Viva Lewes April 2015 Issue #103

drink: review
Photo by Katie Moorman
Cocktails on Fisher St
Very happy hour
We’ve reason to raise a glass this month, so we
close up the office one Thursday evening and
head to Happy Hour at the Coffeehouse bar.
Ever the genial host, Cam has a table reserved
and ushers us into a back lounge with more than
a hint of the Speakeasy about it. The scene is set
for sipping some hard liquor.
The menu is an informed selection of both
classic and contemporary cocktails, and induces
a moment of collective indecision. Who will go
with the time-honored Margarita, Cosmopolitan,
Old Fashioned or Negroni? Should we hang
convention and opt for an Espresso Martini,
made with Small Batch coffee, Absolut vanilla
vodka and Kahlua? The Apple Jack Gin Sour
sounds delicious – bathtub gin, shaken with citrus
and bitters (£8.50) but I opt for a Margarita
(£7). A cocktail bar acid test, the Coffeehouse
version is exactly as it should be. A perfect gumsucking
blend of sweet, sour and salt, served
– as is only right – by generous measure in a
salt-rimmed Mexican hat glass complete with a
wedge of lime.
It’s 2-for-1 until 7.30pm on Thursdays, so the
table is soon filled with the objects of our indecision.
My Margarita has some stiff competition
from the perfectly blush Cosmopolitans and
verdant Mojitos. The taste-testing continues
late into the evening but must not have proved
definitive as none of us can quite remember
which one was best. Lizzie Lower
The Bar at Coffeehouse, Fisher Street, Thurs-
Sat, 6.30-11.30pm, 07721 942845