Two experienced mixologists will be shaking up a treat at their new cocktail bar.

Lloyd Brown, 29, and David Smith, 34, have launched new venture Dark Bear at Aroma Café in Lyme Regis.

Lloyd and David are no strangers to the bar scene; Lloyd, born in Dorset, moved to Reading to get experience in the spirit industry before moving back and opening Bridport’s Venner Bar. The bar was crowned ‘Best Bar in the South’ four years running. He then went on to form the Grey Bear bar company, which deals with event and consulting.

David ran the bar at Hix Oyster and Fish House for nearly five years before managing the bar at award-winning The Anchor Inn, Seatown.

The pair joined forces to become Dark Bear, running a successful bar in the evenings at Aroma Café in Bridport.

Lloyd said: “We had always wanted to open a bar together and had been chatting with John and Dewi at Aroma for a while about the idea, finally we decided to jump into it and open two bars, the first in Bridport and now the Lyme Regis branch. The bars are cocktail focused but with a range of Dorset and Glaswegian beers, wine, cider, gin and whisky, we will be hosting events at the bars. On the menu we have the option of choosing any classic or we have around 15 seasonal cocktail on at any time -my favourite at the moment is our Bridport Dagger with gin, lime, cassis, apple balsamic syrup and ginger beer.

“We focus on local ingredients with inventive twists on the classics and a host of original cocktails.”

David says the pair share a passion for local ingredients.

He said: “We both like working with local ingredients as much as possible but want to inject something a bit different into our bars. I want people to feel just as at ease coming in for a great cocktail or ordering a beer.

“We source all the best quality ingredients we can and make the rest from scratch. We also work with the seasons so expect the menu to change in accordance to this. We make all the syrups and infusions ourselves and use the best fresh citrus. We also take bookings and can cater to larger parties. We are also putting together a lot of events, live music and tastings - so keep an eye on our social media.”

Dark Bear, Lyme Regis, is open from 6pm until 11pm Wednesday to Saturday.