Recipes

Summer has officially arrived in Britain, so it’s hardly surprising that iced tea has seen such a spike in popularity, with so many specialists having opened across the capital. Good & Proper Tea, for instance, has a Tea Bar on Leather Lane which offers a weekly rotating cold brew Iced Tea menu. With flavour combinations such as wild rooibos and orange; Darjeeling and elderflower; or hibiscus and mint – Good & Proper’s iced teas will also be available at a number...

A “Taqueria and Tequila joint”, Cartel in Battersea is inspired by Mexican street food stalls – boasting one of South London’s best tequila selections. Joining signature tacos filled with pulled chicken cooked in Mezcal and lemon, or slow-cooked beef brisket with chorizo, radish and coriander, Cartel’s bar is overseen by former El Camion bartender Josh Rooms. Celebrating tequila and Mezcal, the drinks list features twists on classics plus new, contemporary creations. ‘Tommy’s Margarita’, for instance, is a simple, sating libation,...

Wine is fine, but some evenings call for a dram of something stronger. Multi-award winning Single Malt Scotch whisky distillery, Balblair, have collaborated with Scottish culinary creatives Dram & Smoke to produce a number of recipes designed to be paired with whisky. Both originating from the Scottish Highlands, Balblair’s collaboration with Dram & Smoke focuses on some comprehensive recipes worth every second of the time taken to produce at home. This charcoal venison bun with bramble sauce, for instance, is...

Launched this week, Waterloo Food Month runs through July. A month long programme of food and drink-based events around Waterloo, featured events will include immersive workshops, master classes, talks from experts and various tastings. Culminating with the event, Bridget Virden from the community-focussed Meanwhile Club in Waterloo held a ‘Make, Do & Mend’ workshop, focusing on herbs as a key ingredient in summer cocktails. Sharing a wealth of knowledge with participants on creating a simple kitchen herb garden, the drinks...

World Gin Day takes place this weekend (Saturday 10th June), providing plenty of reasons to enjoy a drink (or twelve) containing the nation’s favourite spirit. In turn, Sopwell House – a Georgian manor house hotel in St. Albans - has fused two of the nation’s favourite drinks: tea and gin, in their ‘G&Tea’ cocktail. Created by the bar’s mixologists, the drink combines Bathtub gin with cooled Earl Grey tea and grapefruit juice for a ‘sophisticated twist’. So with World Gin...

As the blossom blooms, parks become desirable lunch spots and the tube becomes hotter than the filling of a McDonald’s apple pie -  it isn’t by chance that the classic, humble Negroni has seen such a resurgence in popularity of late. Served over a huge chunk of ice and garnished with a sliver of orange rind, it’s the perfect summer drink. Bitter and aromatic, a classic Negroni is the perfect appetite-building aperitif. Allegedly first created in Florence, Italy almost 100...

Earlier this week, iconic British actor Roger Moore died, aged 89, in Switzerland, following a brief battle with Cancer. Undoubtedly best known for his portrayal of secret agent James Bond throughout seven feature films – a classic Martini (shaken, not stirred) would, perhaps, be a particularly fitting tribute. No less, with Summer (Campari season) finally here – let’s remember Bond’s relationship with the classic Italian Americano cocktail – typically consisting of Campari, red vermouth and soda water. The first drink...

Cocktail bar group Dirty Martini (with seven bars in London, one in Cardiff) have launched a new cocktail menu filled with innovative new serves, plus boundary pushing flavour combinations. Created with the seasons in mind, each of the new cocktails experiments with less conventional ingredients or unique garnishes. The ‘Sweet Sorella’, for instance, is the simplest to recreate at home – combining Bold London spirit, white rum, pomegranate juice, hibiscus syrup, pink peppercorns, egg white and blueberry shrub. At the...

With a strong focus on high-quality tequilas and mezcals, the El Bandito pop-up in Shoreditch follows the success of the permanent, highly-acclaimed Liverpool bar. Opened last month, the bar showcases a selection of approximately 50 tequilas and 25 mezcals, plus an extensive cocktail list. Designed by the team, which also includes recent Class nominated best newcomer Joe Wild, the drinks menu aims to educate drinkers about these often-misunderstood spirits, with the original opening amongst the first UK bars to be...