“London bars are opening again this week and this is a great opportunity to visit 8 bars that tell amazing stories that combine roots, history & heritage with the unique cosmopolitan aura of London.”
London has been the cocktail capital of the world for the past decade. Most new trends popped up and grew there, like the craft gin renaissance, the non alcoholic spirits, the extravagant and complicated garnishes, zero waste bars to name a few. So we are proud that looking back at our own roots we find ROOTS in some of the most important bars of London and the world. ROOTS represent what craft liqueurs can offer for the future of cocktail evolution: pure unique flavours served with history and heritage and topped up with innovation and simplicity.
Let’s start our journey around London through 8 stops and different cocktails. These are our first 4 stops of the journey, the rest will follow next week.
Cheers !
Scarfes Bar - Covent Garden
Scarfes Bar, inspired by the atmosphere of a drawing room and the sophistication of a gentleman's club, features a roaring fire, a collection of cosy velvet armchairs and shelves filled with over 1,000 antique books hand-picked by a Portobello antiques dealer.
The menus of Scarfes are always very imaginative, and its first menu back the 2018 menu was illustrated by Private Eye cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, devised by the bar team headed up by master mixologist Greg Almeida, featuring 16 years of British history, with Ricky Gervais, David Attenborough, J.K. Rowling and Boris Johnson all having a cocktail inspired by them.
Now Martin Siska as the new bar manager alongside head bartender Yann Bouvignies have elevated Scarfes into new heights, entering for the first time the list of the worlds 100 best bars (#55)
Orbis-non-Sufficit
Roots Mastic, Ford’s gin, aged vermouth blend, pink grapefruit and pickled walnut
“Ricky Gervais, David Attenborough, J.K. Rowling and Boris Johnson all having a cocktail inspired by them.”
Scarfes
Rosewood London, 252 High Holborn, Holborn, London
The London EDITION & Punch Room - Soho
Roots Mastic sour, the London Edition main bar
The London EDITION provides everything you need for a luxury experience in Soho - from boutique hotel design to incredible dining and nightlife. It is not only the dominant main bar at the entrance, sitting next to the spectacular Berner’s Tavern gastronomic paradise of a restaurant. There is a hidden secret behind, the awarded Punch Room, a discretely lit, wood-panelled, 1950s-style reservations only bar that serves elegant sharing punches. Drawing on the five fundamental elements of ancient philosophy - Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Aether – alongside some of Punch Room’s best loved creations, the Punch Room’s menu features many innovative punches inspired by everything from lumberjacks to Sir Isaac Newton, or like the one below, Prometheus
“The menu is drawing on the five fundamental elements of ancient philosophy - Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Aether ”
Prometheus:
Mezcal Pierde Almas, butter-washed Roots Mastic, Amaro Montenegro, Pu-Erh tea, fennel pollen syrup, lime juice
by Davide Leanza
The London EDITION
10 Berners St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 3NP
Oriole - Smithfield Market
Located secretively beneath London’s iconic Smithfield Market, its décor and menus draw on the explorative spirit of a bygone era in order to send you on a voyage around the Old and New Worlds and the exotic Orient. Multi-awarded since the day it opened, with live jazz music and the same team behind as Nightjar (see below), it couldn’t be anything else than fascinating. And of course, Mihai Ostafi, our UK brand ambassador is the head bartender !
The menu at Oriole aims to take its guests around the world, and offers a highly adequate pitstop in Mexico. The Oaxaca, named one of the 5 best tequila cocktails in London by the Evening Standard, explores the nuttier possibilities of the spirit, mixing Montelobos mezcal with honey-infused Roots Rakomelo liqueur, a cactus puree, pumpkin seed tahini, and a foam inspired by the south American dessert dulce de batata.
Oaxaca Cocktail
“The Oaxaca, named one of the 5 best tequila cocktails in London by the Evening Standard, explores the nuttier possibilities of the spirit, mixing Montelobos mezcal with honey-infused Roots Rakomelo liqueur, a cactus puree, pumpkin seed tahini, and a foam inspired by the south American dessert dulce de batata.”
Mihai Ostafi, Oriole’s head bartender & Roots UK brand ambassador
Oriole
E Poultry Ave, Farringdon, London EC1A 9LH
Nightjar - Hoxton
Accessed through an anonymous wooden door just of the Old Street roundabout, this highly rated speakeasy bar was opened by husband-and-wife team Edmund Weil and Rosie Stimpson back in 2010. Since then, it’s become an enduring hit with the Shoreditch crowd. Introducing high end mixology and jazz music and having for the first years the creative genius of Marian Beke, Luca Cinalli and now Tony Pescatori, it is constantly being rated at the best bars in the world. Having served and trained generations of bartenders. Nightjar still remains and will remain one of the most important cocktail establishments of London.
Tropical ThandaiEast India Gin, NIghtjar Tropical Curd, Mancino Vermouth Chinato, Roots Kanela Liqueur, Pekoe Ceylon Tea Liqueur, Spiced Chutney Panipuri
Flying High
Absolut Elyx Vodka, Cold Brew Coffee, Roots Kanela, Galliano Ristretto & Vanilla, Amaro del Ciclista
Nightjar
129 City Rd, Old Street, London EC1V 1JB