Did you just say… The Botanist? In Coventry?

“I should do this more often,” I think to myself as I chug down a rum and coke, it’s warmth adding a pinch of red to my cheeks as I felt the alcohol sink into my bloodstream. Whelp, here comes Lightweight Lizzie again, but this time I didn’t care. I wasn’t driving, for once, so I could drink as much alcohol as I want (which was only two glasses in the end because of my lightweight-ed-ness). My friend Charlotte had a glass of prosecco – or was it wine? – in her hand, and as soon as we took a lil’ picture for the insta/blog, we carried on observing our friends trying out their hand at a cocktail masterclass at the Botanist in Coventry*.

“Did you just say… The Botanist? In Coventry?” Yep, I sure did! There’s a Botanist in Birmingham that I love and have been to quite frequently, so when an invitation of their launch night in Coventry landed on my doorstep I was super giddy. Cocktails are my thing, and I’ve been wanting to let loose after the stressful month I’ve been having. But when I arrived I didn’t know what to expect – I sure as hell did not expect the Botanist to be this big; from the outside it looked as if it was just a room upstairs, but I experienced a proper Mary-Poppins effect when I opened the glass doors and walked inside. There were delicate white bridges over small winding streams; a pagoda dotted here and there; and a glass ceiling towered over us to give us a greenhouse effect. It’s amazing how they were able to create all of this out of what was a depleting discount store… If I knew any better, I would’ve said it was witchcraft.

I swirled the rum and coke concoction in my glass and soon it was mine and Charlotte’s turn to hop behind the bar to try our hand at making a cocktail. Don’t ask me what cocktail it was, but it was bloody lovely and involved some mint and a cucumber. Oh, and a lot of embarrassing face-pulling that only my husband was able to capture (although there was somebody happily snapping away at their camera so who knows where that’s going to end up). I don’t think I laughed so much, or was so happy that I was able to make my own cocktail.

Soon I made my way upstairs – with my ‘homemade’ cocktail in hand – which took me a while because I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the place. It was just so beautiful and I loved the chic decor! I made a promise to myself to come back during the day time, imagining how pretty it would look with the sunlight flooding through the glass roof. At this point we rejoined the Coventry Bloggers group and reached out to whatever canapés that passed by – I was especially fond of the mini burgers – while we explored the upstairs section. Tables dotted around the ‘room’, away from the bustle of the downstairs bar, and it felt somewhat peaceful despite how busy it was.

I found myself back at home, kicking off my shoes with a huge grin on my face. Sure, I was probably still a little bit ‘light-headed’ but man I had so much fun! It was so good to see the Coventry Bloggers lot again and even though I’m glad that I haven’t got any more events lined up (hellooooooo lazy days in bed), I can’t wait to see them again.

So, the Botanist in Coventry – it’s super nice to have somewhere nice in lil’ old Coventry, especially because snazzy places like these have only existed in big cities like Birmingham and London! If you’re in the area you should totally check them out because I mean – how instagrammable/blogable is this place?!

Talk soon!

Love,
Lizzie xx

*Please note that the Botanist Coventry invited me to their launch night and it was AMAZING, and I speak nothing but the truth!