Cheers to Belfast: Northern Ireland drinks geek reveals his journey from serving slices to raising spirits

We (with business partner Caroline Wilson) launched The Spirit Circle back in 2022 and since have developed two experiences: Sensorium and Belfast by the Glass.

I first thought about the idea to open a drinks experience around 10 years ago. I’ve always been involved in the hospitality industry in one way or another. I started off as a waiter in Little Wing Pizzeria and worked my way up to general manager before becoming Group marketing manager for Beannchor, including The Merchant Hotel and The Dirty Onion.

I joined the drinks industry as Island of Ireland Beer Brand manager for C&C Group which included the brands Tennent's, Heverlee and Budweiser before joining Rademon Estate Distillery, home of Shortcross Gin, as marketing manager. I then co-founded Taste and Tour which offers food and drink tours around Belfast and Edinburgh.

Being in the drinks and marketing industry, we used to get whisked away for immersive drinks tastings or trying sherry from a cask or tasting new make whiskey from the still. I always felt like it shouldn’t only be the hospitality trade that gets to experience this fun side of the spirits industry.

We established our Gin Jaunt, Whiskey Walk and Cocktail Circuit tours in Belfast which have been really well received and that gave us the confidence to create a dedicated drinks experience in Belfast. We applied for Tourism Northern Ireland experience development funding and got the green light to create The Spirit Circle.

Phil McAlister, or Phil 2 as we call him, joined the team and we researched heavily for about 18 months. We’re both proper drinks geeks, so it was all about trying to find the right level of geekery and having fun, and I believe we’ve found the right balance in the experiences we run. Our design partners Fourum helped us sculpt the experience, create the branding and incredible visuals that are part of the experience and we found an incredible location in the National Bank Buildings on High Street in Belfast.

We wanted to create a venue that showcased spirits from the island of Ireland in a unique way – there’s a lot more to a drink than just its taste, so we came up with two very different experiences that demonstrate this.

First, we have Sensorium. This is a sensory cocktail experience (who knows what that means – we made it up!).

Through the experience, you discover the drink your subconscious desires by carrying out a series of sensory experiments, challenging your senses in unexpected ways. We test your sense of taste, smell, touch, hearing, sight and more!

Whilst you enjoy delicious drinks using locally distilled products during the experience, at the end you’re served what we believe is your perfect drink, your Sensorium Serve. There are over 972 different possible drinks combinations. We’ve seen some weird drinks from some interesting people, shall we say!

The final part of the experience is a scratch and sniff cocktail menu. I loved scratch and sniff things as a kid and my colleague Phil had the idea of bringing this into the experience!

Our second experience, Belfast by the Glass, showcases an alternative history of Belfast sip by sip.

For me, this is a celebration of Belfast. The experience starts in the historic 1897 building on High Street. We project on the walls the story of Belfast from 1122 to 2024, exploring the history of distilling, brewing, importing, exporting and how Belfast has changed over the years.

There are six different chapters to this historical experience. During each, you enjoy a curated drink, from a local whiskey and ginger ale (invented in Belfast) to a poitin spritz as we showcase the drinks and spirits of the island of Ireland that match the story you're experiencing.

One of my proudest achievements so far in The Spirit Circle’s journey would be bringing the experience to other countries. We’ve brought it to Dubai, New York, Boston, Canada, Madrid and Milan with Tourism Ireland. It’s been incredible bringing something that we’ve created here in Belfast to showcase the city in an engaging way across the world, to other markets and languages.

We also get feedback every week from guests on how they’ve enjoyed our experiences. Coming in and seeing this on a Monday morning is amazing and I get such a sense of pride to see the team here doing such an incredible job.

We hope to bring the Sensorium experience to the road, hitting up as many cities as we can and bring spirits from the island of Ireland to as wide an audience as possible.

I love that we get the opportunity to help put Belfast on the map and am proud we’re doing our bit for this class city.