7 Seasons, Hoxton, N1

This is quite a smart bottle shop set in a shop unit on a rather run down looking retail street, which also has a few draught beers and a pleasant seating area for on-sales. The premises has a simple rectangular room with a nice shop-style tiled floor, bare brick walls and the inevitable large front windows, including a set of sliding front doors allowing the front to open out to the pavement in good weather. Large shelving units and numerous fridges run down either side of the room, all amply stocked with bottles and cans grouped by style and region, including one fridge stocked solely with Mikkeller beers. An undressed ceiling is a bit of an ugly feature, but the hop-lined walls have been decorated with modern art prints and a nice old ‘Hope & Anchor’ pub sign, which brighten the room up nicely. There are three very large tables, each with mosaic tiled tops, two of which are regular in height and served by metal frame chairs, whilst the other is mid-height and surrounded by bar stools. These tables run through the centre of the room and provide the bulk of the seating options, although there’s also one small round table inside and two square tables out on the pavement. The bar is at the back of the room and has a rough timber counter and white tile bar back with the keg taps to one side and a blackboard in front listing the draught beer options. A very strange soundtrack played quite quietly in the background, but often got lost under the chat from a decent sized mid-week crowd. There’s no cask here, but they do have two keg lines as well as the thousands of bottle and can options. I tried The Kernel Table Beer, which was £5.00 a pint and still a very tasty and enjoyable low strength brew. The barman was very friendly and brought the drink to my table after I’d ordered at the bar.

Official site of Seven Seasons Bottle Shop - www.sevenseasons.co.uk

Official site of Seven Seasons Bottle Shop - www.sevenseasons.co.uk