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The 5pm Dining blog is delighted to report that we are being flooded with drink-related news. Few things perk up the post-Festival torpor quite as effectively as hearing word of some snazzy new snifters.

Cocktails get fizzy

First up, Champagne Central, the rather swish bar in Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel, has introduced a new range of carbonated cocktails.

Apparently, they are all the rage in the most cutting edge bars in NYC, San Francisco and London. The idea is that the bartenders make their cocktails in the traditional way and then carbonate them afterwards.

We would love to think that an old school Soda Stream machine is used but suspect that the process is rather more convoluted.

Anyway, the point of doing all this is that carbonation adds fizz but doesn’t dilute the drinks.

Priced at £11.95 each, Champagne Central’s new arrivals are described as:

The Grand Violet: A gin-based delight that tastes like your favourite sweeties

Lemon Bon Bon: Lemon, butterscotch and vodka make up this wee gem

White Chocolate Martini: A tasty vodka treat for the chocoholics amongst us

30% a la carte discount

We suggest that you gargle one of their cocktails and then head downstairs to the hotel’s Tempus restaurant.

They are currently offering 5pm bookers a whopping 30% discount on dishes ordered from the a la carte menu.

Balmoral launches new Whisky Bar

We will have more news on this later on but Edinburgh’s gorgeous Balmoral Hotel is just about to launch a new, dedicated whisky bar.

The 5pm Dining blog understands that the new bar has been built in the hotel’s former drawing room. We are investigating this evening and will report back sharpish.