After pop-ups in Covent Garden and Brighton hit a sweet-spot in 2018, the Chocolate Cocktail Club has found a new home in east London. Co-founders Holly Brooks and Rachel Wisson launch their latest venture on Thursday, January 17.

When Holly Brooks first encountered the concept of a bar serving exclusively chocolate-based cocktails, she wasn’t exactly thrilled.

“It started last year, on holiday in Las Vegas,” she says. “We were out looking for a bar and at first I wasn’t keen; I’m quite in to fitness and thought ‘chocolate and cocktails’? No thanks. I had my arm twisted and we went along anyway.

“Of course, these drinks were so nice and I instantly thought ‘why the hell is this not in London?”

Brooks, together with her partner Rachel Wisson, returned to the UK excited by the potential of setting up a bar which served cocktails infused with all kinds of creamy, decadent and refreshing chocolate flavours. The pair became personal licence holders and initially brought their new line of sweet-drinks to weddings, corporate events and birthday parties courtesy of a mobile bar.

“Soon after, we got picked up by one of the Housewives of Cheshire to host a Royal Wedding Party, and from there we staged our first pop-up in Covent Garden in August.”

Encouraged by the demand for their burgeoning cocktail pop-up, Brooks and Wisson headed to the south coast next, where they hosted a one-month residency at The Vine Club, Brighton, in the lead up to Christmas.

The Chocolate Cocktail Club’s next pop-up is its longest to date, with guests able to drop in for a signature Chocotini until at least May 28.

The bar carries a menu of 12 chocolate cocktails – Clockwork Orange and After Eight are among the best-sellers – as well as chocolate beers and wine. If everything becomes a little too indulgent after a couple of rounds, the venue also offers a selection of cocktails and other alcoholic drinks which are free of the sweet-stuff.

“At present we’re there until May, but we are in talks about extending that,” adds Brooks.

“We sometimes think ‘how did this all happen so quickly?’ but we know that with the bar scene, people are always looking for the next big thing. We wanted to get in and get ourselves noticed.

“With Junkyard Golf and the Alcatraz Cocktail Bar at each end, Brick Lane is becoming a real destination for going out. With Shoreditch just up the road and people heading out after work from the city, I think we’re well suited to all of it – we offer something different; you aren’t just sitting in a normal east London boozer.”

Chocolate Cocktail Club opens at 202 Brick Lane, E1 6SA from Thursday, January 17. Tickets are £10 (including a free drink) and can be found here.