Manchester

This Manchester bar is selling roast dinner-flavoured cocktails with ‘all the trimmings’

Putting together potato vodka, cranberry, rosemary, Christmas stuffing 'air' and more, this roast in a glass brings a whole new meaning to 'liquid lunch' - and there's pudding, too

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 28th October 2021

A Manchester bar is selling a festive roast dinner cocktail with ‘all the trimmings’ – and we really just can’t get over how good it sounds.

The limited-edition savoury cocktail combines the flavours of the ultimate Christmas roast, putting together potato, cranberry, rosemary, stuffing and more – bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘liquid lunch’.

Aptly called ‘All the Trimmings’, the team describes the savoury cocktail as “an explosion of savoury, festive flavours if you’re after something more daring”.

Image: The Alchemist via Instagram

Made with cranberry juice, festive syrup, Ketel One potato vodka, torched rosemary and a Christmas stuffing air, it sounds like our perfect roast dinner – albeit, served in a glass.

And that’s not all.

The little elves at The Alchemist have thought about pudding, too – giving you two courses of Sunday lunch in purely liquid form.

Covering the pudding department and all sweet tooths who might not be interested in going full-savoury, is a mince pie flavoured twist on an old fashioned.

Made with mincemeat-infused Appleton Estate rum, bitters, and sugar, it’s diluted slightly before serving by being quickly stirred over ice.

Available for one weekend only, both cocktails will be served at The Alchemist on New York Street from Thursday 28, October across the coming weekend. / Image: The Alchemist

Both cocktails have been created in collaboration with Great! Christmas movies, in a bid to get everyone into the Christmas spirit early this year.

The channel, which you can find on Sky319, Freeview 51, Virgin 424 and Freesat 303, is showing a host of back-to-back Christmas movies from now until the big day itself – including titles like A Christmas Melody, starring Mariah Carey, Just In Time For Christmas featuring Christopher Lloyd and On Strike For Christmas.

And that’s not all, further festive favourites on show include The Christmas Sitters, Beaus of Holly, family comedy Call Me Claus with Whoopi Goldberg, A Husband for Christmas, and Crazy for Christmas.

Available for one weekend only, both cocktails will be served at The Alchemist on New York Street from Thursday 28, October across the coming weekend.

Featured Image – The Alchemist via Instagram

Manchester

Honorary Manc Ariana Grande announces huge world tour – but skips Manchester

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Ariana Grande has announced The Eternal Sunshine Tour

Ariana Grande has announced details of a huge world tour, but the honorary Mancunian will be skipping Manchester again.

The 32-year-old, Grammy Award-winning star has instead booked five nights at The O2 in London for her only UK stop on the tour.

Ariana Grande was made an honorary Mancunian back in 2017, in recognition of her work following the Manchester Arena terror attack.

She is the first person to have ever received this honour.

Since the atrocity in the city, which took the lives of 22 people, Ariana has only performed here twice more – once at the One Love concert she organised as a fundraiser for the victims and their families, and once as a headliner of Manchester Pride.

It’s been six years since her last tour, but Ariana Grande is now back, sharing details of her hotly-anticipated The Eternal Sunshine Tour next summer.

As well as her five-night residency in London, she’ll play four nights in LA and Brooklyn, as well as cities right across North America.

Ariana Grande has announced The Eternal Sunshine Tour
Ariana Grande has announced The Eternal Sunshine Tour

Her London dates will be her only European shows on The Eternal Sunshine Tour.

Eternal Sunshine was released in 2024 and was her seventh studio album, spawning singles ‘Yes, And?’, ‘We Can’t Be Friends’, and ‘The Boy Is Mine’.

Ariana Grande is now also an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated actress thanks to her starring role in Wicked as Glinda the Good Witch.

Tickets for her tour will go on sale from Tuesday 16 September with an artist presale as well as an O2 Priority Presale. Remaining tickets will be available during the general ons-ale beginning Thursday 18 September at 10am.

Ariana Grande – The Eternal Sunshine Tour Dates 2026

  • Sat Jun 06 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
  • Tue Jun 09 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
  • Sat Jun 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
  • Sun Jun 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
  • Wed Jun 17 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum
  • Fri Jun 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum
  • Wed Jun 24 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
  • Fri Jun 26 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
  • Tue Jun 30 – Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena
  • Thu Jul 02 – Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena
  • Mon Jul 06 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
  • Wed Jul 08 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
  • Sun Jul 12 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
  • Mon Jul 13 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
  • Thu Jul 16 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
  • Sat Jul 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
  • Wed Jul 22 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
  • Fri Jul 24 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
  • Tue Jul 28 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
  • Thu Jul 30 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
  • Mon Aug 03 – Chicago, IL – United Center
  • Wed Aug 05 – Chicago, IL – United Center
  • Sat Aug 15 – London, UK – The O2
  • Sun Aug 16 – London, UK – The O2
  • Wed Aug 19 – London, UK – The O2
  • Thu Aug 20 – London, UK – The O2
  • Sun Aug 23 – London, UK – The O2

Read more

Featured image: Katie Temkin

Manchester

New ‘postboxes of the future’ are being rolled out across the UK

Danny Jones Danny Jones Royal Mail installing new futuristic postboxes

The Royal Mail is starting to roll out its line of so-called “postboxes of the future” across the UK this year, including right here in Greater Manchester.

It has been dubbed the most important and noticeable transformation to the classic British postbox in its entire 175-year history.

The national postal service teased the modern-day upgrade earlier this year, but the revolutionary new upgrade was officially announced this week, with Royal Mail ushering in a new era of digitally-driven units that should make many lives a lot easier – at least in theory.

Although they might look pretty identical to the iconic red boxes since before the turn of the 19th century have used up and down the country, there are marked differences between the new and the old ones.

new solar post boxes great britain
Credit: Royal Mail

The biggest change made to the Royal Mail’s soon-to-be standard design is a digitally activated drop-down drawer, which will be able to fit parcels as big as a shoebox, hopefully saving us Brits on a fair few trips to the post office.

You will be able to scan a barcode via the updated Royal Mail app to activate the drawer for larger items; meanwhile, there will be a separate slot for letters and smaller packages.

Additionally, the new range of high-tech postboxes will also be solar-powered, helping the public limited company chase its ‘green’ targets.

Now owned by parent firm International Distribution Services (IDS) – who also oversee Parcelforce Worldwide – following the UK government’s approval of its historic sale to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský at the end of 2024, the group as a whole is undergoing a significant overhaul.

Britain’s new solar postboxes were first trialled back in April in four towns located throughout the Hertfordshire region: Letchworth Garden City, Ware and Hertford. A fifth was later installed in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire, too.

Despite being quickly considered a success on the whole, the initial design featured an entirely black top, with polls of civilians and Royal Mail themselves agreeing that keeping them red all over was more in keeping with the brand.

It’s like the old school phone box, isn’t it? We can’t picture it any other way.

Speaking in a statement, the Royal Mail‘s managing director of ‘out-of-home and commercial excellence’, Jack Clarkson, said: “We are all sending and returning more parcels than ever before.

“This trend will only continue as online shopping shows no signs of slowing, particularly with the boom of second-hand marketplaces. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, making them by far the most convenient network of parcel drop-off points in the UK.

“Our message is clear – if you have a Royal Mail label on your parcel, and it fits, put it in a postbox and we’ll do the rest.”

The new generation postboxes are now being made permanent in the same locations, with Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester next.

Keep your eyes peeled on the streets as they’ll soon be making a debut in your area.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – Royal Mail (publicity pictures)

More Manchester

Chef patron Shaun Moffat at Winsome. Credit: The Manc Group

Eats

The Michelin Guide adds THREE new Greater Manchester restaurants

Adam Reid at The French is one of Manchester's Michelin-recommended restaurants. Credit: The Manc Group

City Centre

All the Greater Manchester restaurants included in the Michelin Guide

Laughterama lineup 2024

Art & Culture

Final few tickets remaining for Manchester’s mega-hit comedy festival Laughterama 2025

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches