db drinks: The Zetter Townhouses’ Summer cocktails

db previews the Zetter Townhouses’ new summer cocktail menu made in collaboration with drinks maverick Tony Conigliaro.

Seymour’s Parlour at the Zetter Townhouse in Marylebone. The décor is inspired by the John Soane’s Museum.

The Clerkenwell and Marylebone boutique hotels, which are part of the Zetter group, will each feature four different seasonal sips with bespoke ingredients developed by both the Zetter Townhouse bar teams and Tony Conigliaro’s Hackney-based Drink Factory.’

At a preview last week, Manon Kapfer, bar manager at the Zetter Townhouse Marylebone, said that the new serves had been “6 months in the making” with some elements taking up to a year to perfect.

Zetter bartenders don’t just serve the drinks; they have a unique involvement in the creation of the cocktail menu, devising and helping to fashion the concoctions and infusions used in the bars.

The focus is on seasonality with the availability of ingredients dictating what is served. Manon added that, during the year, the Townhouse bars regularly change their menus.

“We are definitely going more seasonal,” she said, “For example, there are some cocktails that we list that we really love and that sell very well, but we have to take them off when the ingredients go out of season.”

Click through to view the eight new cocktails.

Uncle Seymour’s Tea (Seymour’s Parlour)

Named after the ‘notorious ancestor’ of Seymour’s Parlour, Georgian rake Wicked Uncle Seymour, Uncle Seymour’s Tea is a blend of papaya and mango leaves liqueur and Champagne.

The leaves are left to infuse in the liqueur for 30 minutes, imparting both the sweet, tropical fruit flavours of the mango and papaya, but also a pleasing and stabilising bitterness.

Propolis (The Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell)

Propolis, infused into the vodka used in this sip, is also known as ‘bee glue’ is a fragrant, resinous liquid, a mixture of pollen and nectar, produced by the bees themselves. Used by bee keepers and in perfumery, this is the first time that it has been used in cocktails.

Balancing the perfumed floral aromatics was challenging, Keivan Nemati, bar manager at the Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell, admitted, and as such, it took a year to achieve the correct balance.

Propolis vodka is mixed with orris honey, lemon and Champagne in what is a homage to the honey bee. Described as a take on a French 75, Propolis’ pronounced aromatics are offset by the sweet citrus acidity of lemon and toasty notes from the Champagne.

Rose Rosé Collins (Seymour’s Parlour)

The strawberry rose vodka used in this cocktail was made by redistilling strawberries and roses and then adding free-dried berries.

Traditionally made using gin, this Collins blends strawberry rose vodka, Sancerre rosé (Pinot Noir), lemon and tonic water. The rose is subtle and not overpowering and partners well with the bitter tonic.

Sage (The Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell)

Sage is a take on the French favourite, Mauresque, traditionally a blend of either absinthe or pastis, almond syrup and soda water. Zetter’s version, however, is distinctly British.

Beefeater gin is mixed with Cornish pastis, sage, lemon and soda water. The pastis, created by Southwestern Distillery, is milder and more aromatic than its French counterpart, displaying notes, aside from aniseed, of elderflower and blossom.

Refreshing and savoury, Sage is the perfect partner to Zetter’s dehydrated courgette crisps.

Figueira (Seymour’s Parlour)

Figueira is a blend of Cognac, Vinho Verde reduction, lemon and fig liqueur. The deliciously unctuous liqueur is made by a small company in Portugal using both purple and black figs. In reference to the liqueur, the ‘Figueira’ is the Portuguese word for ‘fig tree.’

The Vinho Verde reduction, another concoction formulated at the Drink Factory, retains the wine’s characteristic freshness, with pronounced aromas of green apple and flowers.

How do ya like them apples (The Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell)

A tribute to cider-producing powerhouse Somerset, the aptly titled How do ya like them apples mixes cider au de vie with ice cider, steamed apple and lemon.

Combining the different flavours of cooked, distilled and sweet apple, this serve once again displays the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. Ice cider is made in a similar way to ice wine, but is considerably less sweet.

T.Punch (The Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell)

T.Punch marks a milestone in Zetter’s history; it is the first cocktail to contain tequila. Inspired by the cocktail Paloma (a blend of tequila, grapefruit soda and lime) T. Punch combines Ocho Tequila, charred grapefruit sherbet and lemon.

The grapefruit is first charred to create a slight bitterness and is then infused with sugar and tequila. The result is a bitter-sweet syrup replicating the taste of sherbet.

Flintlock II (Seymour’s Parlour)

Guaranteed to bring your evening to a dramatic close, the Zetter team were keen to reproduce the aromas of a freshly fired gun. This they achieve with the unlikely combination of roasted fennel and coffee.

Flintlock II is a blend of roasted fennel gin, fennel pollen syrup and coffee. The roasted fennel gin is, unlike many of Zetter’s concoctions, something that you can easily reproduce at home. The fennel seeds are roasted then left to infuse in gin for 30 minutes. The serving glass is rinsed with coffee before the addition of the gin-based liquid. All served up in a suitably flamboyant fashion – we won’t spoil the surprise!