Dear Drink To That Reader,
A couple of stories from me this week.
Firstly, I know I like to bang on about the benefits of copywriting for drink brands a lot. And as it turns out I’ve won an award for it.
My copywriting business Stoic Athenaeum won Copywriting Service of the Year through the Prestige Awards.
Okay. That’s my shameless plug done for the day.
The second story is about an exciting new sake bar that’s opened in Manchester and is well worth checking out if you’re in the area.
In fact, it’s the city’s first dedicated sake bar: Monkey Trio.
On a sunny evening, I dropped by to check out the venue to find it an intimate, inviting space. Origami decorated the wall, patrons played with puzzles and laughed over shared memories and Asian small plates. I took this to be a good sign as I pulled up to the bar and started chatting to the bar manager, Kevin, about his hopes for Monkey Trio.
There was infectious energy about him as he shared his plans for a growing sake and Japanese spirits menu. His vision is for the bar to become a comfortable waystation for people interested in exploring Japanese drinks, while also making Monkey Trio as accessible as possible with elements that aren’t purely Japanese.
A solid sake menu
The Monkey Trio soft launch menu had an excellent range of entry-level sake, ginjos, daiginjos and flavoured types like yuzu and mango. For the more adventurous drinker or sake nerd, I spied a junmai nigori on the menu as well. It’s a strong indicator of more good things to come in the future.
Inwardly I did a little dance of joy to see a couple of Japanese spirits on the menu and they are well positioned. The first is White Fuji shochu. Made from barley, it has a clean, floral flavour that can be enjoyed neat. The second is Harusame Kari awamori, a potent flavour bomb that has savoury nut and earthy flavours. Drink this on the rocks and take your time.
Moving onto the cocktail menu, there’s a good range of flavours to play with. As a whisky drinker and consummate Old Fashioned fan, I went for the Ojisan and wasn’t disappointed. Nikka is just too smooth not to enjoy. Other choices worth pursuing are the momo green tea, shirayuki sparkler and haku kohi.
Price-wise, Monkey Trio is really affordable, reflecting its location near the student side of Manchester and the universities. There is a time for sake to be priced like a premium drink and there is a time when it should be brought down to earth for everyone. I’m glad Monkey Trio is going with the latter.
Location: Circle Square, Oxford Rd, Manchester M1 7FS