A warm hello to our Batch Community and wider readers.

Welcome back to the Batch Blog. This time around, we thought we’d treat you to a little behind the scenes action of our latest trip to Porto where we picked up Batch 02’s samples. Our good friend Hannah was in tow to shoot the trip. Han shoots on film which creates a particularly pleasing aesthetic we’ve been excited to share with you. 

When we’re in Portugal, we like to work hard, but also like to play pretty hard too! So without further ado, please enjoy reading about what we go up to on our latest trip.  

Porto is unquestionably one of the best cities in Europe. Batch is very lucky to be closely tied to a city renowned for its cultured cuisine, picturesque landscape and UNESCO world heritage site status.

We regularly talk about how Portugal is famed for its rich textile history. This is true and why we create Batch here. However, it doesn’t hurt that Porto also has some of Europe’s best food, drink, art and nightlife. All things we love to indulge in at Batch.  But before we relish in the finer things Porto has to offer, we make sure we get our business done first. 

We arrived at our production facility to inspect Batch 02’s new colours for the first time.  We felt a mix of both nerves and excitement. Batch 02’s collection consists of Petrol, Forest Green and Baby Pink! Full launch pending guys... 

We were absolutely thrilled with the Petrol and Forest Green, they couldn’t have been more perfect. However, the baby pink wasn’t quite right, it came out more like baby lilac! A particularly jazzy number that we all like, but we feel won’t have the same appeal as a warmer baby pink, so we signed off Petrol and Forest Green, and have chosen to resample the Lilac. Stay tuned on this. 

That night we went out for dinner with our production partner and continued to build on the professional and personal relationship we have with them. Like us, they’re partial to good time! We ate, drank and laughed the night away. Another successful and worthwhile trip to visit them. 

Saturday. A day our little team was very excited for. The assignment was simple: get the Batch 02 suit samples on, get out in Porto and get some content created. Of course whilst simultaneously eating, drinking and partying in Porto’s best spots. 

We were staying in a particularly cute Air BnB in the centre of Porto. We all got changed into Batch 02s suits: Julian and Mica donned the new Forest Green and Sam opted for the classy Petrol. After a little posing in our apartment, we headed down to the Luis Bridge -  probably Porto’s most scenic spot overlooking the Douro River. 

We knew from our last trip there was a beaut locals spot with a small BBQ serving delightful Sardines and other typical Portuguese small plates.  We shared several piquant courses, good conversations and many a beer, as we saw the afternoon out, waiting for golden hour to light up our evening. 

For anyone that knows Porto, heading over the Luis Bridge for sunset is the done thing. Breathtaking city views, a port tonic/mojito cocktail pop up and b2b live bands create a truly unique atmosphere and a guaranteed good time. We certainly indulged here too.

In fact we rocked out haha. We enjoyed a band called Down The River play a load of rock classics that would put anyone in a good mood. We’re talking Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Dire Straits and many more covers. Fuck yeah. 

Spirits notably high, we called it quits and headed back over the bridge to make our booking at Tasco. An amazing Portuguese restaurant and cocktail bar that you absolutely must try if you’re going to Porto. Get the Octopus. Thank us later. 

With bellies full, we headed onto the Royal Cocktail Bar and enjoyed a couple of civilised ones before happily allowing our best judgement to be forgotten about. There’s a fun club called Plano B, which we have visited before so were keen to frequent again. It didn’t disappoint. After a nice boogie we fancied checking out Gare. A club well versed in electronic music. The four of us got stuck into some serious dance floor stomping before seeking out some late night (early morning) scran.  I think Ed Sheeran said that nothing good happens after 2pm. We strongly disagree and it probably says a lot about Ed lol. 

There’s a very good story that happened next but please ask Sam, Julian, Hannah or Michaela for the finer details. Let’s just say it involves a missing phone, two homeless people, two dogs, a rouge bottle and a pretty stupid co-founder… 

 Bed time. Lie in. Quick clean of the air BnB. Suits back on and out for some much needed hangover food. A typical Porto feed is a cheesy, sauce drenched sandwich called a Francesinha. People seem to like it a lot. However, didn’t really sit too well with all of us haha. The coffees and Pastel de Natas did though. 

Julian decided to rock the Lilac Batch 02 sample on Sunday for the trip home. He paired our casual suit with a rather flamboyant neck scarf and accidentally (although quite happily) turned into Elton John. With heavy heads, full hearts and hands full of samples, we booked a taxi to the airport, thus bringing an end to our productive and memorable trip to Porto.