Craft coffee and cocktail bar to open on Spring Gardens (Upper King Street)

Hotly anticipated craft coffee and cocktail bar Roc & Rye is aiming to open its doors at 60 Spring Gardens, Manchester on July 6th.

It’s the first stand-alone bar from popular bartender Sean Finnegan – formerly of El Capo, Kosmonaut and Mash and Air – and partners Maritza Haydon and Matt Bonner. Heading up the bar will be David Cole, formerly head bartender at Mr Cooper’s House and Garden.

Situated in a landmark Grade II listed building designed by Manchester town hall architect Alfred Waterhouse, the new venue has taken inspiration from the architectural glories of the original 1880s interior, with authentic design features such as a reclaimed 1920’s oak dance floor.

Bringing an authentic taste of Ireland to Manchester, the venue includes a specially designed on-site laboratory for drink preparation and development, as well as a centrepiece barrel of aged Jameson whiskey behind the bar. The latter provides whiskey lovers with the opportunity to experience this coveted tipple straight from the barrel, as it was originally served in 1965.

The bar is aiming to appeal to Manchester’s daytime workers with the offer of workspaces and some of the best speciality coffees by Origin, ranging from delicious mainstay espresso blends to regularly rotating single origin filter coffees.

For anyone in need of a stronger caffeine dose, the bar’s on-trend Nitro coffee will be the perfect pick-me-up. This nitrogen infused chilled brew coffee has a rich, creamy head and will be served cold and on draft throughout the day.

A regularly changing selection of artisan products from local producers will also be available including homemade breads, bagels and chutneys from Levenshulme bakery Trove, macarons and cakes from Wilmslow Road patisserie Bisous-Bisous, speciality cheeses from Didsbury’s Cheese Hamlet, pork pies and scotch eggs from Beehive Food of Deansgate and a bean to bar range of handcrafted chocolate bars and truffles from master chocolatiers Dormouse.

Founder Sean Finnegan said: “Putting whiskey at the heart of Roc & Rye, and specifically Jameson, seemed like a logical choice. We were lucky enough to meet with a fifth generation Jameson master cooper and their vision of training a new generation of coopers, distillers and blenders really captured our imagination due to our shared values of craft, skill and commitment to quality.

“We also really wanted to give Roc & Rye customers the experience of sampling undiscovered artisan food from the local area and we’re proud to be able to curate a diverse menu that gives regional producers a platform to really showcase home-grown speciality cuisine.”