Top ten summer quenchers
Black Diamond Sour
For your late summer nights, this is a sultry rich cocktail with the aromas of a hot evening. Amaretto comes with blackberries, lime and violet liqueur, served over crushed ice and garnished with an edible flower.
£8.50 at Loungelover,
www.lestrois-garcons.com
Garden of Earthly Delights
Basil-infused Tanqueray gin, maraschino, peach purée and lemongrass cordial are served long with fresh pomegranate and tonic water in a perfect evocation of a steamy Mughal summer.
£7 at The Red Fort,
www.redfort.co.uk
Beefeater 24 Gin Fizz
A brilliant play on the senses. First, the colour and fizz are extracted, and the bubbles is served flat and clear. Then you add a special powder which immediately adds a ferocious fizz. The result is playful, invigorating and oh so chic.
£8 at 69 Colebrooke Row,
www.colebrookerow.com
Grapefruit Martini
The Connaught Bar has a very special approach to cocktails, epitomised by its super-glam martini trolley (yes, trolley), from which a mixologist plucks a bitter of your choice and mixes it into a martini before your eyes.?We think grapefruit is perfect for summer – other options are licorice, vanilla and lavender.
£15 at The Connaught Bar,
www.the-connaught.co.uk
Rhubarb Ramos
It doesn’t get more seasonal than this. Mark Hix’s drinks man Nick?Strangeway serves rhubarb-infused Plymouth gin with rhubarb syrup, lemon and lime juice, egg white and orange blossom. Pure uplift.
£9 at Hix Soho, www.hixsoho.co.uk
Moroccan Mojito
True botanical creativity shines through with this exotic version of the traditional mojito. It’s got orange-chai infused organic white rum, ginger, lemon, orange, mint, and homemade cinnamon-bergamot bitters. Yum.
£8.50 at Saf, www.saf-restaurant.co.uk
Kyoho Queen
A cleansing mix of kyoho grapes, elderflower cordial, honey syrup, Snow Queen vodka, fresh apple juice and a sliced apple. Expect to bound out into the sunshine after drinking.
£12.50 at Nobu Berkeley Street,
www.noburestaurants.com
Oriental Mojito
Sipping this summer drink as you look out over Min Jiang’s Hyde Park views is a real seasonal treat. Lime, watermelon, sugar and mint muddled with rum and ginger ale are ripe for the summer
sipping.
£8 at Min Jiang,
www.minjiang.co.uk
Campari Aperitif
Sam and Eddie Hart had the buzzy Quo Vadis terrace in mind when they came up with this sizzling cocktail. It’s a perfect summery aperitif of fresh squeezed clementine and lemon juice shaken with Campari, finished with Cava. Very Mediterranean.
£7.50 at Quo Vadis, www.quovadissoho.co.uk
The English Garden
Inspired by The Chelsea Flower Show, this aromatic drink is a mix of G’Vine floral gin, fresh herbs, chamomile and citrus oils and Artesian fizzy water, garnished with edible flowers to complete the garden
feeling.
£14 at Artesian at the Langham, www.artesian-bar.co.uk