Halloween Done – Now for November!

Whew! It’s been a pretty action-packed end of October for Aroma, but we wanted to take a minute to highlight some of the events and accomplishments that have made us particularly proud!

Firstly, we’re delighted in updating those who haven’t already heard… that Aroma has won Norwich Cocktail Week 2017! The lovely folks responsible were kind enough to highlight not just our cocktail savvy, but also our friendly ambiance and plucky staff… all things of which we’re supremely proud.

Teal and Will show us how it’s done

Of course, we’d never have made it without the landslide votes we received from our beloved customers, so a massive thank you and shout out to you all!

We were fortunate enough to win a big old boatload of Bullards Gin to celebrate, and we shared our appreciation by offering free cocktails with lashings of the good stuff to those who booked tables with us on Friday 27th October. With live music in tow, it made for a great event!

Will was so amazed he had to go sit in the corner on Candy Crush just to calm down.

Of course, these festivities were to mark Norwich Cocktail Week, but we also had a sensational Halloween. Taking our cues from the minds of C S Lewis, Walt Disney and Tim Burton, we put together a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party complete with teapots full of cocktails and a bunch more themed after the Seven Deadly Sins.

We were joined by friends in finest costume, and settled in for some live music, together with a birthday booking that made for an even more sensational evening of candlelight and camaraderie, out of the cold night.

We’re happy and humbled at how much the birthday girl and her entourage enjoyed their time with us in our little one-night Wonderland, to say nothing of the guests we embraced in our melting pot of teapots and top hats. “It was the absolute highlight of our night!” Hannah told us. “We’re going to make it our yearly tradition provided you promise to keep it going! We had so much fun!”

Guess we’re doing this next year then…!

Will How and Will Allen of The Heartbreak Club provided some sensational acoustic tuneage to complement proceedings!

We’ve got plenty more events lined up as November sets sail, but rest assured that if you’ve got a birthday, a stag gathering, a hen do or a leaving party planned, we might just be the venue for you. We’re always happy to welcome you in!

Happy Halloween from Aroma!

Secrets Revealed!

That Salted Caramel Espresso Martini!

Our Norwich Cocktail Week special went down a storm last week. We shook so many, my triceps actually ache. Whilst mixing and stirring and shaking, I found myself looking up into the alluring eyes of interested customers, looming over and trying to get a sneak peek of our secret recipes! Aha! Wouldn’t you just love to know?!

Well what the heck, we’re no Malteser and as my four year old nephew keeps reminding me —  sharing is caring!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Wilkins Salted Caramel Sauce (1 large bar spoon, more for garnish)

Aroma Guatamala Double Espresso (must be fresh and hot, 50ml)

Kahlua Coffee Liqueur (1shot, 25ml)

A standard, unflavoured vodka (1shot, 25ml)

Method to our madness: pre-chill your martini glass with ice and water. When the sides are frosty, chuck out the ice and dab dab dab any excess water with a napkin. In a cocktail shaker, combine the hot espresso with the heaped bar spoon of salted caramel. Stir until dissolved.

Add the Kahlua and the vodka, then fill with ice and shake, shake, shake. Seriously… if you don’t shake vigorously enough, your cocktail wont foam and the texture is a big part of this cocktail!

Double strain into your martini glass. That’s DOUBLE strain… meaning you need to run the cocktail through not only the strainer holes in your shaker (or hawthorn, if using Bostons), as well as through a fine strainer. At home, a simple kitchen sieve will do the trick. Use a knife to spread salted caramel sauce around the rim of the glass and finish off with some coffee beans for garnish (an even number of coffee beans are un-lucky, so stick to three!*).

If you try to use anything other than espresso with a decent crema, your cocktail will still be tasty, but your texture and aesthetic will not be the same. We’re lucky to have a beast of a coffee machine in Aroma and baristas with the know-how. But if you have an espresso machine at home, you should be able to re-create this cocktail. Come pick our brains, we give tips freely!

*The three beans originates from the traditional garnish for sambuca called ‘con la mosca’, meaning ‘with the fly’. They represent health, wealth and happiness.

It may not be the healthiest version of the classic espresso martini, and at £8 you’ve got the have the wealth. But it’s gonna put a massive smile on your face!

– Cocktail Maestro Mercedes

It’s the Fabulous New Aroma Blog!

Come one! Come all!

Aroma, as you and many other people nearly but not quite as cool as you know, is a coffee shop and cocktail bar in the centre of the City of Stories they call Norwich.

Yet ask anyone who’s visited (such as yourself, because you have, because you are, as aforementioned, cool) and they’ll also tell you it’s a beating heart of the local community. It’s where lovers take their dates, where nights out go for a twist of the unusual, where the Toasted Marshmallow Martini was invented and where board games, local bands, cheeky comedians and a fair few other hijinks ensue.

We take pride not only in bringing you the most flavoursome coffees, succulent soups, mighty milkshakes and creative cocktails around — but also in the friendships we form and the business alliances we put into motion.

That’s why we’ve decided to put our heads together and tell our story. Where we’ve come from, where we’re going and what we’re up to day by day.

You can expect more than updates on our events or latest secret cocktail recipes on this ol’ bloggeroonie, mind you. That’s because this is just as much about you as it is us — that’s the Aroma way, after all. We’ll be taking you along for the ride and so it’s only fair you have your say.

In the meantime, expect to be hearing from superstar entrepreneur siblings Mercedes and Tom, together with rockstar Will and artistic Teal, as we tell our tales and chronicle the whys and wherefores of the one and only Aroma in Norwich.

We’re sure you’ll agree there’s never been a cocktail bar and coffee shop quite like it….