Draft House, the London-based craft beer concept backed by Luke Johnson, could expand its new Bump Caves spirits bar concept to other existing venues and to upcoming acquisitions, founder Charlie McVeigh has told M&C Report.
The “dive bar and distillery” bar launches next week in underground space at Draft House at Tower Bridge, featuring distillings on-site, with beer and spirit pairings a speciality.
Explaining the reasons behind the new bar, McVeigh said: “We are not actually very good at spirits. We wanted to learn and we thought that having our own bar and having expertise come in would help us.”
Asked if the concept could be introduced to other Draft House venues, McVeigh said: “Why not? It’s not impossible that we could do this elsewhere.
“It could conceivably work at Westbridge, where we’ve also got extra space. Westbridge is a site that’s really taking off at the moment. The other sites probably are too small or don’t have the additional space.”
He added: “We are about to announce a couple of new sites and at least one has the potential for it.”
Bump Caves represents a £100,000 investment by Draft House and is expected to increase turnover by £500,000 a year at the Tower Bridge site.
Examples of beer and spirit pairing at the bar will include: Beavertown Gamma Ray beer with Peach, Sauvignon Blanc and Lavender Honey Mezcal (£8.75); Mikkeller American Dream beer with Cut Grass and Mahaleb Cherry Distillate (£9.75); and Wild Beer Co Put It In Your Pipe beer and Conference Pear and Jasmine Brandy (£9.75).
