You Can Go To A Harry Potter Bar Where You Create Cocktails By 'Magic'

Wands out, robes on and toads at the ready – a ‘magical’ Harry Potter cocktail experience is coming to London.

Arriving in March 2018, ‘The Cauldron Magical Cocktail Experience’ will see guests brew ‘potions’ using interactive ‘magic wands’, with a dash of molecular mixology thrown in for muggles.

Potions class will be held not in a dungeon or on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, but in a Dalston basement – which is pretty similar, let’s face it. They’re both dark, dingy and have probably seen some pretty unspeakable things.

Visitors can expect the space to have ‘custom fitting with embedded tech for an immersion experience’, according to The Cauldron co-founders Matthew Cortland and David Duckworth, who are also planning to launch a Harry Potter-inspired pub in the future.

Upon arrival, guests will ‘descend the stairs to receive a robe and magic wand, which they use to pour their own pint of The Cauldron’s bespoke beer’. Feel free to recreate Snape’s famous robe-swishing as you flounce down the stairs.

Cortland told Business Insider that the wands use the same technology as car key fobs, which will enable items to move without touching them. They will be used for things like ‘opening drawers, pouring drinks and turning on the light’.

You won’t be brewing these potions illegally in a toilet

Basically, fellow muggles, we’re getting one step closer to actually receiving our Hogwarts letters. And any step is better than none.

Guests will be also given a cauldron and a potions books, and will collect ‘fresh and bottled potion-making ingredients and materials’ from the potions cupboard.

Cortland explained: ‘Students chop, grind, and prepare ingredients and follow instructions to brew two drinkable potions.’ We’re hoping that ‘drinkable’ means they’ll be delicious and won’t shrink you or give you hideous boils.

If that wasn’t enough, the cocktails will also change colour, smoke and bubble.

‘The experience we are putting together is fully immersive and combines a lot of scientific principles into one class – DIY hardware, software, magnetism, chemistry,’ Cortland added.

‘Dave is a molecular mixologist and cocktail designer and has been involved in setting up and running some of London’s most renowned cocktail experiences such as ABQ and The Bletchley,’ Cortland said. ‘He’s a really creative guy who loves designing amazing experiences around cocktails, and so it’s a natural fit.’

Muggle no longer! Come and collect your wand

Tickets for ‘The Cauldron Magical Cocktail Experience’ – which will last one hour and 45 minutes – are already on sale for £29.99, with classes expected to run for several months.

The duo stress that the event is just inspired by Harry Potter and is in no way associated with the franchise.

Those who buy a ticket before December 15, can have theirs gift-wrapped. As well as your tickets, the package will also include a customised welcome letter sealed with wax, a bookmark and a glass vial.

Guests who attend the classes are encouraged to bring a copy of their favourite childhood book, which will be donated to a reading classroom in need.

Huge Potterhead? Check out this tour of Harry Potter’s London, a Harry Potter hotel and Harry-related experiences around the world.

About the author

Alice Johnston

Food Editor

Alice is always planning her next meal. She studied English at the University of Bristol before getting her Master’s in newspaper journalism from City University London. She worked on Femail at Mail Online for 18 months writing about lifestyle and food and has also worked at Metro.co.uk, The Guardian, Mumsnet and The Sun. After starting at Culture Trip as a Social Content Producer writing travel and lifestyle stories, she was promoted to the role of Food Editor and now specialises in culinary culture, trends and social issues around food. When she’s not writing, eating or travelling, she can be found cooking overly elaborate dinners, reading cookbooks in bed or playing with her cat, Orlando. Her favourite foods include fishfinger sandwiches, burnt caramel panna cotta, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and oysters.