COCKTAIL POP-UP SHAKING THE CITY
GOING out for cocktails in Glasgow is quite the thing to do. When James Wallace, a 27-year-old barista from Dumbreck, started making cocktails in the corner of Bakery 47 he knew that he was on to something.
James said: “Cocktails are fun and different, but they can be risky – they are expensive and sometimes you have no idea how something will taste until you have already bought it. If you don’t like it, it’s a waste.
“My background is in speciality coffee, and I’ve been doing that for around six years.
“When I started getting interested in making cocktails and changing how they are sold in Glasgow, I realised I was doing something different to what Glasgow usually does.”
James started D.U.C.K.: a pop-up cocktail evening where he brings together a team of staff, a curated menu of batch-made cocktails and teams with a different food outlet to quirky places all over the city.
D.U.C.K. has been to Short Long Black, Lagom and Gnom in the South Side, as well as Kaf in the West End, and this month will be starting a regular collaboration with Good Coffee Cartel in Kinning Park.
“The name is a bit dumb, but it was for the concept so people don’t take it too seriously,” James added.
“DUCK stands for Drunk Unicorn Cocktail Klub. We wanted to call it the Drunk Unicorn Cocktails because my favourite bartenders are named after animals, and the Unicorn for Scotland. I didn’t realise that you can’t actually use the word ‘drunk’ for anything to do with a bar as it promotes reckless drinking.
“I wanted to just make drinks that are easy for people to know what they taste like, and if they don’t like it they can get another one instead.
“Our menu is meant for people who don’t usually drink a lot of cocktails, and is descriptive so you know what you get.”
While keeping things casual was half the reason for having a popup, James has found that for young entrepreneurs like himself, finding a foothold in Glasgow’s saturated hospitality market is difficult.
Pop-ups are a way of getting around the astronomically expensive leases and the stringent hospitality hierarchies and rules.
James said: “Most of the venues are run by younger people, and eventually we will try and get more food places.
“Sometimes when you host popups the venues can be quite sceptical. People aren’t respectful of the venues or don’t give them a cut and there is an etiquette there that should be followed.
“Glasgow is a really expensive city. Rent for a commercial venue or a restaurant costs so much and sometimes the council doesn’t help that much.
“You have to wait 18 months for licences in some places and I don’t know anyone that will be able to wait so long if they’re just starting out. Pop-ups are a way around that.”
Difficult as it may be, James has started D.U.C.K from scratch and hopes it will have a long future ahead. We can drink to that.
I wanted to just make drinks that are easy for people to know what they taste like