With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee just around the corner, the popular St James Bar at the Sofitel London St James off Pall Mall in Waterloo Place, has created three superb cocktails to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee after 70 years of service.
The cocktails will be launched next Monday 16th May and will be available to both hotel guests and visitors to the bar until Sunday 12th June 2022.
If you are unfamiliar with the St James Bar, it is a chic, elegant and inviting meeting place with an upmarket ambience, filled with rich textures and colours, and where you will find an eclectic mix of locals, businesspeople, and hotel guests. The service is warm and friendly, and the background music unobtrusive.
This intimate and somewhat decadent cocktail bar has a twist of French and British influences with its rich mohair velvet banquettes, opulent jewel shades complementing brass accents, warm lighting and antique mirror tables and a striking marble topped bar.
The first of the three Platinum Jubilee cocktails is aptly named the Lilibet Fizz, priced at £18 and inspired by the birthday and early life of Her Majesty The Queen. The cocktail features two of her best-loved beverages: Pimm’s Cup N.1 and Bollinger Champagne, which hold the Royal Warrant.
To prepare, you will need 30 ml Ketel One, 30 ml Pimm’s N.1, 15 ml mixed citrus cordial, a splash F&S Elderflower and Cucumber soda and some Bollinger Champagne. Stir the ingredients and pour them into a Nude Highball glass, adding 3 ice spheres and topping with the Champagne, before finally garnishing with a long cucumber slice around the glass for the perfect light and refreshing summer cocktail that has the DNA of a classic Pimm’s Cup but with fruity and herbaceous notes.
The second cocktail is The Coronation, priced at £17 and was inspired by the coronation, a moment filled with resplendent jewellery and exquisite garments. This cocktail sparkles with intensity, richness and depth and has subtle notes of bergamot and wood and pays homage to the Queen’s preferred teas of Earl Grey and Assam.
The Coronation is made with 3 dashes of Grapefruit bitters, 30 ml Tanqueray N.10 gin, 50 ml Dubonnet and a splash of soda. Simply stir all the ingredients and pour into an engraved rock glass filled with an ice block and garnished with a gold leaf and cognac infused earl grey spray.
Last and by no means least, there is the Jubilee Gimlet, priced at £17 and inspired by the classic ‘Gimlet’ cocktail. This purple cocktail is a variation of the Queen’s favourite Martini, and to give it some acidity but retain the sweeter floral notes from the Champagne, it consists of gin and Champagne used in the form of a cordial, an acidified syrup.
The Jubilee Gimlet is prepared with 1 dash Absinthe, 3 dashes orange bitters, 15 ml Champagne cordial and 60 ml Tanqueray N.10 infused butterfly pea tea. Stir the ingredients and pour them all into a Coupetini glass filled with ice and then finally garnish with a discarded lemon peel for the perfect gimlet.
The Details
St James Bar, Sofitel London St James, 6 Waterloo Place, London, SW1Y 4AN, England.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 2238
Website: https://sofitelstjames.com
The St James Bar is located to the right of the lobby as you walk into the Sofitel London St James, which is on the corner of Waterloo Place and Pall Mall very close to Piccadilly Circus Tube station (Piccadilly and Bakerloo Lines). The bar is open on Sunday and Monday from 11:00am to midnight, closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and open Thursday to Saturday from 5:00pm to midnight.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is Editor of Our Man On The Ground, a member of The British Guild of Travel Writers and professional photographer.
Photographs courtesy of Sofitel London St James
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