The world’s first pickled onion cocktail bar is opening in London this week. Garner’s Pickles, at Bar Swift Shoreditch, will serve a world-first menu built entirely around pickled onions.
Pop star Dua Lipa has been credited with kickstarting the trend for including pickle-based accompaniments to drinks. In 2024, she appeared on TikTok, adding pickle and jalapeño juice to a soft drink before taking a satisfied sip. Since then, countless other recipes and videos have been posted highlighting the benefits of adding this unusual element to other liquids, with some recipes more successful than others.
At the pop-up drinks will include the ‘Pickleback Buck’: bourbon infused with Garner’s sweet baby pickles, fiery fresh ginger syrup, and zesty lime, served as a highball. Those after a seasonal sip can try a Winter Spiced Cranberry Sour, infused with brine from the salty snack.
Elaine Miller from Garner’s said: “This Christmas, we are sharing our premium pickles in a way never seen before. The Jar Bar is going to be open for lovers of cocktails – and of pickled onions, of course.
“The bar will take on some of the famous pickled onion cocktail creations, with one even served straight from a Garner’s jar in a luxury setting.”
Other pickle-based beverages will include the ‘Pickleada’, which fuses cherry tomato juice with brine and is topped up with pale ale. The signature Garner’s Gibson includes off-dry vermouth and gin and is served in a stylish martini glass.
The cocktails were crafted by expert mixologists for a range of palates, depending on how adventurous the drinker is feeling.
The Garner’s Jar Bar is open from 3pm to 11pm on Friday, 5 December, and is available to book online.
Elaine Miller added: “Pickled onions have been adding a tang and crunch to sandwiches and stealing the show from cheese boards for years, so it was only a matter of time before they crashed the cocktail party.
“Turns out, they mix just as well with gin as they do with Gorgonzola. Prepare for expertly mixed creations served straight from the jar to the glass – a one-of-a-kind experience for the most wonderful brine of the year.”