The Toucan

Magners, Session Purity IPA, Pravha, Staropramen, Madri - a great selection of drinks to enjoy when you’ve had one too many Guinness!

Jameson built its fame in the late 1700s as a single pot still whiskey. This became the signature style of all Irish whiskey: a mash bill of malted and un-malted barley, triple distilled in copper pot stills, at a single distillery.

By the turn of the 19th century, Jameson was the second-largest producer in Ireland producing 1,000,000 gallons annually. It was the second most popular spirit in the world after rum and internationally by 1805 Jameson had become the world's number one whiskey.

The single pot still made way for today’s blend of grain and pot still whiskey in the iconic green bottles you see today, and many of which you will find on the shelves of our basement bar!

We prefer to serve ours on the rocks but also enjoy the newly popular cocktail version with splash of ginger ale and squeeze of lime!

Cheers to the weekend!
📸 bexdrinksbeer

What’s better than one pint of Guinness?
📸 julasz_13

It’s a lovely day for a Guinness!
☘️

Jack Purrs from chose his best spot for a Guinness in soho. Thanks

His whiskey might be no good, but his voice is and so is our whiskey!

You can catch the incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist, singer, and tenor banjo player-that is
P E E T J A C K S O N
L I V E this coming Friday 20th September in the basement bar.

Space is limited so be sure to get there early for a cosy seat, quite literally next to the man himself!

Check back on our socials for more updates on this super special live performance.
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“Give every man his Dew” they say!

Take a drop of the 12yr old special reserve with its chocolate notes and spicy, nutty flavour from being matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks.

Awarded plaudits in abundance from whiskey connoisseurs around the world, it’s waiting for you in our basement bar.

We love Vintage threads style, as much as we love our Guinness.
📸 vintagethreads_ldn
adidas

Everything is better in black and white!
📸 nataliespenceuk

Arthur Guinness - The inventor of Guinness beer, founded the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate in 1759.

It was during a financial crisis that created an abundance of affordable property, when Guinness moved to Dublin and leased the site from the Rainsford family under the agreement, he made a £100 downpayment and agreed to pay an additional £45 annually for 9,000 years!

It was originally an ale brewery, but Guinness began producing porter in 1778, and by 1799, production of ale ceased with the popularity of his darker beer.

As a member of the Dublin Corporation of Brewers, Guinness was also instrumental in petitioning the Irish House of Commons to change the tax code surrounding the importation of beer.

Guinness and his wife had ten children together, and upon Guinness's death in 1803, his son Arthur Guinness II inherited the brewery and all operations.

We will be closed on Monday for the summer bank holiday, but don’t fret, we’ll be back to our regular Guinness business from Tuesday!

We don’t just serve Guinness.

We also have one of the largest collections of Irish Whiskey in London and with whiskey cocktails on the up, it would be a shame not to partake in a taste or two!

Granted a license to distil in 1608, Bushmills is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world named for the mills that dotted the town all along the River Bush.

The water, drawn from the River Bush, flows over beds of basalt rock and when only malted barley is used in distillation, and made at a single distillery, you have the very definition of “single malt” whiskey.

Bushmills collection available from the basement bar 🥃
bushmillsuk Bushmills Irish Whiskey

Guinness got that Friday feeling!

Who needs when you have The Toucan bathroom art?

Now the Olympics are over, we can all relax and resume normal positions at the bar and raise a Guinness to team Great Britain & Northern Ireland 🇬🇧🇮🇪🥇🥈🥉

Sun’s out, but there’s no better place to be drinking a Guinness than the basement bar! ☀️🕶️

Every time is Guinness time!

Sláinte! From our incredible manager, Sofiane!

Not only is Sofiane one of the hardest working, but he is also one of the kindest people you will ever meet. He’s been a staple behind our bar for over 20 years and we couldn’t do it without him!

Be sure to give him a cheers 🍻 when you next pop in!

England may have lost the trophy, but a pint of Guinness is a winner!

If walls could talk, ours would have many a story to tell!

But we’ll start with how our now iconic Toucan’s got there in the first place.

Although Soho is not quite the den of iniquity it once was, back in the early 90’s many bohemians, musicians, artists and other folk could be seen propping up the end of a bar where landlords would jot down their growing bar tabs in the back of little black books.

It was in one of these little black books that a bar tab sat for longer than expected and couldn’t be paid so a deal between artist and landlord was struck.

The walls of the basement bar got painted with Toucans and the bar tab ripped out of the book!

Don’t worry though these Toucans are pretty good at keeping secrets!
GuinnessTime

Don’t worry…Drink Guinness!

We’re gearing up for PRIDE 🏳️‍🌈 tomorrow! 🌈❤️

With the parade running from Hyde Park corner, through Piccadilly Circus to Whitehall, and the trans and non-binary community stage set up in our very own Soho Square, we can’t think of a better way to refuel and hydrate than with MOTH: The most delicious cocktails in a can.

We’ll be offering Espresso Martinis, Cosmopolitan’s, Pina Colada’s and Mojito’s so you can enjoy great cocktails, surrounded by great people!

All drinks served during Pride are take-away only!

Have a Happy and safe Pride!

Did you know…148 years ago…

the now synonymous 14th century Irish harp known as the “O’Neill” or “Brian Boru” harp, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin was the inspiration behind the Guinness Logo when it was first used on the bottle label in 1876!

The harp is one of three trademarks to make up the Guinness livery and because of this trademark in 1960, Guinness named it’s first larger Harp!
📸Jenny Magee Photography

Celebrate the weekend with a pint of black and white!

Next weekend we’ll be celebrating in full colour for 🌈🏳️‍🌈

Check back on our socials for Pride specials and come and join the party!
📸 Jenny Magee Photography
🌈