Ephemeral Cocktail Adventures: Cointreau Prive

Popup bar at Hotel Particulier
23 avenue Junot
75018 Paris

Earlier this week I received a small sleek black envelope in the mail containing a bracelet of delicately thin purple ribbon with a simple silver key - the 'key' to the ephemeral Cointreau Prive, hosted for the next month or so in the lovely Hotel Particulier. Cointreau made a savvy marketing move in creating a Dita Von Teese buzz around the latest 'exclusive' Paris popup bar. In addition to having the bracelet, clients must also be on the guest list to enter.

Jodie, Justine and I stopped in on the first evening of this fleeting bar to check out the vibe and drinks. While I'm sure they'll work out the kinks, the opening night was a tad disorganized. They opened later than the stated time and staff seemed to be a bit confused. However, I was very happy to see some solid manpower behind the bar with Maxime from Forum mixing drinks from the menu of 8 choices. (Singapore sling, side car, storck club, sweet manhatten and four cointreau inspired drinks). With no vermouth on hand for a martini, I went for a sweet manhatten and the girls tried a Singapore Sling and a Cointreau Prive (vodka, cointreau, ginger beer and chambord). Cocktails were well-made, but Maxime is working with a limited stock. Drinks range from 10 to 12 Euros.

The later it got, the busier it got, so we decided perhaps a bottle of bubbly was the way to go to avoid lines and waiting. Piper by the bottle can be had for an even 100 Euros (16 Euros by the glass). A tapas menu offers munchies at 5 to 10 Euros.

The decor is predictably bordellogant (that is my new term for bordello-elegant) but I love the fact that it's spread over three floors with lots of naughty little nooks and crannies. Curtains, plush chairs and sofas and sexy lamps all vie for space in this very red environment. Even the bathrooms weren't spared in the attempt at creating seating, mingling and sipping space, with a makeshift seat over one of the bathtubs.

The bar is open for the next couple of months. All reservations are currently taken, but they will periodically open up spaces over the next few weeks. For those of you not already booked in for an evening, I'll try and announce on either my Twitter or FB feed when new dates open.