Libations Rum has opened its doors right here in Leeds and you can now see how one of the city's favourite indie rum suppliers creates its award-winning spirits.
Founded in 2019, by ex-industry professionals Chloe Potter and Rory Armstrong, the pair have been slowly bringing the city a whole new spirit experience, sharing their name with pop-up events aplenty over the past few years.
Now settled in their very own distillery, you can take a peek behind the closed doors once a week and find out exactly what goes into making the popular spirit.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Every Saturday you can grab your mates and head over to a rather unassuming trading park in Armley and head through the deep blue doors to find a true hidden gem.
Every rum tour that takes you through exactly how Libations creates its small batch rum, and naturally there's a little taste testing included too so you can find out which of its signature blends are your favourite.
There's three staples to choose from: the Spiced Rum, the original and often most popular choice amongst crowds with lovely notes of butterscotch, oak, vanilla, dried fruit; the Piña Edition - originally a limited edition flavour that sees diced pineapples soaked in rum for a whopping six weeks before being bottled; and the Golden Rum, a good old fashioned favourite that's got plenty of fans across Leeds and beyond.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Find out how these guys are paving the way for a truly revolutionary distillery. Everything is created in house, right down to the labelling and bottling, and all the products brought in are from just a few miles away.
Owners Chloe and Miles are passionate about being carbon avoidant rather than having to offset emissions afterwards - even taking care to use up all their fruits used in their rum and offer out the leftovers to local restaurants like Liz Cottam's The Owl to minimise waste wherever possible.
The owners will explain everything you could possibly want to know about rum - and you can even take a peek at the experimental warm room, where they're preparing some special limited edition barrels - currently ageing in old port and Kentucky bourbon barrels.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Once you've explored the makings, it's time for tastings - and you can even shop with a 15% discount on any rum you want to take home with you.
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This is the perfect Saturday trip for any spirit lovers - and an opportunity to support a lovely local independent at the same time.
You can find out more about Libations Rum, including how to book onto the next tour on the Libations Rum website here.
Feature Image - The Hoot Leeds
Eats
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
The Swine That Dines announces the official opening date of its brand new restaurant
Clementine Hall
Much-loved Leeds Bistro The Swine Bistro, formerly known as The Swine That Dines, has moved to a bigger space in Headingley.
Although it’s gone through a few name changes over the years since launching as The Greedy Pig cafe in 2012, this independent spot has long been a firm favourite for Leeds locals for some time now.
Run by chef couple Jo and Stu Myers, they’ve been operating out of North Street where it’s all about cooking seasonal produce simply and with an added ‘little bit of sunshine’.
But now Swine Bistro has moved up over to Headingley, taking up a unit previously occupied by Jam hairdressers on Otley Road.
Image: Supplied
And the time has finally come for them to open their doors, as they announce their first service will take place on Friday 4 April with bookings open from today, Thursday 20 March.
The Myers will be welcoming head chef Kirsty Cheetham, who won Observer Food Monthly’s Best Sunday Lunch award in 2018 and 2022 when she ran The Queen o’t owd Thatch in South Milford, Leeds.
The expanded space in the restaurant has allowed the team to curate a bigger wine list which will include natural wines from Wayward Wines and Latitude Wines as well as local beers from Ilkley Brewery and Horsforth Brewery.
Image: Supplied
The team remains passionate about locally sourced ingredients and has partnered with a variety of Yorkshire suppliers including R&J Yorkshire for its fresh meat, Tarbetts fishmonger, cheese from George & Joseph cheesemongers and beans from micro roaster, Chipp Coffee Co.
Jo Myers, co-owner of the Swine Bistro said: “It’s taken a huge amount of time and effort to realise our dream to revamp what was previously a hairdresser into a fully functioning kitchen and restaurant. It’s been a wild ride but we’re excited, and slightly nervous, to finally open our doors.
“We love the vibe in Headingley and the time out has allowed us to have fun with our menu as well as take part in lots of essential taste testing of ingredients and drinks from our brilliant local suppliers. We can’t wait to welcome guests into our new restaurant!”
Sophie Smith -
8th June 2023 
