A new home on the beer mile for a low-session spritz…
Lazy jazz plays in the background, drips of condensation form as the hot Bermondsey beer mile air meets the icy spritz I’m sipping.
Across the booth is one-third of the brains behind spritz-makers These Days, Alex Beausire is explaining the concept behind the drinks brand – and now beer mile bar, where they make and sell their ready-to-go spritzes (can or bottle), with a small selection of aperitivo classics and bar snacks on the menu, too.
The idea first came about when Oli, another of the trio (with Jonny completing the set), “fell in love with this style of drink” – and now, These Days has turned two.
Beausire tells The Biscuit: “It’s not a drink to get drunk, it’s about drinking for taste, drinking for flavour, it’s about drinking in a way where people come together and enjoy the moment.
“It’s not just about sinking as many pints as you can, it’s about drinks that encourage people to drink in a certain way and hang out, talk to each other, and have long evenings enjoying each other’s company. Oli really loved that style of drinking, and he wanted a way to bring that to more people.”
And that’s the exact vibe they’re brought to the bar, low lights and plants dotted about, like you’re in a friend’s living room ready to spend the night picking at olives and losing yourself in conversation.
“It’s about drinking in a way where people come together and enjoy the moment”
They want to “make the aperitivo accessible”, and they want you to know what’s in them. Other spritzes are full of “bad prosecco and sugar”, but These Days want to make drinks that “are refreshing and bitter, that you want to drink on a hot summer’s day”, says Beausire.
Made on site under the arches of the beer mile, These Days’ Sundown Spritz has a deep, citrusy blood orange and chinotto flavour, and the Venetian is a reimagination of the classic Venetian Bellini, full of bitter peach flavour with a sweet nose and a long-lasting dry finish – and both have a session ABV, meaning you can sip away all evening.
Finding a location on the beer mile was a “happy coincidence”, says Beausire. How has it been since setting up shop? “It’s been busy, and it’s been validating seeing people come here and experience the way that we want people to drink, in a more considered way. We have beers on taps, but we sell them in just under two-thirds and people have been really receptive to that. We’ve really enjoyed it,” he tells us.
“And being in Bermondsey has been fantastic, being around so many great businesses doing interesting things with food and drink. We get our meat down the road and cheese from Neal’s Yard Dairy. It’s a good place to be.”
What’s next for These Days? “The summer has been fantastic, it’s been buzzing,” says Beausire. “In the winter, we’re looking to change the menu and start doing food at some point. We’re going to put a kitchen in and offer small plates. If we’re doing food, it’s got to reflect the spirit of what we’re trying to do with the drinks. Finding food that is true to the same principle of refreshing simplicity, and easy for people to enjoy together and have a small aperitivo moment.”
100 Druid Street, SE1 2HQ
Photographs by Teo Della Torre
