A DAte With the City
During London Cocktail week the
Ham Yard Hotel in Soho hosted a
couple of pop-up evenings on its
private roof terrace which usually
is closed to the public. For only
£10 I had the chance to enjoy their
roof top space that was revealing
their little secret garden. The mix-
ologist who showed us around the
garden told me that only one gar-
dener takes care of all the toma-
toes, peppers, olives trees, jasmine,
lavender, scotch bonnet chillies,
other herbs and much more. The
secret to a good cocktail is flavour,
are fresh ingredients and I agree.
Surprisingly, they also keep bees
here to make their own honey. In
a city like London with its millions
of people and so little space for
gardens, I’m always impressed by
how hotels and restaurants make
use of their roof tops and create a
piece of nature, a source of organic
and fresh ingredients.
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So here is what I've learned and mixed:
- filled a tall glass with ice
- poured in 50ml of dry gin, 30ml of lemon juice and
20ml of my chosen flavour hibiscus
- stirred it well
- poured it into my glass with the ice and toped up with soda
- garnished it with mint and raspberry