Savoy launches vintage Pimm’s menu

The American Bar at the Savoy hotel in London has launched a vintage Pimm’s menu to coincide with the first day of Wimbledon on Monday.

Erik Lorincz and his prized bottles of Pimm’s

Keen to offer his guests a taste of British liquid history, head bartender Erik Lorincz has sourced 40-year-old bottles of the fruit cup.

To celebrate the selection, Lorincz will be serving a number of different vintage cocktails made with Pimm’s No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4 and No.5 Cup.

Made using a gin base, Pimm’s No.1 Cup was first produced in 1823 and has long since become a British summertime staple at picnics and garden parties.

An early Pimm’s No. 1 Cup label

In the ‘70s the brand branched out, releasing four twists on the classic recipe made with different base spirits – whisky (No.2 Cup), brandy (No.3 Cup), rum (No.4 Cup) and rye (No.5 Cup).

There are only a handful of bottles of the different Cups in existence, and Lorincz managed to source one of each for his vintage Pimm’s list via Speciality Drinks.

To bring the best out of the spirits, Lorincz has created a tincture for each of the different expressions to draw out the flavours of the spirit base.

The gin cocktail tincture features Roman chamomile and the whisky peppermint, while a Japanese green tea tincture is used in the brandy cocktail, coffee in the rum one and cinnamon in the rye.

Served in vintage glassware with homemade lemonade, the vintage cocktails cost £45.

Pimm’s was invented by James Pimm, a farmer’s son from Kent, in 1823 as a punch-like digestif to serve diners at his oyster bar in the City of London.

The original recipe was made with gin and a secret mixture of herbs, spices, fruit and liqueurs. The drink was served in a small tankard known as “No. 1 Cup”, giving Pimm’s its name.

It became so popular that Pimm’s began making it on a larger scale in the 1850s and selling it at thirty shillings a bottle to the public.

In 1880, the brand was acquired by future Lord Mayor of London Horatio Davies and a chain of Pimm’s Oyster Houses was franchised in 1887.