There are cocktail bars where you go for the drinks, and there are bars where the drinks are just one part of the night. Chiave sits firmly in the second camp.
Tucked away at 36 Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, the intimate cocktail and listening bar has built its identity around the relationship between music and mixology. Even the name, Chiave, meaning “key” in Italian, is intended to represent a place that feels like your own.
The concept is simple but effective: cocktails are designed to evoke a particular mood, emotion or season, with each drink paired with a song that reflects its character. In other words, you don’t just drink the cocktail, you listen to it too.
The Drinks
The drinks list is where Chiave really comes into its own. Rather than relying on a menu of familiar classics, the bar takes inspiration from different spirits, flavours and cultures to create cocktails that feel considered without becoming overly complicated.
One of the signatures is Street Spirit, a twist on the Moscow Mule combining raki, Turkey’s national spirit, with salted caramel vodka, ginger beer and lime. There’s also Limbo, Chiave’s take on a Tommy’s Margarita, bringing together mezcal, tequila and chilli liqueur with a spicy sumac rim.
For something fresher, Doomsday combines cucumber, parsley, melon and bergamot with non-alcoholic gin, while other serves have included the likes of Turkish coffee, dark rum and lokum.
The attention to detail extends beyond what’s in the glass. Chiave’s cocktail programme is designed around the idea that a drink should create a feeling, with its accompanying music helping complete the experience.
The Music
Chiave is as much a listening bar as it is a cocktail destination. The upstairs space is deliberately intimate, with warm lighting and a relaxed atmosphere designed for conversation and drinking. Head downstairs, however, and the mood changes. The basement music room features a dedicated hi-fi sound system and DJ setup, with vinyl-led sets taking over as the evening progresses.
It’s a format that works particularly well in Shoreditch. Start upstairs with a couple of cocktails, then let the evening develop downstairs as the music gets louder and the room gets busier. And if you’re feeling peckish, the bar keeps things simple with snacks including olives, vine leaves, hummus and other small bites designed to sit alongside the drinks.
Fable Cocktail Service x Chiave
Chiave is now bringing the flavours of Istanbul’s cocktail scene to East London with a one-night-only takeover . On Sunday 11 October, award-winning Istanbul bartender Burak Türkkan will take over the bar alongside Fable Cocktail Service, serving an exclusive menu inspired by Istanbul’s neighbourhoods, spice markets and centuries-old aromatic traditions.
Türkkan was named Türkiye Champion of Diageo World Class in 2021, making this a particularly interesting opportunity to experience the work of one of the country’s leading bartenders without having to book a flight to Istanbul.
The evening is designed as a meeting point between the two cities, bringing together the aromas and flavours of Anatolia with Chiave’s distinctly Shoreditch approach to cocktails and music.Expect flavours inspired by the Bosphorus, Istanbul’s spice markets and Turkey’s aromatic heritage, with modern mixology techniques bringing everything together in the glass.
This isn’t being positioned as a standard guest shift. The idea is more of a cultural exchange, with Istanbul’s cocktail culture meeting one of Shoreditch’s most intimate drinking spaces.
When: Sunday 11 October 2026
Time: 7pm–11pm
Where: Chiave, 36 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, London E2 7DP
For one night, the sounds of Shoreditch and the flavours of Istanbul will meet behind the bar. And considering Chiave’s obsession with giving every cocktail its own mood and soundtrack, it feels like a particularly fitting place for the two cities to collide.
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