Grab your Winter Cocktail Travelwrap and head for London’s Spitalfields where more than 30 pop-up bars will be serving bespoke cocktails from around the globe during London Cocktail Week. Here’s our pick of the pop-ups.Fairmont Old Fashion, London Cocktail WeekElite mixologists from six Fairmont hotels come together to offer a pop-up bar as carefully crafted as the cocktails themselves. The drink to go for is the Fairmont Old Fashioned, above, the Fairmont’s version of what is said to be the world’s first ever cocktail, created in the US in 1806. The original recipe calls for bourbon, Angostura Bitters, a sugar cube and Club Soda to which Fairmont has added rum to make it richer and ‘more worldly’. Darker Don, London Cocktail WeekDon Papa is a premium small batch rum from the Philippines, distilled on the island of Negros Occidental, known locally as Sugarlandia. The company’s roaming #Sugarlandia Rum Shack, hosted by a team of cocktail ambassadors known as the Dons of Cocktails, will be serving their finest rum cocktails and twists. Go for the spicy Darker Don, above, mixed with fiery wild Calamasi lime juice.Spice Smuggler, London Cocktail WeekAre you a bit of a cocktail pioneer? Then the Freya Birch Bar is the one for you. Birch sap is harvested from sustainably sourced birch trees in Northern Europe and distilled in Essex. Spiced Smuggler, above, is a twist on the classic Moscow mule, made with Freya Birch Spirit, triple sec and muddled cherries.Watermellon Martini, London Cocktail WeekG’Vine Gin de France is distilled from grapes and infused with vine flowers on a 16th-century family estate in Cognac country. Surrounded by mini waterfalls, G’Vine’s pop-up bar will be mixing up classic Tom Collins, G&Ts and a G’Vine Watermelon Martini, above, all served in mini watermelons.Passionate Mary, London Cocktail WeekCocktails at Singapore Tourist Board’s ‘Passion made possible’ pop-up are concocted by Nutmeg + Clove, one of the 50 Best Bars in Asia, with an edible art installation created by Janice Wong, twice named Asia’s Best Pastry Chef. Try a Passionate Mary, above, an Asian twist on a Bloody Mary with added rosewater, chrysanthemum, sour plum powder and ginger.

All images ©DrinkUp London

The Cocktail Village is at Old Spitalfields Market, London, E1 6EW, from 2-8 October; 5pm-9.30pm; £5 advance tickets/£10 on the door. Cocktails are an additional £6 each. 

BY MAGGIE O’SULLIVAN