Irish restaurateur and Great British Menu judge Oliver Peyton has launched a range of ready to drink cocktails in collaboration with bartender Dré Masso.
Called Unknown Pleasures, the RTD range includes a Bloody Mary, Peach Iced Tea and Espresso Martini, to cover brunch, lunch and dinner drinking occasions. The inspiration for the brand came after Peyton had a bad Bloody Mary on a plane, which was made by mixing a vodka miniature with warm tomato juice.
He saw a gap in the market for premium, premixed cocktails in the convenience of a can and set about launching his own range, which took three years to develop.
The Bloody Mary features chilli and horseradish, while the Espresso Martini is made with Arabica coffee beans, and the Iced Tea mixes black tea, vodka, peach and lemon.
Six packs of the Bloody Mary and Peach Iced Tea canned cocktails cost £21, while the Espresso Martini packs are slightly more expensive, at £23.40 per six.
Peyton and legendary London bartender Dré Masso first worked together at The Atlantic Bar & Grill in Soho in the mid-‘90s, which is now Brasserie Zédel.
“The last three years have been an inspired journey of collaboration with the team, testing and testing again, perfecting taste and vision for a unique range of premium cocktails positioned as an affordable luxury,” Peyton said.
‘’We are defined by what’s in our cans, which will deliver impact on supermarket shelves, in bars – big and mini – and chilling in fridges everywhere,” he added.
New alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails will be added to the range next year. Peyton opened The Atlantic Bar & Grill in 1994, and Coast in Mayfair in 1995.
He formed Peyton and Byrne in 2006, which led to restaurants at artistic institutions, including the National Café at the National Gallery in London. He has been a judge on BBC 2’s Great British Menu since its inception in 2006.
After a stint at The Atlantic Bar, Masso headed up the Lab Bar in Soho and Tommy’s Mexican restaurant in San Francisco. He is also behind Opium Cocktail and Dim Sum Parlour in London’s Chinatown, and is the co-creator of Altos Tequila.
