Healthy cocktails on the menu at Weymouth bar (From Dorset Echo)
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Healthy cocktails on the menu at Weymouth bar
9:30am Wednesday 1st April 2009 in News By Martin Lea
CHEERS ALL ROUND: Lewis Taylor, left and Mark Stratton try a non-alcoholic cocktail at the Boho bar in Weymouth
STAFF at a Weymouth cocktail bar were neither shaken nor stirred when an order came in for some exotic drinks with a twist.
Healthcare workers were impressed when they heard about bar owner Mark Stratton’s nomination in a prestigious drinks contest known as the ‘liquid Oscars’.
They decided to set him another challenge – to make some non-alcoholic cocktails.
The drinks will be mixed ‘live’ and served to 100 guests at a conference to mark the launch of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for Dorset.
NHS Dorset’s health programme adviser Emma Wilson wants to demonstrate to guests you don’t need alcohol to have a good time.
She chose Mark, who runs Boho in St Thomas Street, after hearing he was competing in a contest run by drinks giant Diageo to find the world’s number one bartender, as reported in the Dorset Echo.
Mark has been asked to come up with eight different drinks including a cocktail to promote NHS Dorset’s Know Your Colour campaign.
Mixing booze-free cocktails is not unusual for Mark but he decided to invent some new drinks with the help of his senior cocktail barman Lewis Taylor.
“It’s been like Heston Blumenthal’s experimental den down here,” joked Mark, 34.
“We offer non-alcoholic cocktails anyway such as Bloody Mary without the vodka and watermelon mojito minus the rum. People who don’t drink get offered the standard stuff in normal bars but we like to make our drinks interesting.
“They are particularly popular with pregnant women and people who are the driver in a group.
“We decided to come up with some different cocktails for the conference so we got a load of fresh fruit, purees and sodas and set to work.”
Mark has secured sponsorship from the cocktail company Funkin which will be supplying a mobile exhibition bar and decorations.
He said: “The signature drink is tricky because it has to include red, amber and green colours on top of one another. We have to choose the right drinks and get the weights right but we’ll get there.
“We’re pleased to support these events.”
