Russian Tea Party with Russian Standard Vodka in the Northern Quarter

If there’s one thing I love in life, it’s a good cocktail , and so when I got an invite in my inbox from a company called ‘Manchester Loves Cocktails’ you better know I RSVP’d quicker than I could down a drink. In fact, Manchester Loves Cocktails were running a collaborative event with Russian Standard Vodka and Cahoots in Manchester city centre. Hosted at The Fitzgerald, a quirky New York speak easy style bar in Manchester’s trendy Northern Quarter, the event was to be a Russian Tea Party. Sign me up!

Heading over to The Fitzgerald on a rainy Manchester Saturday afternoon, it was a relief to get in out of the typical Manchester weather and nestle inside ready for a stiff drink. The Fitzgerald is a really chilled bar, with a relaxed environment and the ability to make you feel warm and snug even on the most miserable of days. For the Manchester Loves Cocktails, Russian Standard Vodka x Cahoots event it was suitable decked out with Russian themed décor, included floral shalls, Russian tea urns and of course, lots of Russian Standard Vodka!

So, on to the drinks! Of course, each of the drinks we tried contained Russian Standard Vodka – how else would you have a Russian Afternoon Tea? – and we were served three impressive cocktails: The Russian Mule, Keep Marm & Carry On and the Cahoots Moscow Tea Party. Our favourite was The Russian Mule, which I believe contained Vodka and beer. This was something new to me as I am not a fan of beer on it’s own, but combined with Vodka it was tasty and reminded me a little of a Margarita somehow?!

Of course, no Russian Tea Party is complete without some Russian sweet treats, and so each table were treated to a stack of nibbles to tie in with the theme. There were no finger sandwiches or scones and clotted cream here, instead we tried delicious nibbles such as Russian Walnut Cookies, Plum Biscuits and Tea Bread. It was so fun to try something new, and whilst I can’t promise that I would choose these sweet treats over a traditional champagne afternoon tea, we certainly filled our boots!

Over all, we had a lovely afternoon indulging in vodka and sweet treats at the Manchester Loves Cocktails, Russian Standard Vodka x Cahoots event at The Fitzgerald in the Northern Quarter. Whilst I used to drink vodka a lot when I was younger, recently I’ve neglected it in favour of other spirits such as gin and rum, but thanks to our Russian Tea Party my vodka love story has truly been reignited.