Bar Show 2004 round-up
For two days at Earl's Court the latest and greatest of the drinks industry came to the fifth annual Bar Show to showcase their latest products.
And in among spiky-haired dancers cutting some rug on the Vodka Kick stand and Footballers' Wives star Gary Lucy hanging around the Heineken bus, for some reason unable to remove his shades when indoors, there was some interesting news for the trade.
- Coors Brewers was showing a new font tap for its Grolsch brand. Simply called the Grolsch professional font it will help serve customers more quickly, with the average pint now taking 12 seconds to pour, while also provided a tighter head on the pint.
Hayman Distillers launched Hayman's 1820, which is the trade's first ever premium gin liqueur. Marketing manager James Hayman said the company would be looking at launching it into style bars and top-end pubs.
He also said that to give it recognition as a liqueur, rather than just your average gin, Hayman's is looking at introducing eye-level back-bar freezers to showcase the product.
The company also launched Green Mark Russian vodka, a new premium vodka, which is distilled at the Topaz Distillery, which is only 50km from Moscow. It will be aimed at similar end of the market as its 1820 gin liqueur.
Halewood International announced the launch of a new Brazilian beer into the UK on-trade.
Marca Bravara (pictured) is yet another addition to the growing list of exotic, premium lagers brewed at source and imported to the UK.
The 4.5 per cent ABV brand has had a highly conspicuous and high-profile introduction to the UK, following a month long preview at Selfridges. Hopes are high at Halewood, which will distribute the product, following the brand's huge success in the Canadian market since it was introduced there a year ago.
Sources at drinks company Cellar Trends tell me that the powers that be are planning a sales assault for Jaegermeister into London.
The shooter brand has conquered several student towns like Bournemouth, Bristol and Leeds and fresh from sponsorship duties at the Metalhammer Golden Gods of Rock awards, hopes are high that the brand, which also can be used with mixers like cola and Red Bull, will take the capital by storm.
