New mobile gin bar launched in Norwich
The Copper Cork owners, Mark Knight, Nicki Blake and Nick Long. PHOTO: Nick Long - Credit: Archant
Two Norwich residents have repurposed an old rice horse trailer into an environmentally conscious mobile gin bar.
The trailer before. PHOTO: Nick Long - Credit: Archant
Nick Long, 31, from Norwich, and his fiancée Nicki Blake, 28, also from Norwich, teamed up with their friend Mark Knight, 45, from Lincoln to turn their vision of an affordable, sustainable gin bar into a reality.
The trio purchased an old horse trailer around nine months ago and got to work on transforming it from scrap to a vintage copper style bar. This month it was finally ready to launch as The Copper Cork mobile gin bar.
Mr Long, who has a background in bars, nightclubs and restaurants, said of the original trailer: 'It was in such bad condition, but we really wanted a joint project to do something fun and something we had never done before. It was very much a steep learning curve.'
Now almost completely rebuilt, the trailer will soon be attending local weddings and its owners hope to fill their calendar with even more local parties and events.
The trailer after. PHOTO: Nick Long - Credit: Archant
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Mr Long said: 'We love to keep things local, but using the best produce from the local area.
'We are hoping to do develop some great relationships with local brands including Norfolk Gin, Bullards, St Giles and more.
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'The more we can celebrate what our amazing county can produce the better we feel.'
The gin bar's owners also wanted to make sure they were doing their bit in the fight against single use plastics and will be exclusively using compostable drink cups for wine, beer and spirits in addition to only using paper straws and recycled paper napkins.
Nicki Blake in the mobile gin bar. PHOTO: Nick Long - Credit: Archant
When asked what gave the friends the idea for the gin bar, Mr Long said: 'We all love Gin, from trying to make our own flavours at home and through Gin tastings.
'The project also allowed us something fun and different to do at the weekends. We learnt skills we didn't know we had through out the process, including plumbing and lighting and metal work.
'It's been a real labour of love and we can't wait for more people to see it'.
The Copper Cork is available for hire in Norfolk and Lincolnshire.
