Funky Venues

Venue Review

Character: Lively but laid back boutique bar and conference room

Funky Features: LibraryLounge, with Illy coffee station, 10m state of the art cocktail bar, Large-scale ‘world map’ drinks shelving grouping drinks according to country of origin. “Flair” room with special flooring to enable experimentation without breakages, One of the largest selections of spirits and liqueurs in the UK, Audio and visual equipment throughout including: 50” plasma TV, free Wi-fi, printing facilities and iPod station

Location and History

Shaker Bar Schools have been leading world-class bartending, cocktail and flair (the display of movement that accompanies making a drink) into training courses since 2001. Originally from Birmingham, with satellites in Cape Town and Johannesburg, BarSchool’s London branch opened in 2006.

Now they have opened their own boutique venue, located on East Road in Shoreditch, naturally, it’s just a couple of minutes walk from Old Street station and fashionable Hoxton. This venue is ideal for corporate away days and so far over 2000 bartenders have graduated from their courses. 

Interior and Spaces for Hire

The school is set on two floors and the bar, conference space, lounge and flair mixing room can be hired for corporate and private parties, team building, events, exhibitions and, of course, bartending and cocktail mixing courses.

The BarSchool® is a private venue not open to the general public but can be exclusively hired for an array of uses from corporate hire to conferences, photo shoots, meetings, teambuilding and product launches. The BarSchool has complete flexibility offering a canvas to
imprint your own corporate branding or theme.

The artwork-bedecked lounge contains a large selection of literature relating to the art of bartending. Beyond is a long bar, with a world map covering the length of the opposite wall. Shelves are strategically placed to demonstrate the country of origin of each particular drink, which are restocked for each new class. 

On the floor below is the conference room and the den where flair mixing is taught. The conference room is a hi-tech hideout. Its large leather chairs and tables can be configured into different combinations, whether it’s one large table to seat a single large group, or a number of small ones. The clocks on the wall, keeping track of foreign time zones add to the cosmopolitan quality of the space.

The flair room has black, rubber flooring with a drainage facility meaning that first-timers don’t need to worry about making a mess. Customer service is key at Bar School, and the charisma and friendliness of staff both reflect well on the company’s service and values. Bar School has its own small allotment a minute’s walk away where fresh herbs are grown and picked daily.

Capacity: 60 for a stand-up reception / 50 for an open plan meeting and 24 for a conference.