Where to find the best frozen cocktails in Manchester this summer
Think frozen Vimto daiquiris, Pornstar martinis, Aperol Spritz and margaritas by the bucketload - plus some interesting curveballs you might not expect.
You can’t beat a summer’s day here in Manchester, when the sunshine glints off the skyscrapers and people pour out of pubs and bars.
There’s nothing like a heatwave to get your in the mood for an ice-cold drink – and we honestly can’t think of anything more cooling than a frozen bev, which is why we’ve put together this go-to-guide to help you find the best that Manchester has to offer.
Yes, in previous years, some of us cocktail enthusiasts may have been a bit snobby about frozen drinks – but after a few years locked in our houses, we’ve all deserved a little bit of silliness and fun, and these drinks absolutely deliver.
From boozy smoothies, to alcoholic slushies, frozen martinis, Irish coffees and even Snakebite, keep reading to discover where to go to sip on some of the best icy bevs the city has to offer.
Smithfield Social – Frozen Aperol Spritz
Image: The Manc Group
The ultimate summer cocktail, but make it frozen. Smithfield Social has taken the classic Italian aperitivo favourite to a new level for 2022, turning it into an ice-cold slushie that’s perfect for the summer. Low ABV and full of flavour, it might just be the best frozen cocktail we’ve seen (so far) this summer.
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Sicilian NQ – Frozen watermelon margaritas
Image: Sicilian NQ
Hidden down a little backstreet in the Northern Quarter, Sicilian NQ is easy enough to miss – but don’t you dare. The tiny bar and kitchen has just launched a new range of frozen margaritas, all priced at just £5 during happy hour, which runs Monday to Thursday, 12pm to 5pm. Enjoy them in three flavours: classic, Sicilian and watermelon.
Ramona
The banana + pandan frozen margarita. / Image: Ramona
The frozen pineapple and ginger margarita. / Image: Ramona
If you’re after something a little bit wilder, head to converted MOT garage Ramona for your frozen cocktail fix and a big fat Detroit slice. Yes, they do frozen margarltas, and, yes, you can opt to get them bottomless, but be adventurous – the banana + pandan is a certified house favourite, and pineapple + ginger is well worth a look-in too.
Ah Vimto, you’ll always have a special place in Manchester’s heart. Drunk hot, cold, and now frozen with a couple of shots of rum thrown in for good measure, there’s never a bad time to enjoy this fruity cordial. First manufactured here as a health tonic in 1908, it’s still giving us life all these years later.
Crazy Pedro’s – Frozen boozy Twistas
All frozen margs at Crazy Pedros get more than a double shot of their house tequila (El Tequileño Blanco). / Image: Crazy Pedro’s
Crazy Pedro’s takes its frozen cocktails seriously, serving them up in five different flavours. From a frozen Twista ice lolly-flavoured cocktail to frozen Pornstar Martinis, Woo Woos, and both classic and strawberry margaritas, there’s plenty of choice to keep you going. Oh, and they’re all available on the bottomless brunch too.
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Pico’s, Mackie Mayor – Frozen margaritas
Image: Eat Picos
Pico’s are not fair weather frozen cocktail fans – far from it. You can find them slinging out frozen margaritas with a chilli salt rim all year round both at Manchester’s Mackie Mayor and at Altrincham’s Market House, alongside the best nachos and tacos you will find in the city centre.
Font – Vimto daiquiri slushies
We all know that Font has the best-value cocktails in all of Manchester (yes that really is a £3 Blue Hawaiian), and they really step it up in the summer.
They have a section of the menu dedicated to boozy slushies – you can grab a frozen margarita or a frozen daiquiri, in either strawberry or Vimto flavour.
Smooch – Frozen strawberry daiquiris
Image: The Manc Eats
Altrincham bubble tea shop Smooch hasn’t been open that long, but it’s already become quite the favourite with local kids. Following requests from the Trafford town’s parents for an ‘adult’ version, they’ve recently launched a new boozy menu featuring frozen strawberry daiquiris and pina colada bubble teas.
Tucked under the Mancunian Way at the Hatch street food village, you’ll find Kong’s latest export slinging out half-pint cups filled with frozen margaritas, alongside their cracking new sandwich menu. We think a crisp butty and a frozen marg in the Hatch garden sound just the thing.
Junior Jackson’s – Frozen snakebite and Irish coffees
Image: Junior Jackson’s
The little brother to popular Manchester dive bar Bunny’s, Junior’s can be found in a basement on the Northern Quarter’s Oldham Street slinging out a plethora of frozen bevvies.
Frozen snakebite and frozen Irish coffees both sound incredible to us, but if you just want something fruity you can also get frozen daiquiris here in three different flavours – strawberry, pina colada and passion fruit. Oh, and you can get them all down at Bunny’s too.
7Sins – Frozen cocktail sharers
Image: The Manc Eats
Think frozen cocktails, but supersized for the whole group. Stevenson Square bar 7Sins has gone the whole hog this summer with some new frozen sharers, including the Passionbowl (essentially a giant jug of Pornstar martini) and Super Bramble (gin, lemon and blackcurrant).
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The Garratt – Frozen pornstar martinis and daiquiris
Image: The Garratt
At just £5 each or two for £8, these are some of the cheapest frozen cocktails to be found in the city centre. Head down to popular Princess Street boozer The Garratt, a long-time favourite of Manchester’s skaters and students alike, for a rotating selection of ice-cold drinks, game of pool and an easy-to-land spot in the sun.
Lock 91 – Frozen daiquiris
Image: The Manc Group
With a gorgeous little beer garden hidden away from view, Lock 91 is another place to put on your frozen cocktail list on a sunny day. The house frozen strawberry daiquiri here is made from scratch, fresh to order.
Herd NQ – Frozen pornstar martinis
Image: Herd NQ
This little Northern Quarter steakhouse is delivering the goods on the frozen cocktail front, with frozen Pornstar martinis and three different boozy slushies on offer. Think a ‘pineapple express’ boozy smoothie with mango and spiced rum, a ‘watermelon sugar’ version, or a ‘frozen berry blast’ with added gin and apple.
Have we missed one? Let us know over on Instagram by dropping a message to @themanceats.
Feature image – Ramona
Food & Drink
The Head Of Steam to move into site of short-lived Northern Quarter gastropub
Daisy Jackson
Well-known pub group The Head Of Steam has revealed plans to take over a prominent Northern Quarter site.
The craft beer brand will move into the Grade II-listed building that was (very briefly) home to the Lamb of Tartary gastropub, which sadly shut down after just six months.
Prior to that, the landmark building was the home of Cottonopolis.
It’s been empty since Lamb of Tartary shut down more than a year ago, but now The Head of Steam is swooping into Manchester city centre to bring it back to life.
Their plans include 30 beer lines (24 keg and six cask), augmented reality darts, live sports across six screens, and a dedicated pop-up kitchen from a local operator, also making its debut in Manchester City Centre.
Spanning 2,800 sq ft, there’ll be space for 180 guests, with a design that will mix ‘industrial character and Northern warmth’.
It sounds like there are changes in store from the Lamb of Tartary days – there’s talk of a striking circular central bar, surrounded by exposed brickwork and restored original features.
Behind that bar you’ll be able to enjoy a UK craft beers, plus a vast collection of Belgian beers, alongside a rotating selection of cans and bottles, as well as a fresh cocktail menu and quality spirits range.
The Head Of Steam to move into site of short-lived Northern Quarter gastropub. Credit: Supplied
The Head of Steam was established back in 1995 and is part of Camerons Brewery. The group already has 15 venues across 13 cities, including an existing Manchester pub out in Didsbury.
Mark Connor, Head of Operations & Brand for The Head of Steam, said: “We’re excited to be joining the Northern Quarter community and to bring our favourite UK brewers, alongside classics from our extensive Belgian range, to this vibrant part of the city.
“The location is incredible, and being able to offer something new and exciting to the area is fantastic for us.
“We can’t wait to open our doors later this year, meet our neighbours, and become a part of this iconic area of Manchester.”
The Head of Steam will open at 16 Newton Street in the Northern Quarter later this year.
Chorlton’s Horse and Jockey is reintroduced to the suburbs after stunning transformation
Danny Jones
The much-loved Horse and Jockey in Chorlton is back open for business following a major and marvellous refurb, which has seen the heart and soul of the pub restored to its former glory.
Opening just in time for the bulk of cosy boozer season, we’re about to spend A LOT of time in here.
With an impressive culinary pedigree to boot, the ‘new and improved’ Horse and Jockey was always bound to be a hit with critics and natives alike, we just weren’t expecting them to knock it quite so far out of the park – or, in this case, Chorlton Green.
Giving the already gorgeous 200-year-old structure a new lick of paint and then some, the new Horse and Jockey looks set to reassert itself as one of the prettiest, cosiest and tastiest pubs you’ll find in central Manchester.
Benefitting from sitting just outside the city centre, you’ve still got plenty of footfall from those who have seen Chorlton become a foodie destination all of its own, and those who have lived there all their lives.
Yes, you’ll still find plenty of old boys sipping their well-deserved pints and dogs curling up on the carpets here.
Now boasting up to 82 covers outside in the familiar evergreen beer garden, with table service in the summer, you can see this being a go-to spot for grub and a reliable watering hole for all year-round.
It’s also worth noting that it’s a pretty roomy venue inside as well, with an entirely refurbished upstairs seating area and a dedicated private dining space now, too.
The Horse and Jockey is glistening once again ahead of reopening this month. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Other touches we especially liked are bringing Chorlton Pale Ale – which used to be brewed right here in the Jockey itself prior to Covid – back on draught. It may be made elsewhere nowadays, but we’re glad to see it being shipped back to and served out of its ancestral home.
And it just gets better.
As well as supporting the local art scene by sourcing works from Greater Manchester creatives, they really are aiming to make this a community cornerstone.
They’ve taken the holistic idea of a public house right back to its roots, providing not only a place to meet, eat and drink for regulars, but also a real social outlet right in the middle of the suburb.
It’s also about supporting and celebrating traditional British pubs and the Northern working-class culture that goes along with it.
There’s still a recognisable style and familiar feel to the Horse and Jockey refurb. (Credit: The Manc)
The majority of the furniture is even salvaged from the pubs we sadly lost up and down the country, not to mention other businesses that have unfortunately closed post-pandemic and the continuing struggles facing the industry.
We’re lucky to have people like this putting drinks in our hands and keeping our bellies full, so we’re glad that they’re doing what they can to pay homage to those who have come before them as well.
Perhaps most heartwarming is that not only have they kept pre-existing staff in post during the switch-over, but they’re all welcoming back familiar faces from the past. Once again, this is about championing the beauty of British pub culture in all of its facets.
This is a proper foodie pub at its core, boasting cosy vibes just in time for the colder months; they even restored three of the five original fires that used to burn through the autumn and winter back in the day.
Bookings are live already, and if you’ve tried the Sunday roast at The Black Friar, you expect this place to fill up just as quickly – we’d reserve our tables early if we were you…
The food offering is substantial, filling and full of flavour. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
This may be a big rebrand and transformation, but there are also still the same old Joseph Holt favourites on the taps for those who love the classic lineup, and they’ve even used their ‘Trailblazer’ stout glaze on one of their cheesecakes. Safe to say, they have our undivided attention with that one.
Owner Neil Burke, who formally acquired The Black Friar two years ago and now heads up the revamped Horse and Jockey, said of the reopening: “I have a personal history with the Horse & Jockey and it’s always held a special place in my heart.
“It’s such a beautiful building, but it hasn’t been shining the way it should in recent years. As a local myself, I felt Chorlton deserved a proper foodie pub – somewhere that delivers brilliant food in a setting that does justice to the building’s history.”
To top things off, they’ve got Michelin-trained head chef Paolo Bianchileading things in the kitchen.
“The Horse & Jockey is an iconic part of Chorlton’s history and I’m proud to be leading its kitchen with the brilliant Black Friar team”, says Bianchi. “After gaining years of experience in Paris, Dubai and London, it feels great to be rooted in Manchester, a city I’ve really fallen in love with.”
“My vision is simple, to serve British classics that people know and love, elevated with seasonal local ingredients, touches from my Italian heritage and international experience. The menu will be ever-changing, so guests can expect something fresh every time they visit.”
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As for your job, it’s simple: expect great, hearty pub grub classics elevated to a gourmet level, with all the welcoming warmth of a traditional English pub.
This isn’t just a metropolitan boozer trying to be acountry-style pub; the Horse and Jockey is a Chorlton gem reborn. It opens on Monday, 20 October, and you can guarantee you’ll be seeing us there.
Georgina Pellant -
11th July 2022 
