Miracle at Henrietta — a bar that's more Christmassy than Macaulay Culkin sat on the back of a reindeer eating a mince pie — is back for its seventh year in central London. Here's the lowdown snowdown.
Miracle has become a bit of a 'thing' hasn't it? Absolutely. Starting out life as NYC's Miracle on Ninth Street bar in 2014, this orgy of kitschy holiday cocktails has since been franchised in over 90 (!) places across the world. In London, Miracle has taken over a room in Covent Garden's Henrietta hotel each year since 2018. Hence 'Miracle at Henrietta'.
What's the vibe then? It's Kiiiiiiiitschmas! The sort of tinsel-choked, Dean Martin-infused, glow-up plastic Santa Claus kinda Christmas that transports you to a vintage yule so unashamedly gaudy, the people who do the Blackpool illuminations would whisper "Well that's a bit much".
Are the drinks Christmassy too? And how! The menu (styled like a Christmas card, obvs) bids you to sample your way through OTT eggnogs, mulled wine fizzes, cranberry sauce cosmos and 'Naughty' and 'Nice' shots. All served up in uber chintzy festive drinkware. It makes your average Snowball look like Dry January.
But they DO snowballs, right? You'd have thought. The closest they do is a Snowball Old Fashioned. But it's not got Advocaat or lemonade in it, so isn't really a Snowball.
Any new drinks for 2024? Although some of the classics return this year (like the Jingle Balls Nog, the kind of over-boozed soup your sloshed uncle would cobble together as his eighth drink of the night at the family get together), there are some fresh serves on the menu too. These include the Stocking Stuffer (bourbon, ped xim, Fernet Branca, cinnamon syrup, 'iced' hot choc and marshmallows) and the Crooked Antler — a pumped-up punch swimming with cognac, port, hazelnut liqueur, lapsang tea, and a whole other bunch of ingredients that, combined, might have you up on the table performing the entirety of Die Hard as a one-person show.
And they cost how much? Between £14 and £16 (shots £6.50).
How tempting is it to steal the drinkware? Excruciatingly. Probably why the bar sells novelty mugs and glasses, so you can get your souvenir without winding up in drinkware prison.
When is Miracle at Henriette 2024 taking place? It's open 11 November-23 December 2024. As you can imagine, it's mighty popular, and you'll want to book a slot (each one is 1 hour 45 mins — and frankly any longer than this, and you'd wind up like the former Bishop of Southwark). A few tables are kept for walk-ins each day.
Miracle at Henrietta Christmas bar, Covent Garden
All photos Laura Reynolds/Joanna Rutherford/Will Noble/Londonist except feature image, which is from Miracle.