NINE LIVES BAR: WHAT IS IT?

Another Bermondsey Street stalwart (team it with a trip to The Hide Bar for a sustainably minded bar crawl), Nine Lives is lovely neighbourhood joint with a big focus on salvation.

The feel is very trendy, yes, but still welcoming – woven lampshades, hanging baskets and low lighting give it a tropical feel, although of course it’s far too cool to be a tikki bar.

NINE LIVES BAR: WHAT TO ORDER?

Take a pew in in a cushioned both, order a drink and just soak it all in. Cocktails come by way of Allan Gage, Emma Hutchinson and Tom Soden, the founders of drinks agency Sweet&Chilli, and are just as good as you’d expect.

Power up your evening with a Kernel Kafé, a concoction of Kuka cold-brew coffee, caramel, tonic water and popcorn (told you the drinks were inventive); whet your appetite with a Tori Board, an aperitif made of Ketel One vodka, Aperol, Galliano, grapefruit, lemon and bitters; or dive into a sharing cocktail like the Pink Panther – Belvedere Vodka, white grapefruit, apple, lemon, watermelon shrub, spiced ginger and cucumber and watermelon soda.

NINE LIVES BAR: HOW SUSTAINABLE IS IT?

The name Nine Lives is a slightly sinister-feeling reference to salvation, but the ethos here is a bit more cheerful. Nothing is wasted, ingredients are chosen responsibly, and many of the fresh herbs found throughout the menu are grown in the bar’s own garden, which is tended in partnership with St Mungo’s, the charity that helps people move from homelessness back into society.

Take, for example, the lemons: the team at Nine Lives uses the skin, oils and the juice in its creations; the pith is redistilled to produce essential oils used in liqueurs and hand soap; the discards of the pith is composted, and that compost is then used to fertilise the backyard herb garden. And that, friends, is how closed loop cocktail making is done.

8 Holyrood St, London SE1 2EL

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Nine Lives Bar, Bermondsey

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