When I was wandering the back streets of Edinburgh, Scotland on vacation and came across a bar named The Cocktail Geeks, I was intrigued enough to stop. When I found it was temporarily themed as “The Upside Down”, I knew it was my duty to report for this site.

The bar has been running for several years but reinvents itself every three months with a new themed décor and menu, all based on an entertainment genre or franchise. Recent themes include the Star Wars Cantina and a publisher-ambivalent super heroes and villains theme, but when I visited it had just shifted into Stranger Things mode.

As well as the décor (which included VHS-tape table lights), the theme included a creative blend of two elements of the show. The menu included a “basic” selection of traditional 80s cocktails and alcoholic milkshakes based on songs of the era.

However, it also included a “twisted” selection where the same cocktails were recreated with alternative ingredients. I opted for a Sunset Over Hawkins, a variation on a Tequila Sunrise using Mezcal, Maraschino cherry and pomegranate. My wife went for a Mirkwood (pictured below), a variant of a Jungle Bird with Abelha Cachaca, Averna Amaro and salted pineapple.

The theme will run until September, at which point the bar will become “There And Back Again” with a JRR Tolkien inspiration.