Devilish And Decadent Cocktails in the Most Glamorous of Settings
What’s the most wild, witty and bonkers cocktail you could imagine?
We suggest a visit to the Adam Handling Chelsea Bar of the seriously swanky Belmond Cadogan Hotel in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, to discover.
At the launch of their summer salon, where guests were encouraged to wear outfits befitting nearby Chelsea Flower Show, we were treated to the Wilde Strawberry Cocktail topped by, of all things, that British teatime favourite: a Jammie Dodger.
No ordinary jammie dodger as beloved by UK children (it was voted their most popular sweet biscuit brand in 2009 and hales from Burton’s Biscuit Company factory in the Welsh suburb of Llantarnam).
The Belmond Cadogan’s superior Scottish shortbreads are fashioned by the five-star hotel’s pastry chefs before the cocktail maestros weave their magic, infusing Bombay Sapphire Gin with the biscuits in order, explains bar manager Josep Fond Mateu, ‘to extract biscuity, buttery notes and donate a smoothness to the gin. Black Tea adds one extra layer of tea aromas.’
So it’s a bit like enjoying tea and biscuits and a cocktail all at the same time.
Now to the alcoholic part: strawberries are infused in a Pink Vermouth to create a delicate fruity combination. ‘This is our well-balanced fruity style Negroni. Delish and fragrant,’ says Josep.
The Jammie Dodger is balanced on a Titanic-sized ice cube and miraculously retains its crispness. This could be down to the speed in which the irresistible cocktail is consumed, with guests advised to ‘sip and bite alternatively for a complete flavour experience.’
My verdict: Naughty but nice as its Wilde name suggests, a nod to the Chelsea dandy Oscar Wilde, who wrote the enduring play The Importance of Being Ernest. He was arrested at the Victorian hotel in 1895 and sentenced to hard labour in Reading Jail at a time when homosexuality was outlawed.
