Cocktails & Canapes at the Copthorne Hotel, Manchester

Last Updated on 30 October 2025 by Colette

Firstly I’m going to apologise for the poor quality photos in this post . . . this lady committed the ultimate blogger fail and went to an event without my camera – I managed to take some photos on my phone but then my battery died on that too.  How disorganised was I?

So back to the point of the post . . .

Last night I attended an evening of cocktails and canapés for the #ToastoftheTown event at the Copthorne Hotel, Manchester – along with other bloggers we were taught to make four classic cocktails – the gin based “Bramble”, a Cosmopolitan, a Mojito and another cocktail that I just can’t remember the name of! (I do remember that I didn’t particularly like it though as it was bourbon based).

Pippa & Kerrie

Danielle & Jen

And then came the challenge.  We were asked to create our own cocktail to capture the “taste of Manchester” . . .

“Manchester’s Ruin”

I named it “Manchester’s Ruin” – a bit of a play on that old, well known nickname for gin “Mother’s Ruin”.  I stumbled a bit when I was asked how my drink represented Manchester because it didn’t really – I found it quite difficult to think of a way to make a load of spirits and fruit ‘represent Manchester’ . . . Danni however came up with a corking name for her mojito-esque cocktail calling it “Happy Rum Days” and winning herself a stay at a Millennium and Copthorne Hotel of her choice – lucky lady!

The only downside to the evening was the I was driving!  With breastfeeding & pregnancy I’ve obviously not drunk for quite a while but I could certainly have enjoyed a few cheeky gin cocktails last night!

Next time girls! Next time!

Thanks to Danni, Jen, Pippa and Kerrie for being such wonderful company & to the lovely people at The Copthorne Hotel for having us.

PS If a gin cocktail is your thing  – why not try this recipe