Jo Malone Does Cocktails At Bluebird Cafe

Nothing heralds the start of summer in the city more than those first al fresco cocktails of the season.

This year Bluebird is celebrating its twentieth birthday and so decided to team up with fragrance queen Jo Malone to create a range of cocktails all served in a floral blossom garden outside the main restaurant.

Fragrance, flowers and fizz? Who could ask for anything more?

Well, maybe a little masterclass from Jo herself? And that’s just what Belle got at the launch.

Salted Caramel cocktail heaven

After setting up her new line, Jo Loves, perfume expert Jo decided to challenge herself and use her expert nose in other areas.

‘I wanted to collaborate with the food and drink industry for a long time, seeing if I could take my sense of smell and transport it into taste,’ she explains.

And as we settled down in the flower garden, she explained the inspiration behind the cocktails that she’s worked on in conjunction with Bluebird’s head bar tender Egzon Kastrati.

First off, we sampled the Pomelo – an easy-drinking citrus spritz that was inspired by Jo’s summer holiday in Parrot Cay. Its base is fresh pomelo stirred with grapefruit, Tanqueray gin, lemon, lime leaf, hibiscus and topped with prosecco.

Next up was No.42 Flower Shop – This one is inspired by Jo’s days working as a florist and was Belle’s favourite. It’s poured into glasses from a silver watering can and is garnished with flowers to create what Jo calls an ‘edible bouquet’. It contains: vanilla infused vodka, Chambord, lemon, lychee, rose, cherry and rose champagne muddled together with dry junipers, pomegranates and raspberries. It’s sweet and perfumed with a special kick that stops it from being cloying.

We finished off with the Salted Caramel – a real showstopper of a cocktail – presented in a copper mug with an edible chocolate cup of salted caramel ice cream on the side. Spiced rum, Drambuie, Mozart, lime juice, espresso coffee, muddled pink and black peppercorns.

  • Rebecca Wright

    With one foot planted firmly in the world of real life journalism and her other toe dipping into the delights of food and travel writing, Rebecca likes to mix it up a bit. A journalist with over ten years experience, she's a Londoner born and bred and admits to a weakness for kitsch, cooking and la vie francaise. Rebecca's got an insatiable curiosity (read nosey parker) and loves nothing better than meeting new people and discovering new worlds.

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