Cocktails at The Alchemist Cardiff

If you live in South Wales by now you will have heard about The Alchemist arriving….if you haven’t, where on earth have you been?? It’s the perfect symphony of cocktails and science!

We couldn’t believe our luck when we were invited to the opening night, not only are we obviously fans of a drink or two but being scientists this is probably the most appealing bar we could ever dream of!

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

On arrival we were given a glass of bubbly and some tarot cards, these were particularly cool and I’d love to work my way through them all (not in one day…)! We we’re lucky enough to randomly choose cards with drinks that appealed to both of us, Smokey Old Fashioned – a dry ice and whiskey based drink, and Tickle Me Pink – a pink gin based drink.

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

Tickled Me Pink came with a syringe full of something that caused your whole mouth to tingle, and you had to bear this for as long as possible before drinking some of the drink itself to get rid of the tingle. I think it’s based on nettles but it was really interesting and one I’d order again for the experience!

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The menu itself is huge, it’s laid out like the periodic table and is therefore the actual dream for us – we loved it! Monochrome with bits of metallic and laid out like a periodic table meant we were in our element (ha science jokes) and immediately spotted around 12 drinks we wanted to try. We had to pace ourselves!

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The decor itself is also worth a look, we wandered around for at least half an hour looking at all of the really cool displays – think chemical bottles from the last 5o years, some labelled specifically and others filled with interesting looking concoctions plus the odd taxidermy thrown in. I absolutely love wandering around science museums and this feels just like one.

Amongst the vintage conical flasks there are also amazing intricate designs all over the walls that look just like tattoos, I couldn’t take my eyes off them trying to work out all of the shapes, patterns and animals.

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

We tried our best to sample a representative number of cocktails, because what true scientist wouldn’t want to do that? It would have been rude not to.

So up we went and began ordering a variety of options such as the ‘Colour Changing one’ (very appealing, loved the glassware! See image below) and Chase the Rainbow which incorporated marmalade into it.

We tried a few options which came with flasks – 3.5oz of Happiness (beautiful berry flavour) and Vesper Martini (SO STRONG). You can keep the flasks or return them next time for £5 off your drink!

I also had the pleasure of trying a Screwball cocktail at the bar where one of the employees was there on a night off, so big thanks to her for letting me try it. It’s not one I would have ordered but it absolutely does taste like a Screwball and I’d probably order it

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

Last but not least we roped in some poor unsuspecting fellow event goers to join us for a Zombie Apocalypse, a sharer for 4 containing a mix of rums and lime, pineapple, cranberry and smoke. It looks amazing so please order it as the photo really doesn’t do it justice even though I really tried!

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

The Alchemist Cardiff Launch

We’d been out to celebrate M’s birthday so we had an absolutely great time, the cocktails we’re perfect and we definitely recommend going to try a few. They are on the pricey side (you can check out the menu on their website but they range from £7.75 to £13 for cocktails, £4.75 for mocktails and up to £38.50 for a sharer for 4).

We will definitely be back to try a few more and also to try out some of the food when the restaurant opens upstairs.

Have you been to The Alchemist before? Have you tried out the Cardiff bar?

L xxx

Looking for ideas of where else to drink in Cardiff? You might also want to try cocktails at Dirty Martini, the Brass Beetle or The Mulberry Bar in Celtic Manor.

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