The week in pictures

There may be an agave shortage putting pressure on Tequila producers in Mexico, but we know five guys who aren’t fazed in the slightest.

The Backstreet Boys are rumoured to be launching their own Tequila brand.

According to Tasting Table, the boys implied that they were on the scout for a producer in Mexico to produce a Tequila with, following a two-date concert in Cancun.

“I like a good reposado or añejo,” said one fifth of the boyband Kevin Richardson, while Nick Carter added, “And that leads us into talking about our Tequila venture that we’ll be coming out with. [We] just need to find a partner here in Mexico.”

The project is Incomplete without a partner in the Americas, but we’re sure the boys’ Tequila brand will be Larger than Life when it does launch (sorry).

Meanwhile, Czech brewery Budweiser Budvar is teaming up with east London custom bike workshop Bolt motorcycles to create a bespoke Budvar bike for a 1,000 mile European road trip.

Andrew Almond, founder of Bolt motorcycles, is transforming a 1980s Czech JAWA CZ motorcycle into a custom bike which “echoes the shape and design of the classic Czech rides of the 1940s-60s, with its own modern ‘bobber’ twist”.

WATCH: Mokai Lounge in Miami Beach under fire after video surfaced of a horse inside the nightclub pic.twitter.com/C7Saz3q20a

— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) March 9, 2018

Now nightclubs are known for their wild publicity stunts and controversial entertainment, but one venue in Florida is now under fire after a video emerged this week showing a dancer riding a clearly distressed horse in the main room on a packed night.

Miami Beach city manager Jimmy Morales said he had revoked Mokai Lounge’s business licence after the stunt.

“I was disgusted and offended that any legitimate businessperson would think this was an appropriate action to take,” he added.

Syrup brand Monin (which makes those hazelnut and vanilla syrups crucial for cocktails and flavoured coffees alike), brought together top bar and barista talent for the first ever BarBarista Challenge this week at their studio in Hoxton Square, London.

Focusing on the popularity of rum and partnering with rum brand Ron de Jeremy, the event saw leading bar and barista talent work together to create a new take on coffee cocktails. Barista contenders included: The Gentlemen Baristas, GRIND and Farm Girl Café while bartenders came from Black Rock, The Swing and Edwardian Hotels.

Sam Trevethyen from GRIND and Matt Reynolds from Edwardian Hotels were declared the winning pair with ‘One Eyed Monster’ a Caribbean inspired mix of coffee, rum and Falernum and orange.

Importer Flint Wines took 5 customers from British Wine Merchants & Restaurants for a 4 day trip to Italy following its Italian Competition in Autumn 2017.

Starting in Fruili, the trip included Piedmont and Tuscany. They visited up and coming producers such as Roncus, Le Due Terre, Novaia, Elvio Cogno, Cantina del Pino, Cerbaiona, Le Potazzine and Rocca di Montegrossi.

This week in extravagant wine launches, Cos d’Estournel said it plans to sell the remaining 98 double magnums of its limited edition ‘Cos100’ for the princely sum of €23,000 a bottle.

Launched in January this year, the limited edition wine from the 2015 vintage was produced from a centennial plot of Merlot vines at the Saint-Estèphe estate known as the ‘Parcelle des Femmes’ after the women who planted it while the First World War was at its height.

Just 110 large format bottles were produced; 10 12-litre Balthazars and 100 3-litre double magnums. Four have already been auctioned off, raising more thna $325,000 for charity, and now well-heeled oenophiles can get their own.

It wasn’t just Cos d’Estournel selling pricey products this week. Ecuador-based chocolateir To’ak is attempting to elevate chocolate “to the level of vintage wine”, recently releasing two chocolate bars aged in Cognac and whisky barrels for $385 and $355 respectively.

At the other end of the price bracket, grocer Aldi has launched a range of 37.5cl wine bottles in a bid to fill a gap for weekday treats, with two of the wines hailing from Romania – an increasingly prominent supplier of entry-level wines.

More than 500 whisky-lovers attended tasting sessions held at the Corn Exchange in Cupar, Fife, last weekend as part of the inaugural Fife Whisky Festival.

They enjoyed drams from a wide range of distilleries and independent bottlers, music from Fife-based duo The Coaltown Daisies, and the chance to chat with guest of honour and Scottish cycling champion Mark Beaumont.

Karen Somerville, one of the event’s organisers, said they’ve decided to make it an annual event.

“We had visitors from Argentina, France and Germany who were in Scotland on holiday and made the trip to Fife specially to visit the Festival.

“And it was great to have Mark there – he really enjoyed the festival and ended up meeting some of his old school friends.

“We’re delighted with how the day went and looking forward to doing it all again next year.”

In a change of pace, British chef and Masterchef: The Professionals regular Marcus Wareing has opened a cocktail bar at the newly revamped Gilbert Scott restaurant in King’s Cross, directly applying his culinary expertise to the world of drinks for the first time.

Called George’s Bar, a further nod to the buildings original architect Sir George Gilbert Scott, the bar will deliver a food and drink menu whereby “simple things are done well and complicated things made deliciously simple”.

A record number of members of the UK drinks trade attended The Benevolent Ball at The Dorchester last night, which sold out for the second year running.

The Benevolent Ball raised a record £57,000 – £8,200 worth of which was collected in less than 10 mins.

Guests were greeted by The Benevolent’s chairman Tom Yusef, who expressed his gratitude for the support given to the occasion by the trade. He presented his ‘Chairman’s Challenge’ which will see him assisting with picking at several English wineries over a seven-day period during harvest season. Yusef is aiming to raise £15,000 as part of his challenge.

Among the attractions this year was a selfie booth – but just how many people can you fit behind the camera? These guests pushed it to the limit…

Hip hop mogul Jay-Z launched the magnum format of his Armand de Brignac Blanc de Blancs Champagne at Casa Cruz restaurant in London this week at a star-studded bash attended by the great and good of London’s party circuit including Amanda Cronin, Phoebe Hitchcox, Stephen Webster and Caroline Sciamma-Massenet.

Just 1,000 bottles of the Chardonnay-based Champagne have gone on sale around the world, which are priced at £1,650 a pop.

The sumptuous surroundings of the Italian embassy served as the setting for a sneaky preview of some of the Italian wines that were put up for sale at Christie’s Grandi Cru d’Italia sale this week.

The event was hosted by Italian ambassador Raffaele Trombetta, and Tim Triptree, Christie’s senior wine specialist. Among the wines on pour were drops from 23 prestigious Italian estates including Ornellaia, Sassicaia and Gaja.

The sale took place on Thursday and achieved a total of £1,930,788.