Rule Britannia!

Wedding bells will be ringing this spring at Windsor Castle and you are going to need some cocktails to celebrate, too. With this as inspiration, let’s take a glance at some iconic British tipples and learn how to make them.

First, let’s step inside The American Bar at London’s Savoy Hotel, home to two of the world’s most influential bartenders, Ada Coleman and Harry Craddock. Coleman, the Savoy’s first and only female head bartender, gave us the pleasantly bitter Hanky Panky cocktail in the early 1900s. A couple decades later, Craddock, who authored

The Savoy Cocktail Book that’s found on every self-respecting bartender’s bookshelf, created the Corpse Reviver #2, a bright citrus cocktail with a hint of absinthe.

Fast forward a few decades to the 1980s and the Bramble, a new classic created by legendary barman Dick Bradsell. It is a simple gin libation topped with French blackberry liqueur, perfect for any spring fling. Allow me to humbly throw in a Brit-inspired cocktail of my own with these iconic classics and you will have everything you need for a truly royal celebration.

CORPSE REVIVER

#2Harry Craddock, 1930, London

1 oz gin

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz Cocchi Americano

1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 dash Taboo Absinthe

Chill a Nick & Nora glass with ice. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Fine strain cocktail into the chilled cocktail glass. Serves 1.

NOTE: Both simple syrup and honey syrup are made by combining equal parts boiling hot water and sugar or honey. Stir to dissolve. Please experiment responsibly!

GINS & ROSES

Justin Taylor, 2017, Vancouver

1 oz Odd Society Wallflower Gin

1 oz sloe gin

0.75 oz fresh lemon juice

0.25 oz honey syrup (see note)

0.75 oz pasteurized egg whites

3 dashes Bittered Sling Kensington Bitters

3 drops rose water

Chill a coupe glass with ice. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Fine strain cocktail into the chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with dehydrated rose petals. Serves 1.

BRAMBLE

Dick Bradsell, 1984, London

1.5 oz London Dry gin

0.75 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

0.5 oz simple syrup (see note)

0.5 oz Okanagan Spirits Blackberry Liqueur

Combine gin, lemon and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain over fresh ice in a double old-fashioned glass. Cap cocktail with crushed ice. Drizzle blackberry liqueur over the top of the cocktail. Garnish with fresh organic blackberries. Serves 1.

HANKY PANKYA

Ada Coleman, circa 1903, London

1 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin

1 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (or other sweet vermouth)

2 dashes Fernet Branca

Chill a coupe glass with water and ice. In a mixing glass, add ingredients with ice and stir gently for about 20 seconds. Strain into the coupe and garnish with a slice of orange peel. Serves 1.

by Justin Taylor