Make that… five bottles of rum, five cocktails, five samples… Great things come in fives, it would seem.
On one of the wettest, most miserable evenings Yelp MCR has ever seen (wait, we are in Manchester I suppose?), or as Rana M puts it, 'a bleak, wet and frankly depressing evening, I meandered through the alleyways of Mancunia towards Mojo. Felt rather strange Mojo-ing this early in the evening, but what can I say, I felt like rummin.' Yes indeed, our Yelpers braved the hideous sideways precipitation to warm their cockles with a rum masterclass at effortlessly cool City Centre bar Mojo.
It was an event we shared with our dear sister city Yelp Leeds, and the awesome and knowledgeable Sam came from that very Yorkshire branch to talk all us clueless Mancunians into a right rum education. The generous pourings meant things got a little blurry for some attendees. 'It's strange to wake up and know you want to give an event five stars and have only hazy memories of the night before but I guess that's what happens when you're plied with alcohol from beginning to end,' says Chris M, rubbing his head.
And the event opened up Mojo to a whole group of Yelpers who'd never set foot in its wonderful doors before. 'Despite being a stone's throw from the office block that I've worked at for years, I'd never once ventured to Mojo before.' (Chris M again.) Says Lee Z, 'Mojo is a different kettle of alcohol, and as soon as we walked in, we knew we liked it – there are lots of bars in the Centre that I can quite happily pop into for a quick snifter. Mojo is one I could quite easily plonk myself down in for the long haul!'
We sampled five different kinds of rum, each followed by a cocktail to share containing said rum. 'Yes, that's ten drinks each for those that are counting!' continues Chris M. 'The cocktails ranged from chocolatey creamy ones, to the fruity (and my favourite) Guarapita – something I'll most definitely be trying again. The good folks at Mojo were kind enough at the end to collect all the untouched samples and mix them all together to make Zombies – I know the propsect of five different kinds of rum all sloshed together might not sound all too appealing but they were scRUMmy! (Booo!)' Oh dear.
As for that Guarapita… 'My favourite,' admits Andrew Y. 'It tasted like Lilt, but with a nice rum taste in the background – it blended really really well and it was quite frankly an amazing cocktail. I will be trying that out the next time I have cocktails – anyone got any excuse to go to a cocktail place soon?' I think we can sort something out.
But it wasn't all about the rum, certainly for one guest! 'Oh my god I HATE rum,' Bethany O began with trepidation… 'But I LOVE Yelp!!!' That's what we like to hear. 'With our own special rum room I felt we were very important… I applaud those of you who are man enough to enjoy rum, but I'm going to have bow out of this alcoholic beverage and stick to my free Evian water. I did overly enjoy the beautiful Yorkshire crisps that were IN A TIN! What a novel and outrageous idea – the lamb and rosemary actually tasted like lamb and rosemary much to the shock of Natasha T and I!! Yes, crisps deserve a paragraph of their own. May I congratulate and thank Emma on a wonderful rum-hating, crisp-loving, Yelp-adoring event! I cannot wait for the next (minus the rum) :D'
And for those with a sweet tooth, Stockport-based Wonderland Cakes offered up naughtily tasty miniature Mojito and Rum Raisin cupcakes, as well as squidgy chocolate brownies for any designated drivers. Gareth H claimed to 'have a unhealthy penchant for chocolate brownies and the ones on offer did not disappoint – they were great, as were the mini cupcakes and the Yorkshire crisps provided a tasty savoury diversion and certainly stopped our tummies from rum-bling (apologies, couldn't resist the pun).' Wait a second Gareth, puns are my job. Lee Z declared that 'since attending Yelp events I don't think I have ever tasted as many gorgeous brownies in my life, and the ones on offer from Wonderland last night were up there with the best.' Now THAT'S an accolade.
And as always after a Yelp Event, revellers were keen to return. 'I'll most definitely be back to sample some more in the Rhum room,' raves Clare G. 'As the good folk at Mojo's proved last night, it is indeed fantastic stuff to sip on neat. We got an expert overview of rums ranging from El Dorado 12 year (hailing from Guyana) to Santa Teresa (Venezuela) to a Martinique white rum (the name escapes me). We were given lots of info about the distilleries and the different styles of rum by a lovely staff member who really knows her stuff! Us lucky Yelpers also got to try each of the 5 rums in a delicious cocktail. I can wholeheartedly vouch for the high quality of the Mai Tais, Zombies, Guarapitas and Rum Alexanders after last night. We had one or two more but alas my memory fails me…' Don't worry, it happened to us all.
Need a fourteenth opinion? Read the reviews, and don't forget to have a gander at the snaps on Flickr and Facebook. Talk about it too! As Lee Z finished, 'It's starting to get very difficult trying to deciding which is my favourite event that I've attended, but because I liked rum before the event, and I like it even more after the event I'll give the accolade to this one… although that is probably only until the next one.'
And until that next one, SYOY.
Over and out,
Emma-Lou 'Taking A Rum For The Team' H, Manchester Community Manager
