Dark Bar Drinks and Michelin Star Chef Michael Caines have collaborated on an exciting new cocktail drinks range, delivering a new on-trade offering to help plug the service gap and to deliver a complex and exciting new offering for his new beach bar ‘Mickeys Beach’.
Mickeys opened on the 17th in Exmouth and has been a labour of love for nearly 5 years. Over the last 6 months Michael has worked alongside Patrick Fogarty (of Doctor Ink's Curiosities Exeter & Stir Crazy Drinks) to develop a range of handcrafted cocktails that compliments both the location and customer experience.
“It’s been a wonderful experience to work alongside another amazing Westcountry company to develop a new bespoke product – we have created a fantastic cocktail range without compromise, with some real crowd pleasers for every palette. It’s been great fun creating the cocktails and we hope that our customers will enjoy drinking them as much as we did creating them.” said Michael Caines.
Both companies deliver first-class credentials and the key differentiation in the category is the premium nature of the recipes that are created in small batches using the finest ingredients and complex prize winning recipes; Dark Bar Drinks have created a product that puts quality, consistency and margin at the top of the agenda for operators.
”People today are far more conscious of what they consume," said DBD Co-Founder Patrick Fogarty. "We go well beyond the norm when it comes to recipes that deliver what ultimately matters most - taste. Working alongside Michael to deliver a premium product for his incredible new venue has been an absolute joy. It’s wonderful to understand his taste and exceed expectations. We have developed the product over several years and are confident in the ingredients, approach and Michael’s pedigree is testimony to this” Said Patrick Fogarty - Co-Founder of Dark Bar Drinks and IMBIBE Bar list winner.
“We had a real need to find a solution for our new restaurant to be able to operate at speed on the bar and in the restaurant & these guys gave us a solution that was commercially viable and tailored to our target audience! With the added benefit that I needed to worry less about extra bar recruitment or redesigning the bar..” said Steve Edwards Operations director for Micheal Caines Collection.
“This demand for RTD cocktails has been driven by the retail sector over the past year and with the opening of the hospitality sector we realised that there was a gap in the market to supply RTD & Pre Batched cocktail’s to the on trade. This new range of complex premium drinks made easily without the need for skilled bartenders, but with excellence, consistency and speed in mind. After all, the speed of operation is a major factor to success and our cleverly designed menu’s and intelligent bottle labelling enable any member of staff to quickly serve what traditionally would have taken a great deal more time and experience” said Tom Cullen co-founder of Dark Bar Drinks.
ABOUT MICKEYS BEACH.
“We are more than a restaurant and bar, Mickeys Beach is a state of mind. Michael Caines dreamed of creating somewhere special where we could all rediscover the social joy of dining by the sea in beautiful, informal surroundings, enjoying fabulous and fun food or maybe just settling in for just a drink or a cocktail and some delicious nibbles.
Mickeys Beach is a central part of Exmouth’s exciting and brand new Sideshore development. When it was decided to give Exmouth’s seafront a total regeneration, even moving the beachside road to accommodate a new development that encompasses a world class watersports centre, it was always envisaged that the best local food and drink should also be a key element. With Michelin-star chef Michael Caines already just up the road at his luxurious and acclaimed Lympstone Manor, it was a perfect opportunity for one of the best-known chefs in the UK to be join in and be part of the fun.
Mickeys Beach reveals Michael’s playful and even wicked side. This is the place where you can let your hair down, party and have fun. While Michael’s acclaimed cuisine at Lympstone Manor wins awards and rave reviews, the food at Mickeys Beach may be less formal in style and service but it is by no means any less delicious and appealing. Everything that Michael puts his name to is quality, whether it’s a Mickeys Beach burger, a midnight pizza, or the freshest fish straight from the Exmouth docks, cooked expertly over charcoal.”
