/2025

Nico de Soto is the definition of an international bartender, spending most of his life seven miles over our heads! After a decade spent bartending in exceptional bars across the globe, the Parisian opened his first bar in New York’s East Village - Mace – soon becoming known for outlandish flavour combinations that pulled heavily on the exotic ingredients Nico discovered while travelling 🌎

Since opening Mace is 2015, every single menu has featured a cocktail with pandan leaf, AKA screwpine. The leafy, tropical shrub is a key ingredient in South East Asian cuisine, used for its fragrant grassy notes.

Kota captures those delicate buttery, vanilla and almond notes perfectly. Production is attentively handled by famed liqueur producers Gabriel Boudier, who’ve been making top-quality fruit liqueurs since 1874.

As warmer weather approaches this could be just the thing to give your SS25 menus a lift. Kota margs all round!

20/02/2025

The first of our seminars at RTBB was 'So You Think You Can Taste?', in which our buyer, Dawn Davies MW, & advocacy manager, Hannah Lanfear, took attendees on a trip through the science of taste and flavour.

Chock-full of top tips on how to better your nose, the seminar culminated in a blind tasting of four spirits. One victor lifted the prize for top nose, and here he is! Mattia from The Newt in Somerset! Well done Mattia! He won himself a bottle of Millstone PX 12yo, an absolutely superb single malt from the farm-to-glass Zuidam distillery 🔥

We can't find Mattia to tag him so if you know him, @ that man!!

Address

London

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 6pm
Tuesday	9am - 6pm
Wednesday	9am - 6pm
Thursday	9am - 6pm
Friday	9am - 6pm

Telephone

+442088389444

Website

http://www.specialitydrinks.com/

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Our Story

Speciality Drinks is a premium on-trade wholesaler. We were launched as an on-trade supplier to meet the growing demand of bars, restaurants and hotels for interesting and rare products. As a family-owned-and-operated business, we are committed to providing bespoke consultancy and exceptional service. With access to the largest product portfolio in the industry (10,000 products at any one time, shared with our sister company The Whisky Exchange), we deliver our expertise on an international level to independents, groups and prestige accounts. Through our unrivalled knowledge and passion for the drinks industry, we endeavour to promote future trends and drive our customers’ business forward