Cocktail Club at The Royal Horseguards Hotel

Posted by winesleuth in All | 1 comment

The mixologists at the Royal Horseguards Hotel like to mix up a new cocktail every month but this month they’ve outdone themselves with the launch of The Cocktail Chapter. They’ve developed 4 new cocktails for the month of August, The Aperol Sorbet Spritz, Berry Crush, Gin & Jam and the Inverness Cocktail. 

The Cocktail Chapter is a new club that the hotel is launching from October. Food & Beverage Manager, Shudhanshu Kaushak explained to us that the hotel will be offering cocktail masterclasses every month. The idea behind the club is to ‘make cocktails easy’ , to not only show how to make great cocktails but also to use ingredients that are common in the house.

To wit, the Gin & Jam is made with house made strawberry jam (although that’s not to say you can’t use Bonne Maman’s jam) and Portobello Gin. A tasty combination of gin and jam topped off with soda, it wasn’t too sweet or too bitter. I’m a fan of gin anyway but this was utterly delicious.

That was quickly followed by the Berry Crush, a mix of tequila (!) and elderflower infused vodka with lots of fresh crushed blackberries. The elderflower vodka is also made in-house, macerating for 24 hours before it’s ready. Despite the addition of tequila, it worked really well, so refreshing and morish. There was also a dash of lime and soda water to finish it off. Those were deceptively easy to drink.

The Aperol Sorbet Spritzer was homemade orange/Aperol sorbet topped with prosecco. I was a bit dubious because I’m not a huge fan of Aperol but this was a tasty combination, not too sweet nor too bitter, just heaven! I also liked the fact that this was a cocktail you could eat as well as drink.

Lastly we finished with the Inverness, so named because apparently when it was first created, one of the mixologists commented it reminded him of Inverness. I’ve never been so I wouldn’t know but this mix of 2 different rums, one a spiced rum used to top the drink off, fresh coconut water (to help with rehydration) and ginger beer was another winner. What I liked about all the cocktails was that they weren’t too strong or too weak. They were just right. I have to say, we were happy as we left but not overly so.

This new cocktail menu will be available in the Equus Bar and the Outdoor Terrace, situated on the ground floor of the Royal Horseguards Hotel.  Bursting with colourful flowers, the terrace is a haven of tranquillity with comfy wicker sofas for guests to lounge on.  It’s the perfect spot to enjoy a sunny day or a long summer evening with friends. I never even knew it was there but now that I know….

Thanks to The Royal Horseguards Hotel for inviting me to enjoy their new cocktails.