10 Leeds Bars You Might Not Have Been To

Cheeky mention at yesterday's Leeds-List 😎 Have you been to all of the bars yet?

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***CRAFT*** Everyday, every shift is an opportunity to improve our skill set & our craft and this is what we feed down to our team. Improving our speed, consistency, fluidity of movements, creativity, guest awareness or working flair is a slow process but reviewing each days performance allows us to improve marginally every shift. All the small details add up to make the biggest impression on you from the moment you walk in till you leave the door. Our favourite thing to work on is the drinks. Because who doesn’t love tasting through new cocktails on a Tuesday afternoon. Recipe tweaks, new products, new ideas, new glassware etc. All on the table for change 🤤 Currently working on our menu for our sneaky upstairs living room bar. Announced very shortly... 🍸

***CHANGING OF THE GUARD*** Filippos has returned from his holidays back to Greece. On his travels he managed to pass by the farm to check on our plot of herbs for the kitchen and finished up prep for the next batch of Watermark Olive oil - due to arrive soon - As he tags back in, Dariush tags out onto his holiday driving around Europe for the next two weeks. You can expect less hiphop/lowfi/garage music over the next couple weeks and more backstreet boys/Britney spears/plate smashing. Stepping away from the bar gives us both time to switch off and come back with a fresh mind ready to plan some more dope shit. Next stage is our 1st Birthday.... (nothing will be revealed yet) See you at the bar!

Photos from The Watermark's post

***CLASS IS IN SESSION*** We FINALLY got round to reading through the Aug/Sept edition of CLASS magazine to see our double page spread working with Editor- Hamishs Smith to blind taste through the Southside cocktail. 10 Southside cocktails with 10 different gins judged by a panel of some of the finest bartender tongues leeds has to offer. Spoiler alert Sipsmith Gin won the prize! Late on last year in Class’s Winter edition we were stunned by a review on our bar that gave us an incredibly rare 9/10. Hamish had this flagged immediately as he rarely lets a 9/10 slip the net but was assured that it was deserved and the review went to print! Landing review of that kind was massive for us and even now that we can see the calibre of bars that are able to land it is still incredibly humbling. Tayer + Elementary and Kwant London both hitting the high score this month, both incredibly talented teams and delicious looking venues. The Behind Bars hexagonal bar station at Taylor is like something out of the holodeck in Star Trek 🤓 The last picture shows a cheeky mention of #cocktailporn which is undoubtedly our favourite hashtag of all time. All your staple menu favourites in print. Its still weird to think that we used to sit in our kitchen and keenly read this magazine hoping to one day own a bar and now we are sat in that bar reading ourselves in it ❤️

***TRUST*** A large part of owning a bar is trusting the people you choose to carry out your vision and to buy into what made you start it all up in the first place. Especially when we aren’t in the building. This month is the first time we have been able to get a proper holiday since opening the bar. Coming up to a year being open now and we couldn’t trust these guys any more to look after our baby while we have our backs turned. Filippos is out the door first hopping around Greece and then next week, Dariush is driving through Europe. @Kane & @fun_sized_bartender have the wheel to themselves occasionally. We’re sure they are behaved. Positive. 👊🏽

Photos from The Watermark's post

***TIME*** An ingredient we take for granted. You press a button online, the next day a 15year Bottle of Glenfarclas Scotch arrives at your door. THAT WAS EASY! But the development, patience, tasting, WAITING, adjusting, recording, sometimes destroying and restarting that goes behind creating some products that fall on our lap is often taken for granted with a swift glance at the age statement of a bottle. We relish every minute of this part of the process whether its fermenting a funky pineapple tepache or aging one of our favourite cocktails. (Tasting from the barrel occasionally has its perks) It is the only part you cant rush or cut corners with. Where you hand control over to the gods and see what they deliver. This badboy is our Barrel Aged Negroni, 33days spent in a Pedro Ximenez soaked wooden barrel. Gives it the mid tone richness of raisins and sweet sherry with the dry finish of wood. Dont worry, it hasn’t lost the bite of Campari that you all love. Get some till the 1st batch ends 👊🏽 @ The Watermark

These two love birds are away for the week ahead. Filippos is hopping around Greece from island to island getting some much needed rest, while Kane is celebrating the marriage of his parents (probably not resting) Some new faces popping up around the bar next week to help out so pop in and say hi 👋🏽 ...they may turn out to be permanent 👀

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Dinner time with the boys ❤️ Will Kane ever land that modelling contract? Did Filippos drink the poisoned cup? Has Kieran realised he doesn’t have a drink? Does Dariush really want to get rid of Filippos that badly? Why is there no salad on the table?! Because Filippos did the catering...

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Find yourself a partner who loves you as much as Josh loves pickles. Josh joined us a couple weeks ago part time along side his role with Four Pillars Gin as UK Northern Ambassador. Since then our pickle jar has been running quite low...

Photos from The Watermark's post

***FAMILY*** Having a small team means we spend a lot of time in each other’s company. The synergy of our relationships are the beating heart of the bars personality. It started out as you know as just the two of us, one Greek and one Iranian at home living together making drinks and hosting parties but when we moved to town the family needed to grow. It took us a while to find people who complimented the personality that The Watermark had but we are getting there finally. We couldn’t think of a better bunch of idiots to call family and it’s great to see how this project is unfolding in front of us. Sure we bicker, disagree, choke each other to death at times but what family dinner table is without that? Swipe right to watch how our last family dinner time unfolded (Filippos’s wet crotch 😖) Shout out to Jesus for the inspiration for the picture, couldn’t have done it without ya bud 👍🏽 Left to Right - Kieran Kane Filippos Dariush Josh

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ASA AKIRA And the drink lands! The improved Asa Akira cocktail that you loved before but will a lil twist again. The fresh scent of a Japanese Shiso Leaf and a home made Mango & Chilli lollipop to suck on and channel your inner pornstar(martini) Asian herb & spice infused Vodka Takamaka coconut rum Mango Pineapple Lemon sherbet Prosecco Served on a customised coaster with the help from our pals at @eastlondonliqourcompany

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**Regret** This is the moment where he locks the tin, shakes the cocktail, looks down at the ticket rail and realises he needed to make 2 more for another table and now has to do it allllll again Great apron though...