Location: 28 Steelhouse Lane, City Centre, Birmingham, B4 6BJ
Opening Hours of the Gin Parlour, upstairs in The Jekyll and Hyde: 8pm – 11pm, Friday and Saturday. Tables are available for walk ins or to ensure you get a table, you could book here Gin Parlour Table Booking.
It is not very often that Mr Trips and I get to go out (together minus children) . It is even less often that I get to go out to drink cocktails! So when the lovely people of The Jekyll and Hyde invited us to come along to sample their literary themed cocktails in the upstairs Gin Parlour and Cocktail Bar, I was very happy to say yes.
If you are not familiar with The Jekyll and Hyde, it is part of the Bitters n’ Twisted group, who also run some very well known and popular venues including; The Victoria (in the theatre quarter ) , Island Bar (opposite The Mailbox) and Bodega (just off Colmore Row). To name just a few. They are well known for their relaxed quirkiness and imaginative cocktails, and come the evenings and weekends are always busy. I previously reviewed their Bodega in Sutton Coldfield (here) when it first opened and can say that I was blown away there so knew to expect good things from the Gin Parlour at The Jekyll and Hyde.
The Jekyll and Hyde is on the outskirts of the city centre, close to the Children’s Hospital. Don’t let its slightly out of the way location put you off though, as it is well worth the three minute walk from the hustle and bustle of Colmore Row, especially if like me, that hustle and bustle can sometimes get a bit wearing.
The Jekyll and Hyde has a beautiful (old feel) purple frontage and the windows coupled with the old style lamps and colour scheme, you could be forgiven for thinking that you had stepped back to an old Hammer Horror movie based in the time of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
The upstairs Gin Parlour is thoughtfully and comfortably laid out. We were lucky enough to get a wall seat with a very plush bench sofa seat running all around the wall of the room (the Parlour had only 3 tables left when we arrived at 9pm). We were welcomed by Tony, the very talented barkeep manning the bar that evening. He got us seated and sent over Izzy who would be looking after us that evening. Oh yeah, table service too. No queuing at the bar tonight!
Izzy bought us over some cocktail menus, a glass of pretzels and some water, then giving us some time to mull over our choices. All of the cocktails have a literary theme and are inspired by well-known works of fiction. See if you can figure them out below. Mr Trips managed to identify five of them before resorting to google. Answers at the end of the blog!
Valar Morghulis
Hayman’s Old Tom Gin with Raspberry, Lemon and a Pinot Noir float
“A minute, an hour, a month. Death is certain, the time is not”
The Red Weed
Boe Violet Gin paired with liquorice, blackberry and rhubarb & ginger beer
“Slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us”
Captain Flint’s Plunder
Peaky Blinder Black Spiced Rum paired with lime, pineapple and passion-fruit
“I lived on rum, I tell you. Its been meat and drink and man and wife to me”
Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
Chase Grapefruit Gun paired with Tuaca, pistachio and lemon
“Like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick”
Moloko
Clotted Cream Gin, dark rum and vanilla
“It is as unhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil”
Sympathy for the Devil
Tequila, Orange, Agave, Banana and Overproof Rum
“Too weird to live, too rare to die”
Gods of Death
Plum Sake, Apple, Hibiscus, Japanese blended scotch and lemon
“L, did you know Gods of Death love apples?”
Mad Hatters Tea (for 2-3 to share)
Masons Tea Gun, Fig Liqueur, Apple and Peach
Over the course of the night we tried all of them apart from the Valar Morgulis and the Mad Hatters Tea. We did see someone on the table next to ours have the Mad Hatters tea and it was presented in a large vintage tea pot and drunk from little cute matching vintage tea cups.
Tony behind the bar worked wonders with his ingredients and definitely looks like the kind of guy who knows how to make a Red Eye (Mr Trips says that is an in-joke for barmen? I have no idea what he means). Izzy popped back regularly to see if we were okay and needed anything more. She also topped up our pretzels at least once, something that Mr Trips appreciated immensely.
Our favourite drink that Tony served up for us was Captain Flints Plunder: a long, tropical rum based cocktail served with a chocolate coin (is that clue to its inspiration?) in a glass shaped like a pineapple. I also really liked The Red Weed and the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. I wish we could have stayed longer to try all of them, but we had to get back to let my lovely mother-in-law go home (she was watching the little trippers) and also, its been some time since I went for cocktails and much to Mr Trips amusement I was really feeling the effects, even only after the first one! If you were in the Gin Parlour on Friday night, I was the one permanently smiling with little giggles in the corner of the room. Sat in cocktail heaven.
I really like The Jekyll and Hyde. It is cool without being pretentious. It is unfussy and welcoming and has a very relaxed air to it. The staff were falling over themselves to be helpful and friendly (to everyone in the Parlour), and the venue itself was warm, cosy and comfortable whilst still being quirky and unique with a definite personality all of its own. They even had a board game section. Gin cocktails and a game of scrabble?
Do make the effort to drop by one of the days, whether you are on your way out into Birmingham, on your way back, or looking for a post-work drink. They’ll look after you, get you as tipsy as you fancy and send you out into the night with a smile on your face. Just like they did with us. And I’m pretty sure it will be a regular choice for you in the future.
Oh yes, the answers to the cocktail quotes.
In order: Game of Thrones, The War of the Worlds, Treasure Island, The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, A Clockwork Orange, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Death Note and Alice in Wonderland.
A huge thank you to The Jekyll and Hyde for a fantastic evening. We loved it and will be back again very soon.