Unique Drinks Experience Launches in Belfast

With the support of Tourism Northern Ireland and the Experience Development Programme, Taste & Tour now has its own city centre experience which will showcase local spirits and drinks in an engaging and interactive way located in the beautiful National Bank Buildings, above The National bar, on High Street.

Co-owned by food and drink obsessed Caroline Wilson and Phil Ervine, The Spirit Circle is home to two very different drinks experiences.

Phil Ervine, Taste & Tour Co-Founder, commented “I have been involved in the drinks and hospitality industry for over a decade, and have been lucky enough to have been invited to a lot of fun drinks events and experiences that have been for the “trade only”.  I wanted to ‘lift the veil’, so to speak, and create fun and interactive drinks experiences showcasing local spirits that local and tourists could enjoy”

The Spirit Circle has launched with two new drinks experiences, ‘Sensorium’ and ‘Belfast by the Glass’.

‘Sensorium’ is an interactive sensory cocktail experience set over three floors.

Ervine comments, “There’s a lot more to a drink than just its taste, so we wanted to create an experience which explores all the different senses involved when enjoying a drink. In Sensorium guests will do a series of whacky sensory experiments, they’ll meet Artificial Intelligence called The Inhibitor and they’ll discover the drink that their subconscious has selected before choosing a cocktail that their emotions desire!”

‘Belfast by the Glass’ is an alternative history of Belfast through booze.

Caroline Wilson, Taste & Tour Co-Founder, comments “There are so many stories to be told when it comes to Belfast and we tell many of these through our food and drink tours. With Belfast by the Glass we get to tell the alternative history of Belfast with the help of carefully selected drinks and audio visual installations. Guests will be taken through 6 chapters of Belfast, try 6 very different drinks and leave with a sense of pride of how far Belfast has come”

Commenting on The Spirit Circle, David Roberts, Director of Strategic Development, said “We are delighted to support this new Taste & Tour experience which will bring to life our world-class food and drink offering in an engaging way. As there is a growing demand for interactive experiences, I have no doubt this exciting new addition will be central to the visitor experience in Belfast, and will create new and compelling reasons to visit the area.”

Ciaran Shannon of Boatyard Distillery, one of the distilleries showcased in The Spirit Circle comments “Most of our team at the distillery have worked with Taste & Tour in some capacity over the last 5 years in many different ways. We’ve collaborated on food and drink tours, gin festivals, virtual cocktail events and even local hampers and we’re very excited by the addition of The Spirit Circle. Taste & Tour are vital in helping us showcase our brand to the local and tourist markets of Belfast City Centre.”

Sensorium is £45 per person, is 2 hours long and includes 4 cocktails and a series of sensory experiments. Belfast by the Glass is 75 minutes long and includes trying 6 different drinks.

The Spirit Circle experiences can be booked through the website, The Spirit Circle - Taste and Tour