How to Mix: The Ned’s Breakfast at Emily’s cocktail is the wake up call you deserve
It’s fine to drink a cocktail at breakfast. Every culture does it. We Brits love a Bloody Mary, while the Italians prefer a Bellini and the Spanish sip a Mimosa. But over at The Library Bar, the newest watering hole to open at City-based behemoth The Ned, they’re creating their own brunch beverages.
The cosy nook, with its plush sofas and armchairs seating only 18 drinkers, opened up in the hotel, restaurant and private members club this summer. As it specialises in champagne and martinis, The Library Bar is an ideal spot for an aperitif before dinner in one of the eight restaurants on offer on The Ned’s ground floor.
Bubbly enthusiasts can choose from 30 Champagnes available to try by the bottle or the glass, while a Martini trolley moves from table to table mixing up bespoke concoctions for patrons. There’s also a rare collection of cognac, the most expensive of which is a £2,500 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII.
Distilled to an essence, it adds a sticky, smokey quality that evokes long mornings scattering crumbs from burnt toast over the Sunday supplements
Less demanding boozers can find ready-made creations on the House menu, including Breakfast at Emily’s. Before you start investigating what happened to Tiffany, Emily was the wife of legendary architect Edwin (Ned) Lutyens, who designed the Grade I Listed splendour in which the bar resides.
Straining the mixture into the Retro Fizz glassware. Photo: Greg Sigston
The cocktail’s base is a buttery version of house gin Bombay Sapphire with Cointreau. A dash of lemon juice and orange bitters highlight the citrus notes before a very special ingredient is added: a homemade marmalade and toast syrup. Distilled to an essence, it adds a sticky, smokey quality that evokes long mornings scattering crumbs from burnt toast over the Sunday supplements.“People are amazed how accurate it tastes,” says bar manager Anthony Callegari, who has been at The Ned since it opened last year.
All the ingredients are shaken up before being poured into one of the bar’s signature vintage-style glasses and finished off with a squirt of orange zest for aromatic purposes. “Generally the rule is, if it looks good, people will want it to taste good too, but we decided to leave the garnish in this case and let the drink speak for itself.”
The Library Bar is open from 5pm–1am, Tues–Sat
Breakfast at Emily's. Photo: Greg Sigston
Ingredients:
- 35ml buttered Star of Bombay
- 10ml Cointreau
- 20ml lemon juice
- 20ml marmalade and toast syrup
- 2 dashes of orange bitter
Method:
Shake
Glassware:
Retro Fizz glass