Most Cocktails Commercially Available:

O! enters Guinness Book of Records

The Floor by O! made history last weekend when it was awarded the Guinness World Record for the "Most Cocktails Commercially available" - maintaining a selection of 1501 cocktails from November 10, 2012 to a period of seven months.

They surpassed the record of 1244 cocktails held by Pench's cocktail bar in Varna Bulgaria. When the team was planning the opening of the Floor by O, their notion was to do something exciting, extraordinary and unique just like the bar itself" and conceptualizing in their minds along with the resolve and certainty that whatever it was, it had to be larger than life, and meaningful to their customers and not just the talk of the town but 'talk of the world'.

The idea of a Guinness Record dawned and the determination to be the pub with the most number of cocktails in the world was firmed up and decided on. So it began, the team dived into their overdrive mode and got started.

The basic criteria were that each cocktail had to have at least one alcoholic beverage and was not allowed to use the same ingredient twice in the same drink. The toughest was that it had to be all available for the customers at least for six months prior to going for the record. Not at all an easy task and 'a challenge' was an understatement.

After three sleepless nights of brain storming, the O! team with bar experts, industry specialists and creative thinkers finally came up with 1588 cocktails in a menu of 32 newspaper size pages.

The foundation used was 10 spirit bases, to which different combinations of soft drinks, fresh fruit juices, liqueurs and spices were included. In this innovative collection of permutations and combinations, there are old school cocktails and exclusive and unique cocktails to the floor.

And it still wasn't done - the frightening task of naming the 1588 cocktails then dawned on the team - execution nightmare.

But of course, with creative ideas flowing liberally for a bunch working together for 3 days and 3 nights continuously, the ingenious scheme of getting away with an easier options for names twinkled.

Theme at O is music... so...they went along with famous song titles from 60s to now...resourcefully, an easy way out.

Then of course the boring but necessary administrative aspects had to follow. Guinness World Records needed correspondents , sales reports, pictures, videos, customer comment cards, witness statements from non related referees, even the press releases, press and radio ads etc to be approved from GWR England. The achievement was officially recognized at a presentation made by Guinness World Record Adjudicator Nikhil Shukla on June 29, 2013 at the Floor by O!

Their fun loving customers has been enthusiastically supportive throughout the journey, thrilled and excited to be a part of the process which was beyond their expectation and imagination, in Sri Lanka, at their neighborhood's friendly 'local' to have access to the world's largest collection of cocktails. The customers have been trying out as many varieties as they possibly could. So far, O! has sold more than 10,000 cocktails.

Commenting on the occasion the manager of the pub Deeptha Perera said "Developing and maintaining this selection was a major challenge but from the very onset everyone was totally passionate about going for the record and it is that drive and the support of our loyal customers, which has made this a reality"

The flow by O! is going to throw a gala party on the 6th July with world's renown bartenders, flaring shows, live music, fireworks to celebrate this achievement and it invites all their loyal customers to be there when they party.