Cocktails

LONDON

Summiting Mount Everest is an achievement reserved for those tenacious few prepared to dice with death and battle frostbite, altitude sickness and hypoxia in their bid to scale the earth’s highest peak. Happily, for the rest of us, there’s Sherpa: a stirring concoction that cleverly distills the most thrilling aspects of the extreme Himalayan mountaineering experience into cocktail form.

Sherpa is one of 16 creative libations on St James Bar’s new Once In A Lifetime menu, which was inspired by bucket list activities. It features a heady mix of Corte Vetusto Mezcal Espadín, Hennessy VS Cognac and Cynar together with Leonor Palo Cortado, Nectar Pedro Ximenez Sherry, mountain bitters and palo santo. The team use an ultrasonic bath to make a palo santo tincture using vodka as a base spirit, adding drops to the drink to inject woodiness and depth. The ingredients are combined in a mixing tin before being poured into a rock glass containing a large ice cube, and finished with a spray of Muyu Vetiver Gris.

“Climbing Mount Everest is quite a tough adventure,” concedes Head Bartender Angelo Sparvoli. “So is this drink: it’s complex, smoky, bold and spirit-forward. It is to be enjoyed slowly.”

Please hike responsibly.

NEW ZEALAND

While the Northern Hemisphere braves out the last of its winter chill, New Zealand is enjoying balmy long evenings that practically beg to be enjoyed with a chilled drink. Luckily, tropical vibes are on the menu at the new boutique hotel Naumi Wellington, whose Lola Rouge bar and restaurant is already known for its curated list of summery signature cocktails; chief amongst them the Invisible Rose. Inspired by the city of Wellington’s famous botanical gardens, the drink features a sultry blend of rose-infused vodka and passion fruit together with pineapple juice, zingy lime juice and rose bitter, all laced with demerara syrup and passion fruit puree; the fruit also lends its flavour to the concoction’s crowning edible smoke bubble.

The ingredients are dry shaken before being combined with ice and poured into a simple clear coupe glass. “I recommend having more than three to four tasting notes in a single craft cocktail, as this helps to build different tastes on the palate,” says Head Bartender Oscar Ipac Jr. “This is an easy-todrink cocktail with a different taste profile, thanks to its unique ingredients, that builds up in the palate. You get sweet, sour and a bit of texture from the foam that the pineapple juice creates.” Sounds like the perfect summer romance.