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Vapoura – the super-premium English rum distilled, matured and bottled entirely in England – has launched After Stories, an ongoing cultural collaboration series pairing the brand with culturally-led venues to produce exclusive vinyl EPs and bespoke cocktail menus inspired by the spaces themselves. The Mandrake is the first partner, marking Vol. 1 and with further venue partnerships planned as the series continues.

Each edition of The After Stories series centres on a six-track vinyl EP, pressed by The Vinyl Factory and produced exclusively for the collaboration, with each original track inspired by a different space within the hotel. The EP is also available to stream online at your preferred music platform.

Alongside the music, a bespoke Vapoura cocktail menu developed with the venue and informed by the EP,  runs across the bar for a limited window.

A limited run of vinyl accompanies each partnership, with one copy permanently framed within the venue and a select number released to purchase through vapourarum.com.

For the Mandrake edition, Vapoura worked with two producers: CARALUS, a Manchester-based producer known for deep organic groove and percussive tech; and Daniel Sehnawi, whose work fuses underground electronic music with Middle Eastern influence. Between the talented pair they’ve graced the decks in globally renowned venues such  The Outernet London, Hi Ibiza, Phonox and Scorpios Mykonos.

Both were selected for their ability to translate atmosphere into music and each track takes its cue from a different corner of the hotel. Portal opens on the city outside before dissolving into the calm of arrival; Waeska captures the room’s balance of darkness and euphoria; Jurema draws on the terrace’s hidden-garden seclusion and Mashahari brings rolling basslines to their underground theatre. Across six tracks, the EP plays as a journey through the building rather than a backdrop to it.

Olly Barkley, who co-founded Vapoura with Sunday Times bestselling author and broadcaster Ed Jackson, says:

“We never wanted to be just a rum brand. We wanted to build a world around the liquid and from day one that meant thinking about the experiences, the spaces, the moments our rum lives in, not just what’s in the bottle. Vapoura was created to punctuate a moment and Ed and I always attached music to those moments as the final ingredient, After Stories is about celebrating that.

“The Mandrake was a natural first partner. Few London venues are built with such distinct spaces – the botanical seclusion of Jurema, the dark energy of Waeska, the intimacy of YOPO Zaytoun – each with its own atmosphere to draw from. CARALUS and Daniel Sehnawi took each space in turn and turned its atmosphere into a track, so the record moves through the hotel as an evening there would”. 

The Mandrake cocktail programme runs throughout the summer with Vapoura’s Chapter One and Chapter Two expressions available across all of the hotel’s bars for the duration. Three bespoke cocktails feature on the collaboration menu: Angel Sage, a citrus and botanical serve built on Vapoura Chapter One with orange and red sage soda; Sacred Bean, a layered serve of amaretto, sweet potato shochu, ube, white chocolate and tonka cream, and Velvet Cocoon, made with Vapoura Chapter One, Coconut Oil, Watermelon & Mango Cordial

Vapoura x The Mandrake After Stories menu is on throughout the summer. The six track EP is available to stream now or a vinyl copy can be purchased from vapourarum.com priced £25 or £110 for vinyl with two full-sized bottles of Chapter One and Chapter Two.

Vapoura is available to buy from their website, Master of Malt and Amazon.