The Wonder of (Cocktail) Creation at the Botanist

One of the best parts of my job is choosing new drinks - which obviously involves a lot of sampling as I go.

Spring and all things in bloom has inspired me this year so I thought I’d set myself and the staff the challenge of creating some floral cocktails.

The Botanist on Sloane Square takes its name from Sir Hans Sloane, pioneering naturalist and Chelsea Physic Garden benefactor, so it seemed like the natural place to preview our fabulous new concoctions.

The drinks will be on offer at The Botanist to coincide with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (25th – 29th May).

Flowering Almond Cocktail

If you’re in the area, pop in and try Jasmine Blossom – made up of homemade jasmine syrup and fresh mandarin shaken with Hangar One Mandarin Blossom vodka and charged with Joseph Perrier champagne or Flowering Almond – made with homemade apple, lavender and almond jelly muddled with fresh Granny Smith apple and Smirnoff Black vodka, charged with Chapel Down Kentish sparkling wine.

To get everyone going green, we also held an in-house staff mixology competition, with entrants submitting their best alcoholic alchemy.

We had some amazingly-exotic ideas but the winner is Guillaume Mahaut (Bar Manager at The Gun) who dreamt up Elderflower Royale – Tanqueray gin infused with orange blossom, shaken with Saint Germain elderflower liqueur and freshly squeezed lemon juice topped with Joseph Perrier champagne.

Well done to Guillaume who has won a trip to Champagne in France for a weekend. His drink will be on offer with our other floral cocktails if you want to put it to the test