Located in what was Hope Distillery’s tasting room, StrangeLove Cocktail Lounge stands out in a world of informal bars and pre-mixed spritzers for its distinctive offering of small-batch hand-distilled spirits and liqueurs, as well as its unique menu of curated cocktails and mini-food pairings.
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The newly designed StrangeLove logo, reminiscent of a warped view through a ribbed drinking glass, captures the sense of disruption that this new arrival brings: a space dedicated to not only locally made spirits but also the appreciation of quality spirits in union with food for customers to explore, taste and marvel at.
While resident mixologist Decks serves the carefully curated cocktail menu – which can also be paired with meals from the StrangeLove à la carte snack menu – customers get a bird’s-eye view of the distillery and its vast copper stills and learn about the spirits while they sip them.
Hope Distillery, founded in 2014 by co-founders Leigh Lisk and Lucy Beard – both of whom left corporate law careers in London to follow their hearts (and palates) back to Cape Town – was the Mother City’s first licenced small-batch distillery.
Since its inception as a gin distillery, StrangeLove has expanded into a diverse catalogue of vodka, agave spirits, rhum agricole, and an in-house African Amaro that can only be tasted at StrangeLove.
The Cape {town} Etc team had the treat of visiting the lounge and can say first-hand that there’s nothing strange, but lots to love, about the curated cocktail-and-mini-food house menu, which is served in three courses: aperitifs, mains, and digestifs.
The Sbagliato is made with Hope Distillery’s African Amaro, vermouth and prosecco and is paired with a Tarilli biscuit, and the El Presidente is made with rhum agricole, vermouth and grenadine and served with rolled labneh and salted crackers.
The West Side is a reinvention of the classic South Side cocktail, substituting a traditional splash or two of gin with Hope vodka. The other ingredients are lemon and mint, and it is paired with smoked almonds.
For the main course, Cape {town} Etc ordered a white Negroni sour made with African Amaro Hope’s lemon dry gin and vermouth, which was paired with a cheese board, and a Red Snapper, a unique take on a tomato cocktail made with clarified tomato, Hope gin, and spice and served with tomato cocktail-esque garnishes: a cocktail gherkin and red pepper.
The other two options for the main course are the El Presidente, made with rhum agricole, vermouth, and grenadine and served with rolled labneh and salted crackers, and the House Batanga, made with Hope’s Esperanza Agave, salted lime, and cola foam.
The raspberry-topped Clover Club shaken cocktail, Espresso Martini and Gin Alexander are indulgent yet refined digestifs and are the perfect caps to conclude the evening.
Take them onto the ambient floating veranda and sip in serenity, and if you’re keen to take something of the experience home with you, Hope Distillery also recently added a new on-site shop selling bottles of rhum, agave, vodka and gin, as well as branded merchandise.
StrangeLove Cocktail Lounge opens on 23 February 2023 and welcomes cocktail enthusiasts between 5pm and 10.30pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
Seating is limited to 30 a night; walk-ins will be accommodated if there is space available, but bookings are highly recommended.
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Details:
- Location: 7 Hopkins Street, Salt River, Cape Town
- Hours: Thursday and Friday: 5pm – 10.30pm
- Contact: 021 447 1950 | [email protected]
- Website: hopedistillery.co.za
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Picture: Warren Heath
