Artesian launches new menu inspired by memories

The Artesian at The Langham, which has been voted the world’s best bar a record four times, has launched a new menu inspired by life’s key milestones.

The ‘you took your first steps’ cocktail, made with Bacardi Heritage 1909 rum, milk, banana, strawberry and a red wine float

Called Artesian Moments, the cocktails, created by head bartender Remy Savage, are inspired by the flavours associated with key moments in life.

Remy Savage and Anna Sebastian

Exploring the themes of identity, memory and metaphysics, Savage’s serves aim to evoke memories and experiences synonymous with different stages in our lives, including learning to walk, falling in love, leaving home and having a child.

Before creating the 17 cocktails, Savage and bar manager Anna Sebastian asked people to share the flavours and sensations that they associated with pivotal moments in their lives by answering a questionnaire.

The 500 responses they received were used to devise the different drinks on the list, with certain flavours emerging as emblematic of the feelings people associate with some of the biggest moments we experience in our lives.

“Our wish was to create a deeply personal menu for our guests that can be enjoyed collectively, but still inspire an individual memory.

“It was our customers’ experiences and memories that helped create these drinks. You could say they were there all along, we just had to ask,” said Savage.

Among the cocktails on the Moments menu are the ‘you went to big school’, made with Blanche de Normandie, almond lemonade, apple and meadowsweet, in a hat tip to the old tradition of giving an apple to your teacher in primary school.

The ‘you fell in love’ meanwhile, blends Michter’s Sour Mash Whisky with rose, chilli and pomegranate, while the ‘your kids left home’ is a nutty twist on a Manhattan made with Star of Bombay gin, olive, malt, nuts and ‘tears’ – a salt water solution.

The menu itself reads like an exhibition booklet, and is filled with collages by Parisian artist Tatiana Blinova that reflect each moment in time and the emotions attached to it.

Remy and Anna joined the Artesian in November 2017 from the Little Red Door in Paris and The Beaufort Bar at The Savoy.