The hangover is biting, you’ve got a thirst you can’t quite quench, your sugar levels are dipping – what you need is cold, fizzy, liquid sugar.
Imagine, now, popping in to an ordinary-looking corner shop, expecting to grab a Lucozade or maybe a Fanta, and being greeted by something beyond your wildest dreams.
A wall of soft drinks in just about every imaginable flavour, like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but for pop.
This isn’t a weird gimmicky hipster hangout though.
Manchester Mini Market. Credit: The Manc Group
It’s just a standard corner shop that’s quietly developed a niche and a massive following.
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The Manchester Mini Market is on Oldham Street, just off Piccadilly Gardens.
Past its Coca-Cola-red facade and the ATM poking out of the wall, beyond the wall of scratch cards, and you’ll find a glowing wall of cold drinks.
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There’s an entire range of energy drinks, flavours of 7up and Fanta we’ve literally never seen before, and a full spectrum of Vimto.
The wall of Coke at Manchester Mini Market. Credit: The Manc Group
And despite many of the drinks being imported at Manchester Mini Market, they’re not sold at inflated prices like some of the American sweet shops tend to do.
There’s fizzy Ribena, Tizer, Capri Sun and Oasis.
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Strawberry Coke, vanilla Coke, lime Coke, and all its siblings.
There’s a selection of cans inspired by Chupa Chups lollies, with flavours like grape, strawberry and melon.
You’ll find a Mojito 7up from France and a Vietnamese sasparilla Fanta that’s vaguely similar to root beer.
You want a Tango? What about a dark berry one, or a strawberry watermelon flavour?
These are new! Credit: The Manc Group
There are even some of the pink mystery flavour Fantas if you want to play a game of what-the-hell-am-I-drinking.
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And energy drink fans can raid Monsters in pacific punch and mango loco, Rubicon Raws in pomegranate, mango and blueberry, and a massive range of Relentless cans.
Honestly, The Manc staff dash in here every week and we’re always surprised by new drinks to try.
What a gem.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Food & Drink
Enormous Manchester venue set to open (again) after brief rebrand
Daisy Jackson
A huge, glamorous restaurant and bar space looks set to reopen just months after it closed down and attempted to rebrand.
SakkuSamba announced back in June that it was closing for a short while to undergo a refurbishment.
That news came after two years hosting all-you-can-eat sushi dinners and star-studded parties in Spinningfields, like an afterparty with Ne-Yo following his show at the AO Arena.
They wrote at the time: “Exciting News! We will be closing our doors on June 2nd for an exciting refurbishment and upgrade. We’re sorry to be closing for a little while, but stay tuned for updates over the next couple of weeks as we begin this transition!
“We can’t wait to show you what’s coming next soon!”
But then SakkuSamba never reopened and the space instead became Raft, essentially Manchester’s most boujie buffet.
Raft had a huge dining room upstairs, a hidden club room, a ‘toilet disco’, 360-degree DJ booths, and a ‘coastal boozer’ on the ground floor.
The restaurant when it was previously SakkuSamba. Credit: The Manc GroupVs when it was Raft. Credit: The Manc Group
Raft was only open for three months when it was suddenly bolted shut, with a forteiture notice in the window that was apparently linked to a ‘historic dispute’.
And now, in an unexpected twist in events, SakkuSamba has shared that it’s coming back to Manchester.
Keeping up okay? Let’s continue.
In the first post since announcing the temporary closure and refurbishment of both of its restaurants (in Manchester and in Bradford), SakkuSamba wrote: “SakkuSamba 2025. Manchester keep your eyes peeled, major announcement coming soon.”
If it follows the same format it took previously, that means a fusion of Brazilian and Japanese cuisine together in a swanky all-you-can-eat setting.
And hopefully it’ll last longer than poor Raft did…
Northern Quarter craft beer bar Fierce Bar announces sudden closure
Thomas Melia
A much loved independent craft beer bar in the heart of the Northern Quarter is set to close before the end of the year.
Fierce Bar, which opened in Manchester city centre in 2020, has been a firm favourite for Mancs and visitors alike with their range of beers and IPAs.
The Fierce Beer company has established itself as a leading force within the beer community winning ‘Scottish Brewery of the Year in 2021’ and numerous Scottish Beer Awards.
Their wide range of drink flavours pay homage to varieties from the USA and offered people who frequented their Thomas Street site in the Northern Quarter were treated to a refreshing taste of the transatlantic.
The Thomas Street bar had previously been home to 57 Thomas Street, a bar operated by Marble Brewery, which also operates The Marble Arch.
In a post on social media which opens with, “Some sad news…”, the company have stated: “We face continually spiralling costs that unfortunately mean it’s going to be unsustainable to continue operating the venue viably going forward”.
There’s still some hope as beer brand have also announced: “This is not the end for Fierce Beer south of the border though; we’re continuing to keep an eye on the market and aim to get back as soon as we can with a new physical location.”
Anyone wanting to continue the bar’s legacy in Manchester can sport the indie establishment’s range of t-shirts, hats and funky glasses, some of which adorned the walls.
Being a Scottish born and bred brewery, if you’re still after your alcohol fix, you can still visit their two other locations in Edinburgh and Aberdeen next time you’re heading up north.
The last day of trade for Fierce Bar will be 20 December where the founders Dave and Louise will be heading to the Manchester site say a sad goodbye.
As it will be the final night of service ever, the team are urging anyone to pop down for a pint or two to commemorate the Manchester home.
It’s a shame to see such a well-used city centre social space shutting its doors, however Fierce Beer loyalists fear not as their online website is still very much alive and thriving here.
Daisy Jackson -
18th February 2022 
