Put down the shaker, screw the cap back on the Campari, stop trying to figure out how to make those big clear ice cubes in your little home freezer; it’s time to give cocktail duties back to the professionals. After a tough year-or-so for the industry it’s basically the duty of every self-respecting cocktailian to head out and support our favourite spots by getting a few rounds in. Just as well then, that London’s bartenders are offering new menus, honed over months of lockdown, and filed with new drinks to get acquainted with. These are some of the best new cocktails on offer in the capital right now. Cheers.
Banana Bread 1933 – Artesian, The Langham
The crew at the Langham reopened their doors on the 20th of May with a cocktail offering that reflected on our time in lockdown. The typically virtuosic list contains references to mindfulness and healing, as well as ingredients like clarified strawberry milkshake, pineapple eau de vie, and horchata ice cream. After almost a year on homemade Martinis it’s a real pleasure to sit at a bar this beautiful and read a menu of drinks you’d absolutely never make yourself. The Banana Bread 1933 references that baking meme that threatened the nation’s flour supplies a year-or-so back. What you’re dealing with here is Woodford rye whiskey backed up by nutty oloroso Sherry, banana syrup, spices, cocoa butter, burnt toast (!?), and vanilla. A nice bit of liquid storytelling, even if you swore off banana bread forever around April 2020.
Pink Picante – Homeboy, Nine Elms
The new opening from industry veterans Aaron Wall and Ciaran Smith is a good deal bigger than the first Homeboy – but fans of the Islington original will be glad to hear it’s no less charming. Stop into the bar just over from the US Embassy and you’ll find excellent hospitality, a strong whiskey list, and competition grade pints of Guinness. The cocktail menu features some old favourites but the newly minted Pink Picante is one to order on your first visit. It’s a fluorescent eye-opener made with Espolon blanco, poblano chili liqueur, pink pickle, lime, agave, and tabasco. Great stuff.
God’s Garden Fizz – Chameleon, Marylebone
This stylish bar and restaurant arrived at One Marylebone back in April, serving cocktails and small plates from Tel Avivian chef Elior Balbul. From this weekend, you can book one of nine botanically decorated greenhouses around the grade I listed former church and enjoy a few hours of seclusion in the centre of london. Order the delicious God’s Garden Fizz while you’re reading the menu, it’s a bittersweet and nicely balanced combination of Portsmouth gin, rhubarb, elderflower, and prosecco. A real summer drink, even if the weather hasn’t quite caught up yet.
Golden Eye – Solas, the Savoy
There aren’t many food pairings that hit like shellfish and Scotch whisky. From now until the end of June you can enjoy single malt and sea creatures in Savoy court, which has been transformed into the city’s fanciest cocktail terrace in collaboration with Bowmore distillery. The pop-up will allow visitors to sit in one of London’s most iconic driveways and enjoy a neatly put together list of cocktails and Champagne. A real standout is the Golden Eye, which comprises sherried Bowmore 15-year-old, Cognac, sweet vermouth, Campari, and chocolate bitters. It’s a rich number in the style of a Negroni/Boulevardier that makes a strong case for single malt as a cocktail ingredient. The perfect way to follow up a round of oysters.
Feijoa – The Natural Philosopher, Bethnal Green
A real star of East London’s bar scene. The beautiful and surreal Natural Philosopher is folded into space beneath a Mac repair shop on Hackney road. Owner Josh Powell’s cocktails are real stunners, full of fresh ingredients and unusual flavour combinations. There’s lots to enjoy on the new menu but a great place to start is the Feijoa, which combines Singani 63 – a Bolivian grape eau de vie – with birch, pear, lime, and the South American feijoa fruit. Which tastes a bit like a pineapple with an indefinably herbal aspect to it. The venue is currently catered Thursday to Sunday by Yucatan Tacos who will do you some first-class al pastor to pad out your cocktails with. An absolute winner.
Carmen – Swift, Shoreditch
On arriving at Swift after long months away you might be tempted to go straight for the famous Irish coffee – and let’s be honest, it’s a classic for a reason. But the latest incarnation of the menu has lots of new friends to get to know among the old favourites. The Carmen is a tasty Margarita riff made with Olmeca Altos Plata Tequila, lime sherbet, and blue corn. Founder Mia Johansson describes it as ‘perfect for warmer weather or for reminiscing about the holidays we all wish to be on at the moment.’ It might be raining in London for the foreseeable future, but you can order one of these for a taste of sunshine in Shoreditch.
Blackcurrant Americano – Three Sheets, Dalston
A very smart aperitif from Max and Noel Venning at Three Sheets. This riff on the traditional Italian afternooner contains blackcurrant cordial and blackcurrant leaf as well as Vergano Americano, your new favourite botanically enhanced aperitif wine from Piedmont. Over lockdown, these guys did a nice line in takeaway sandwiches – including collaborations with local favourites Mangal 2 and From the Ashes BBQ – and served some of the best bottled cocktails in town. On your visit it’s well worth picking up a bottle of their signature French 75 made with gin, clarified lemon, Moscato.
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