It’s all about drink versatility and low waste at The Social

June 16, 2025

FOR the latest in our series with London Essence, SLTN stopped by Glasgow’s ‘centre of everywhere’, The Social in Royal Exchange Square, to talk to Kenny Brownlee about drink-making versatility – and planet-saving sustainability.

With 40-odd venues under his watch, Scotsman Group Bar Manager Kenny Brownlee is a big fan of things that keep his customers happy and make life easier for his staff. So he has nothing but good things to say about London Essence’s Freshly Infused dispense system.

Tell us about The Social and its customers?

“The Social has always been that non-pretentious meeting point, the sort of centre of everywhere for Glasgow, somewhere you can come in, and no matter what it is you are doing, it is going to fit in with what we are doing.

”We always work to retain that vibe. Whether someone comes in for a business lunch, after-work drinks, evening cocktails … it’s a very versatile venue with a really varied demographic.“From the moment they turn 18, a lot of younger people come in, and it is perhaps their first real drinking experience. We also see office workers, and more mature customers reliving their glory days. The combination of them all combined with the busy weekend creates a buzzing atmosphere.

“We provide a broad range of cocktails to suit all tastes, and London Essence’s wide range of flavour combinations helps to elevate our menu, for example, the Raspberry & Rose Crafted Soda adds a fresh twist to the ‘Spill the Tea-Quila’ spritz, yet also adds to the fruity punch of the ‘To the Moon & Back’ cocktail.

How do you keep your drinks menu interesting for everybody?

“We do winter and summer activations in all of our venues, always trying to make it appealing for our customers. For example, our Endless Summer menu features drinks inspired by different countries.

“With the sun making more of an appearance, we are finding that spritz serves are very popular, so The Social offers five different spritzes as part of this menu, and London Essence’s range of Crafted Sodas allows us to provide both classic and flavourful options.

“We know things are tighter. People want to sit with something that’s good value and that’s not going to disappear in seconds. A spritz is not just three sips and it’s gone.

“A lot of what we are doing is built around being able to use different flavours from London Essence. They’re just really on trend with a range of flavour combinations within the collection of mixers and soft drinks. It lets us do a lot of different things with a lot of different spirits.

“The White Peach & Jasmine and Raspberry & Rose Crafted Sodas are so versatile and can be paired with the likes of tequila, or mixed with an orange gin, to turn it into something popular.”

How does London Essence dispense tie in with your group’s sustainability efforts?

“London Essence Freshly Infused allows us to meet diverse consumer desires and preferences for varied flavour and added theatre, while also reducing packaging waste.

“Look at all the spritzes built into our menu using the dispense system – before we had to crack open a soda bottle, and use 100ml, and then hope that somebody else would order one in a wee minute so it didn’t go flat.

“I think that one of the things that attracts us to this piece of technology is the low wastage aspect of it. Not just from a money-saving point of view, but from not having cases and cases of glass bottles wrapped in plastic getting transported on a van every single week across the 40-odd venues that we’ve got.

“I imagine that’s an argument that could be made in a lot of venues across the country.

How is the technology to work with?

“It is very very low maintenance. Don’t think we’ve had any issues at all. When we swapped them over, to install the latest Freshly Infused founts, I think it took under a fortnight across the whole estate.

“It just goes up onto the bar, connects to the fresh water line, and takes a flavour cartridge, which comes in a wee box and does a load of serves.

“It is our preferred mixer, because it’s a great service to use, and the flavours really hit the spot and the sustainability aspect really resonates with our customers.

“The fount also adds an element of visual premiumisation and appeal – those swirling founts always generate a wee buzz … people asking ‘what on Earth is that?’ As soon as the bar guys get that interaction, it’s an icebreaker isn’t it?”