LET’S
CRUZ
This month, Liquid Africa spent a bit of
time with Brian Owango, the pioneer of
mixology in Kenya and creator of Nairobi
Cocktail Week (NCW). They delved into his
inspiration for the event and what its true
purpose is
First things first…what is NCW?
It is a 10- day mixology focused,
business driven activation set to take
place in over 30 bars around the
city. The core of the event is getting
the public to try something new
using premium brands. We get spirit
suppliers to give bars a significant
concession on products for only that
period, and this is then handed over
to the public. Cocktails will be sold
for 400 Kshs citywide. Nice no?
Very nice. How did it go last year?
It was a great first effort. I was so impressed by the outlets that stepped
up. I remember one situation when
we’d just finished a training in Sarova
Panafric and before we could even
pack up, one of the floor staff was
already upselling cocktail week to
their guests. He went straight into
‘Sir, now it is the NCW, we are serving
premium cocktails for just 400 Kshs
which is cheaper than a cup of tea!’
Tears mate tears! Funny fact, do you
know that of the top three sellers
at NCW 2014, two of them were
restaurants? The one common factor
46.
is that you get great service in both.
I hope bar owners are reading this.
What have you got in store for Nairobi this year?
More bars, more mixology meets culinary, a Mixology Market and a Wrap
Party of note.
-Last year we managed to engage
30 bars. This year I will be increasing that to 35. It seems like a blip
but it’s a big leap. Think about it
this way, you have to engage a bar
owner who will hand you over to the
manager who then has to schedule
varying amounts of people to be
there for your training. Sounds easy
but it’s not. These outlets are open
and usually quite busy so achieving
that is something special.
Mixology meets Culinary is something I had planned to do with our
dear friend Chef Marcus at the
Talisman. Things have not worked
out as hoped but I will carry the
flame forward, so expect to see some
interesting degustation menus in 2-3
venues around Nairobi.
-The Mixology Market will be on the
last Saturday of Cocktail week. Lots