London – White Lyan has no ice, lemons or limes. It doesn’t feature rows of brand-name liquors either – just its own White Lyan cocktails that are pre-batched and served straight from bottle to glass.
The concept bar is the brainchild of renowned mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana (see our Seed on his newly opened New York bar Henry) and is also run by Australian bartender Iain Griffiths.
The duo wanted to rectify all the wrongs they saw while working in other establishments. The lack of citrus, for instance, is because of the amount of waste that results in unused lemon wedges, the lack of ice is because it is too unreliable, diluting drinks.
For Chetiyawardana and Griffiths, White Lyan allows them to take control of the cocktail experience, ensuring everything is meticulously looked after before serving the drink to customers.The focus on pre-batching cocktails frees servers up to discuss the drinks with their clientele, rather than busying themselves making even busier drinks.
For more on the new experimental attitude towards cocktails, read our Cocktail Futures microtrend.