A SCOTTISH restaurant chain is offering English customers a Burns Night first – a prosecco and Irn-Bru cocktail.
Loch Fyne Seafood and Grill is selling the £5.50 creation for one night only at restaurants south of the border including in Cambridge, Bath and Sevenoaks.
The Irn Bru Spritz is based on the popular Aperol Spritz cocktail, commonly served as an apertif in northeast Italy.
Another Irn-Bru cocktail, called the Kraken, combines the soft drink with rum and will also be sold for £5.50. Both cocktails will also be sold on Burns Night in Scotland.
A spokeswoman for the chain said: “Irn-Bru is the number one selling soft drink in Scotland, renowned for its bright orange hue, so offers a perfect alternative to non-whisky fans wishing to toast Burns Night.
“Irn-Bru as a soft drink might not get as much exposure as Laphroaig or Glenfiddich but it still has the Scottish connotations.”
Both cocktails retain Irn-Bru’s distinctive orange colour when the other ingredients are added.
The ingredients for the Irn-Bru spritz includes a scoop of ice cubes, two drops of Angostura Bitters, 165ml Irn-Bru, 125ml Prosecco and a lemon slice.
The Kraken Irn-Bru includes 50ml Kraken black spiced rum, 165ml Irn-Bru, and a squeezed lime slice.
While it remains to be seen how Irn-Bru cocktails are received in England, Scottish social media users were wary.
Norman Hansen joked: “Needs to be Bucky and Irn-Bru to be authentic.”
Paul Hicks said: “Bit posh that! But gotta give it a go!”
Charles Halliday quipped: “Why ruin the Irn-Bru?”
It is not the first time the drink has been made into a cocktail.
Malibrew includes one part Malibu, one part Irn Bru and is topped with strawberries.
The Tartan Trembler is made up of a double whisky, three drops of Angostura bitters, and is topped up with Irn-Bru. Olives are also placed in the glass.
Scottish treasure is a double measure of Goldshlager – a Swiss cinnamon schnapps drink – topped up with Irn-Bru.
