Meeting Canvas – Unique At Home Cocktail Experiences

As ever the drinks industry continues to reinvent itself and trends continue to emerge. A major trend has emerged (no doubt helped by the onset of the pandemic) for the continued premiumisation of the at-home drinking experience.

The CGA released The Mixed Drinks At Home Report last year which back up what the industry could see, a continued upward curve of a desire for more premium drinking experiences in peoples own homes.

Alongside this, experience-led venues have been on the rise in London, led by nightlife guru’s Inception Group and their venues Cahoots, Mr Fogg’s and Bunga Bunga.

What if you could fuse the two, to create a premium, drinking experience at home, that puts the liquid and ambience on a par?

This is the concept that the team at Canvas have created.

We caught up with one of the founders Jonny Shields to find out a bit more about the concept.

So Tell Us All About Canvas?

At Canvas we believe that great cocktails are about more than the liquid in the glass. For us, we believe that going to a top cocktail bar is about the whole experience, so we focus on each of the senses and include a layer of service in each of our boxes.

We partner with a top bartender each time to develop a brand-new bar concept that includes drinks, bespoke scents, playlists and the service you’d expect in a top bar through a short series of videos.

Our boxes are released every couple of months and are only available to order for one day.

We make cocktails at home, feel like cocktails at the bar.

Who is the team behind it?

Our small team comprises Jonny, Jess & Lewis. Jonny is a Brand Strategist in the drinks industry and has previously worked at Seedlip & Edrington-Beam Suntory. Jess is a former manager at World’s Best Bar, Dandelyan after which she joined the Seedlip team to help launch sister brand, Æcorn. And Lewis previously founded his own ad agency working with brands like Johnnie Walker, The Macallan & Nestlé.

We all come together around our core belief that drinks are about the experience and complement each other in bringing this experience to life at our guests’ homes.

 Who is Canvas aimed at?

Canvas is for anybody who enjoys going to great bars for more than just the drinks. If you love great service, enjoy indulging in new ideas & concepts and (of course) love trying delicious cocktails, then I think you’d really enjoy a Canvas experience.

What made you come up with the idea for the concept?

Not so much a ‘lightbulb moment’ but more of a culmination of a few things. My experience in working for brands had led me to look at drinks in a slightly different way.

I was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the brands I was working for in some of the best bars in the world and also plenty of more ‘normal’ venues, what struck me was that the liquids in the glasses I was drinking from wouldn’t necessarily be the biggest difference – it was more about the other aspects of the experience.

Then, during the COVID pandemic, we saw a rise in bottled cocktails and cocktail delivery and it felt like there was something missing in this offering. For us, that was the layer of experience that we look for when we go to bars. So we set out to make cocktails at home, feel like cocktails at the bar.

Do you think the trend for premium at home drinking experiences will continue post-pandemic?

Yes, I think it will. I think people have become more accustomed to having these more premium at-home experiences across both food & drink. Although I think there will always be a huge pull for people to go out to bars and we love that!

We love going to bars and they are what continually inspires us, but if for whatever reason people are looking to enjoy cocktails at home sometimes then we want to be there for those occasions.

So Where Can You Find The Next Canvas Box?

The latest Canvas box, The Crown & Halo by Alex King, opens for orders on the 1st May 2021. The concept is about bringing the service & standards of a 5 * Hotel Bar into the world’s most comfy bar environment, the local pub. Expect three decadent cocktails and a packet of crisps.

Find out more HERE.