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
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.
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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.
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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.
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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
The 2027 World Climbing Series is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
In yet more huge sporting news for Greater Manchester, the 2027 World Climbing Series is coming to 0161 later this year.
We’ve had plenty of big peaks of late, but things seem to just keep going up and up.
Set to host the global event for the first time in our history, Manchester will welcome the World Climbing Series (WCS), which is set to include both Olympic and Paralympic disciplines ahead of the next Summer Games in 2028.
2027 will mark the 38th edition of the series, which will also be one of only a handful to be held in the North – it’s just down to our city to make it the best.
Officially announced on Friday, 16 January, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) confirmed the return to the UK.
Founded back in 1989, the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) is coming up on four decades since the competition first began – Leeds being chosen as the inaugural hosts – the event has come a long way since then.
The IFSC’s rebranding of the annual bouldering, lead and speed trials to the modern WSC, which began last year, was initially revealed back in 2023.
Welcoming continental talent right down to the youth level, the upcoming 2026 World Climbing Series is taking place in the summer and will be hosted by the city of Innsbruck in Austria.
As for the WSC’s Manchester debut, which is being organised in collaboration with the City Council, Manchester Accommodation BID, MCR Active and the National Lottery via UK Sport investment.
It’s not the only big sporting celebration that the Council will be supporting in 2027.
Paul Ratcliffe, CEO of the British Mountaineering Council, said in an official statement: “It’s exciting to be able to confirm that a World Series climbing event will return to the UK in 2027 as part of the BMC’s major event programme.
“Hosting a competition of this scale in Manchester is a strong statement about the UK’s place on the international climbing stage and a great opportunity for our athletes, fans, the climbing community and the wider public to experience the sport at the very highest level.
“Our ‘Route to Adventure’ strategy sets out how we will build on moments like this to support people into climbing and help them progress, whatever their starting point. Using major events to inspire participation, strengthen pathways and reinforce our commitment to inclusion is central to our long-term approach.”
Scheduled to take place in June, you can find out more information about the 2027 World Climbing Series in Manchester by signing up for the official event mailing list HERE.
There are plans to build new townhouses right in the heart of Manchester city centre
Daisy Jackson
Plans for a block of new townhouses in Manchester city centre have been revealed, transforming an underused plot of land in town.
If the plans go ahead, we could see 21 new townhouses, with private roof terraces and basement parking, built in one of the city’s most rapidly-developing districts.
PH Property Holdings Ltd are proposing to build the new high-quality three-bedroom homes around a treelined courtyard.
While developments in Manchester tend to shoot straight up in the air, building sky-high apartments in modern skyscrapers, this one is approaching things a little differently.
The plans are to add ‘premium, low-rise family homes’ to this part of town, bringing it back into residential use as it was from the late 18th until the mid-20th century.
The homes that previously stood here were demolished after the Second World War, later becoming car parking for Granada Studios, and then an enclosed garden with Breeze Studios within it, which remained in use until the studio’s closure in 2013.
While these days it looks to be a patch of rare green space in the city centre, the proposed site isn’t actually accessible to the public currently.
It stands between the revamped Grape Street (which leads to the St John’s district and Aviva Studios), the new Soho House and Mollie’s Motel building, the former Great John Street Hotel, and St John’s Gardens, and is just a stone’s throw from the Science and Industry Museum.
Where the new townhouses could be built in Manchester. Credit: PH Property Holdings Ltd
The proposals say: “High-quality architecture and sensitive landscaping will ensure the development fits well with the surrounding neighbourhood while enhancing the public realm and creating an attractive, welcoming environment.
“The overall ambition is to create a sustainable residential community that contributes positively to the area’s character.
“The proposal will help diversify Manchester’s city-centre housing offer through the introduction of premium family townhouses in a location that has historically served a residential purpose. By reinstating the site’s former use, the development will help meet the city’s housing targets, strengthen the area’s sense of place, and support a more balanced housing mix in the city centre.”
You can have your say on the proposals HERE, until 1 February.
There will also be a public drop-in session on Tuesday 27 January 2026 at Castlefield Hotel (Liverpool Road, Manchester, M3 4JR) from 4pm to 7pm.
Georgina Pellant -
28th October 2021 
