Orchid cocktail bar have put Aberdeen nightlife on the map winning the SLTN Cocktail Bar of the Year Award. The award ceremony for the biggest industry magazine in Scotland took place at the Hilton in Glasgow on Thursday 1st November. This Morning presenter, Kate Thornton, hosted the annual Scottish Licensed Trade News awards before 700 bar industry guests.



The Aberdeen bar had been shortlisted to the final three but owner of Orchid, Ben Iravani thought it would be unlikely that they would win the award. “I thought the chances were unlikely of it being a bar from Aberdeen. Most of the people in the room were from the central belt. When we spoke to the judges after, we found out that we actually won by a considerable margin. It was great.”

When Orchid was shortlisted for the final three, three judges came to visit the beautifully hand painted floral cocktail bar to make their decision. In attendance were the owner Ben, managers Martin and Rob, and fulltime bar tender, Barry. Ben, Martin and Rob’s unique style of management combined with the vast knowledge of each of their highly trained bar tenders made it impossible for the judges to determine any kind of hierarchy between the foursome. The judges stayed for around two hours to indulge in the Orchid experience.

Ben feels it is the staff, more than the drinks that make Orchid so unique. “We are all working collectively toward one goal, everyone is pushing in the same direction. I do not want this to be a pretentious bar, everyone here is treated equally whether it be a part timer or the owner.”

The bar attracts a huge range of clientele which much like the staff, are all welcomed equally. They range from student groups to a couple in their seventies who pop in around 1am every Saturday for a drink. These characters are what make bar tending so interesting says Ben “I love the people, the interaction, It’s good fun. Lots of characters come in. The diversity of things that happen on the bar is great.”

Orchid is a local hub for Aberdeen bartenders throughout the week, the late night venue means it is the perfect place to wind down after a shift. However, the laid back weekdays are quite the contrast to the busy Friday and Saturday nights where there is between 500 – 1000 people through the door, a copious amount of traffic for a bar which holds only 150 people.

This is not the first award Orchid has received this year, winning the Trend award for best drinks destination in June. The bar has been busy with events with the Tiki competition in the summer and the cocktail bar’s third birthday in October. The party highlighted Orchid’s success throughout the past year and gave thanks to the people who have helped the name grow. The party was combined with a fundraiser where a free bar was opened for an hour in which rather than paying for drinks, people gave donations to The Friends of The Special Nursery charity.

Orchid has also gone in to partnership with Yatai Izakaya, the neighbouring Japanese restaurant and hopes to expand as business continues to grow. Ben says it’s great to hear people come in from the outskirts of Aberdeen saying that they heard about the award. “It’s nice to get a bit of reputation down in Glasgow or Edinburgh, winning the award. It was fantastic to be from Aberdeen and put Aberdeen on the map. But they’re not our main customers, our customers are in Aberdeen, they’re local people.”



The cocktail bar will continue to host their annual events, details of which can be found on Orchid’s website.