August’s Whiskey Wednesdays at The Sun Tavern will feature the brand new blended Irish Whiskey, Roe & Co.

Only just released in March 2017, Roe & Co is blended from both malt and grain whiskeys matured in ex-bourbon American oak casks and with a minimum age of 5 years. Non-chill-filtered and with an abv of 45%, this smooth whiskey boasts notes of vanilla and pear  and just a touch of soft spiciness.

At the moment the liquids are sourced from elsewhere, but the owners, Diageo, are intent on building a new Dublin distillery, to be completed in 2019. The St. James’s Gate Distillery will be built just round the corner from the Guinness Brewery, and right next to the site of the historic, now demolished, George Roe distillery, from which the new liquid gets its name. George Roe’s distillery was once the largest in Ireland – covering an enormous 17 acre site – but unfortunately closed its doors in 1923 after having sales hit hard by both American Prohibition in 1919 and Ireland’s war of independence and civil war in 1920/21 – the new liquid has quite a legacy to live up to!

As with all our Whiskey Wednesdays, you can grab either a “beer & a bump” or one of our bespoke cocktails for £5 every Wednesday of the month – the three new creations for this month are the Pale Harlet, Two Irishmen, and the Roe & Rose – have a peep at the photos below:

Pale Harlet –  Roe & Co, Pierre Ferrand, Marmalade, Lemon, Ginger & Angostura Bitters

Two Irishmen – Roe & Co, Cocchi Americano, Benedictine, Peychaud’s Bitters & Lemon Zest

Roe & Rose – Roe & Co, Cocchi Rosa, Topped with Sekforde

Images Copyright © 2017 – The Sun Tavern cocktail bar London.

Our sister brewery, Umbrella Brewing, will be returning to Takeover Tuesday’s at the Sun Tavern, serving their fiery & cloudy alcoholic ginger beer at discount prices every Tuesday in August!

If you haven’t tried Umbrella Brewing Ginger Beer, grab one as soon as you can! We’ll be selling bottles for £2 each every Tuesday throughout the month.

Umbrella Brewing will be celebrating the release of their new ginger beer labels which are inspired by the record sleeve for the reggae track Johnny Too Bad by The Slickers – Head Brewer Matt Armitage’s favourite tune. The labels for Umbrella Brewing Ginger Beer feature a large space dedicated to artwork, and they’ve run various label series and collaborations over time, with the original set inspired by the striking graphic designs of Decca record sleeves from the 60s and 70s.

In honour of the latest labels, The Sun Tavern will have guest DJs playing a selection of reggae tunes every Tuesday night for the whole of August.

We’ll also be selling experimental whisky-finished batch of alcoholic Ginger Beer – a collaboration with Dewar’s for Tales of the Cocktail 2017 – though this won’t be discounted. You can read more about ‘The Dewar’s Experiment’ here.

This month’s guests for “Non-Specific” at The Sun Tavern are South London’s Goat Girl, who’ll be playing us their own vision of ‘Non-Specific’ rock’n’roll on Thursday, August 10^th.

Signed to Rough Trade records and hailed as rebuilding London’s underground scene with their dirge drenched indie – the quartet are building a reputation as one of the most exciting new bands in the UK. They’ll take over our decks and play us some of their most loved tunes – anything from the 50s and 60s right up to the present day – with the only restriction being that they must fall under the banner of non-specific rock and roll.

As with the last couple of months, we’ll be serving Vietnamese sandwiches from Bánh mì Hoi-An for free until they run out – from 6pm onwards.

Photo credit: Holly Whitaker.

We base the flyer for each month’s non-specific on an iconic album cover, using whatever materials we’ve got to hand – this month it’s the turn of The Sex Pistol’s Never Mind The Bollocks… reimagined in Himalayan rock salt…

This month’s ‘Non-Specific’ – Umbrella Radio’s monthly takeover at The Sun Tavern – will see Jack Jones (frontman of Trampolene and guitarist for Peter Doherty’s latest musical project, Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres) taking control of our decks on the evening of July 20^th.

Jack will be playing his own take on ‘Non-Specific’ Rock ‘n’ Roll – which could be anything from the 50s and 60s right up to the present day.

Since 2014, Trampolene have released five “Pocket Albums” – each with 5 or 6 tracks, their latest, entitled “Beautiful Pain,”  will be released on 7 July 2017 and the band will be releasing their debut full-length album in September.  Towards the end of last year Jack toured Argentina, France and UK as the lead guitarist for Peter Doherty’s new band “The Puta Madres.” As part of that tour, The Puta Madres played two shows for the reopening of Le Bataclan in Paris.

Seeing as it was such a great success last month, we’ll be serving Vietnamese sandwiches from Bánh mì Hoi-An again this month – they’ll be free from 6pm until we run out – so make sure you get there before they’re all gone!

For each month’s non-specific flyer we recreate an iconic album cover using whatever materials we’ve got to hand – this month we’ve recreated the cover of Talking Heads’ seminal 4th album, Remain in Light, with dried goji berries and peppercorns!

Camden Town Brewery will be returning to Takeover Tuesday’s at the Sun Tavern, with beers on two of our taps for all of July.

We’ll have their Inner City Green New Zealand hopped lager, Indian Hells Lager (an IPA, resurrected as lager – all the flavour of an IPA, minus the heavy sweetness), Camden Pale Ale and Camden Hells Lager on rotation throughout the month.

If you pop in on a Tuesday it’s £3 per pint on each until the keg runs out!

Throwback to Camden Shout in 2015 with Ciaran and Rich from Camden Town Brewery

Throughout July, Whiskey Wednesdays at The Sun Tavern will feature small batch whiskies from That Boutique-y Whisky Company.

As with all our Whiskey Wednesdays, you can grab one of our bespoke cocktails for £5 every Wednesday of the month – we have three new creations for July: Zuidam’s Wonderland, Pluscarden and Peatside – all featuring different whiskies from That Boutique-y Whisky Co.

Also for a fiver you can also help yourself to “beer and a bump” – half a pint of a Camden Town Brewery beer (July’s Takeover Tuesday brewery) and a shot of one of the three featured whiskies: Millstone 6yr, Miltonduff 8yr or Peatside 5yr.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company don’t actually distill their own whisky – they’re an independent bottler that source small batch and limited edition whiskies from renowned brands and distilleries across the world. Each bottle has a unique informative graphic-novel style label full of fun references, in-jokes and often (shocking) puns.

James or Dave, brand ambassadors for the company, will stop by every Wednesday in July for small tasting sessions, so you can have an educating chat about their company and their whiskies.

You can check out details of our bespoke cocktails for the month below:

Zuidam’s Wonderland – Millstone 6yr, Cocchi Americano, Topped with Sekforde.

Pluscarden – Miltonduff 8yr, Angostura Amaro, Lemon, Orgeat & Angostura Bitters

Peatside –  Peatside 5yr, Spiced Pineapple, Lemon & Peach Bitters

The Mondo Brewing Company of Battersea will take control of June’s Takeover Tuesdays with beers on two of our taps for the entire month

If you pop in on a Tuesday it’s £3 per pint on each until the keg runs out!

Mondo was founded by Todd Matteson and Tom Palmer who started brewing beer together in Battersea in 2015. Their core beers include: Dennis Hopp’r, a light bodied American Pale Ale; ALL CAPS! – an American Pilsner; Rider Pale Ale, a generously hopped pale ale that is highly aromatic and finishes crisp and dry; and our favourite, Little Victories, a  juicy and fruity, well balanced Session IPA.

They also do a whole range of seasonal and experimental beers, including Coco Loco – a smoky, rich, chocolatey coconut(!) porter with hints of coffee.

Tom and some of the lads will be around on Tuesday evenings this month, so stop by for a pint or two and a chat about their beer!

June 15^th will see Kieran of Saint Leonard’s Horses take to the decks for Non-Specific, Umbrella Radio’s monthly takeover at The Sun Tavern.

Kieran fronts British alt-folk masters Saint Leonard’s Horses (his surname is Leonard, his ‘backing band’ are The Horses)and has toured in support of a range of artists from Bob Dylan to The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things and Babyshambles. The most recent album, Good Luck Everybody, was released in late 2016 and recorded in part (via an unusual connection involving Jim Sclavunos of The Bad Seeds) at Stanley Kubrick’s estate, Childwickbury Manor. Described by NME as “a surrealist, mystical odyssey of self-discovery, maximal hedonism and jaws-of-death revelation” it’s well worth checking out.

He will be playing his take on Non-Specific Rock ‘n’ Roll, which could be anything from the 50s and 60s right up to the present day.

We’ll be serving a little roll to go with the rock – Vietnamese sandwiches from Bánh mì Hoi-An which will be free from 6pm until we run out – so get there early!

For each month’s non-specific flyer we recreate an iconic album cover using whatever materials we’ve got to hand – this month we made Jon Pasche’s famous Rolling Stones lips logo out of strawberries, blueberries and cream.

Mick Jagger commissioned Pasche,  who was then a young student at the Royal College of Art in London, to produce the logo after seeing his designs at the Royal College of Art final degree show in 1970 – we’re pretty proud of our tribute!

Stepping up to the plate for June’s Whiskey Wednesdays at The Sun Tavern is Slane Distillery with their Triple Casked Irish Whiskey.

As with all our Whiskey Wednesdays, you can grab one of our bespoke cocktails for £5 every Wednesday of the month – we have three new creations for June: Slane The Chancellor, East End Rocks and the King George Cobbler – all featuring Slane Irish Whiskey.

Also for a fiver you can also help yourself to “beer and a bump” – half a pint of a Mondo Brewing beer (this month’s Takeover Tuesday brewery) and a shot of Slane Irish Whiskey.

Slane are a young distillery, only launching their Triple Casked Irish Whiskey earlier this year. The distillery itself is actually located on the grounds of the legendary Slane Castle in the rural countryside of the Boyne Valley in County Meath. As you probably know, Slane Castle has famously hosted huge open air concerts for loads of artists including Bowie, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Yound and Oasis.

The whiskey is aged in three varieties of cask: virgin casks made at the venerated Brown-Forman Cooperages, which bring notes of toasted oak and vanilla; seasoned casks that add hints of plum, banana and butterscotch; and Oloroso sherry casks from of Jerez in Spain that contribute flavours of raisin and spice.

Once the liquid has been aged, it is masterfully blended to create a uniquely complex spirit.

We’re big fans of the result and reckon you’d love it – stop by any Wednesday in June to try it out for yourself!

East End Rocks – Short. Heavy on the whiskey, with subtle notes of orange and herbs.

Heading to Field Day at Victoria Park this Saturday? Why not stop by The Sun Tavern Field Day After Party when you’re done!

We’re just round the corner, open late and we’ve got a live DJ set ‘til the early hours – entry’s free as usual.

Of course, as part of Festival Season here at The Sun Tavern, if you’ve been to Field Day, you’ll get 25% off your drinks for the night – just show your ticket at the bar. You can get 25% off pre-drinks as well – if you’re starting early, stop by on your way and check out our Festival Punch! We’ve also put together a special ‘Festival Fuel’ lunchbox for £15, which you can read about more here.

Indie starlets Superfood – who are back this month with their second album, I Can’t See, and fresh from playing from playing Radio 1’s Big Weekend last Saturday – will be on the decks from late until later.

Look out for after parties at The Sun Tavern for Lovebox and Citadel later in the summer!

The 20^th May was Whisk(e)y Day the world over, and since we’re more than partial to a drop ourselves, we thought we’d do something a bit special.

Throughout the day we hosted three free Poitín masterclasses, normally priced at £25 per person. Guests got to try four different Poitíns and a Poitín cocktail while learning the history of the homemade whiskey-turned legal spirit.

Poitín is a big part of what we do at The Sun Tavern, with us having one of the largest lists this side of the Emerald Isle.

We also launched our new Whiskey Menu on the day. Having won Imbibe’s Whiskey List Of The Year for 2016/17, we’ve certainly got something to live up to.

We introduced three whiskies from our Private Collection too. These are whiskies that are extremely rare and not normally available to our customers. They will be offered on our menu at a cost price in order to give everyone a chance to enjoy something extremely special. Check out what we’ve managed to get our hands on:

‘Dungourney 1964 Pure Pot Still Special Reserve’ – In auction originally at over £800 and available to our customers at only £30 per measure. Only 1200 of these bottles were released and are seldom seen any more!

‘Knappogue Castle 1951’ – In auction originally at £550 for the bottle and available to our customers at £20 per measure 36 years old when bottled. Was some of the last stock from the old Tullamore Dew Distillery. A true taste of history.

‘Bushmills 1975 Millenium’ – In auction originally at £200 for the bottle and available to our customers at only £10 per measure. 24 years old when bottled for the millennium. These were sold privately to investors, so it’s really rare to see a bottle on the market.

Other interesting new additions are The Boutique-y Whisky Company Single Malt, Connemara Single Malt, and the pretty exclusive Cill Áirne PX.

Come down and sip a dram!