Aficionado Pop-Up Bar {Update}

I was recently invited to the launch of the Aficionado Pop-Up Bar which promised to be a spectacular evening, however, I couldn't make it and so I sent along my friend Sasha (@FaceValue_ZA) to go and check it out on my behalf.

This is what she reported back with :

Spring is the perfect time to ditch the winter coat and boots and dress up the summer cocktail dresses for a cocktail evening.  There was no more perfect event to wear my Forever New skater dress with a slicked back top knot than the Ron Zacapa launch held at the Sandton Eye Aficionado Pop Up Bar who are officially responsible for the ultra-exclusive sensory experience that celebrates the arrival of this luxurious Guatemala rum to South African shores. 

A night in the clouds didn’t make much sense as the pop up restaurant is very much on the ground floor of the RaddisonBlu Hotel in Sandton until……guests were enveloped in a mystical thick magical cloud of smoke that embraced us while we sipped on delicious drinks all homage to the Ron Zacapa Rum that is slowly barrel-aged above the clouds for anything between 6 – 23 years in Guatemala.

Photo Credit: Aficionado

This pop up bar is an exclusive “invitation only” one of kind experience that welcomed guests and personalities such as Stevie French, Jen Sue and Tamarin Jardine alongside media and other special guests to relish in a captivating rustic environment that evoked a sense of wonder in guests. 

Stevie French

On entrance, each guest was gifted a Ron Zacapa Rum glass that was filled with the ever delicious dark Lindt chocolate truffles as well as the offer that our individual glasses could be engraved with whatever our hearts desired by the personal glass engraver that was on hand. 

We definitely felt like we had stepped into a different world and the pop up space exuded the spirit and ethos of a true Guatemalan experience from the décor all the way through to the live entertainment band and the delicious rustic inspired cuisine. I have to say though that the highlight of the night was definitely the multiple cocktails that were made with this exceptionally smooth evocative and seductive rum. 

My favourite and I must admit I could not stop at one, was the lemon meringue dessert tot that was what I can only explain as an “O.M.G” moment when it touched my lips. I would return to this bar for this tot alone! This pop up experience is only going to be in town for two months and you can make bookings online through the Aficionada website so that you too can get the opportunity to journey into the mystical heritage of Ron Zacapa. I would highly recommend it to break in that new cocktail dress you have been dying to wear! 

Thank-you Sasha for being my very first guest blogger! I hope you all enjoyed reading about this new pop up bar in Sandton, I think it's definitely worth going to have a look for ourselves!

P.s: Sasha's blog, Porcelain Rouge is pretty awesome, go give it a read!! 

---------------------------------------------------UPDATE-----------------------------------------------------

Earlier this week I went for a little cocktail tasting at the Aficionado bar and I was just SO impressed. 

The owl and the pussycat

The Tart

The presentation was just so innovative and makes you want to order ALL of the cocktails to see how they arrive. The Aficionado bar is truly an experience that you simply must try, remember it's a pop up bar and won't be around for long, so get there ASAP!