BLOOM Martinis by Joel Lawrence @ St James's

BLOOM Martinis by Joel Lawrence @ St James's Hotel and Club

It was a real pleasure to see Joel again at St James's yesterday, it had been far too long. His back bar is incredibly well balanced with lots of interesting products across all categories. Although Joel's preference is for Whisky and Vodka, I like to think he was rather impressed with BLOOM Gin. Although Joel's not a big fan of juniper and commented that Bloom was clearly London Dry in style but had added complexity with nice floral/citrus notes as well as being very smooth. We discussed what to try it in and Joel opted for a straight up Martini but on the way to the cupbard to get the Vermouth, he changed his mind and used Bottlegreen Ginger and Lemongrass instead. He gave half the rim a wipe with Kumquat so we could decide whether it worked or not - it did! The result was an incredibly light, smooth and uplifting Martini - which could easily become far too easy to drink.

Truth is, if I thought the previous Martini was a little addictive then there's no hope for anyone that tries:

Joel's BLOOM Lychee Martini!

50ml BLOOM Gin
25 ml Lychee Liqueur (Giffard)
50 ml Lychee Juice

Shake all hard over ice and pour into a Chilled Martini glass with a strawberry garnish.

A classic tasting note of lychee is rose - this really adds to the floral notes of the camomile and honeysuckle botanicals in BLOOM.

Easy to make and perfect for summer! Enjoy.

BLOOM Cocktails by Kester Thomas @ No. 5

Kester is a very talented and highly innovative bartender who is now at No. 5. It's well worth a visit over the coming months to enjoy Kester's development of the No' 5 terrace and his "edible cocktail afternoon teas" - I know I can't wait!
When I first took Bloom in to Kester we were pleasantly surprised to find two perfect BLOOM cocktail recipes. The cocktail below is called a Honey Suckle - which is a Botanical in BLOOM.

Honey Suckle


Garnish:
Use elderflower cordial to dip the rim of the glass into and coat with soft granulated sugar.

Ingredients:
4 x Fresh raspberries
15 ml x Elderflower cordial
25 ml x BLOOM Gin
15 ml x Krupnik honey vodka
Champagne

Method:
Carefully pour Champagne into a flute about two thirds full. Shake the other ingredients over ice and fine strain on top of the Champagne.


Deliciously refreshing and fruity. Very clean and perfect for summer.

In this second cocktail Kester makes his own Chamomile syrup from the dried flowers used for tea and Chamomile is a distinct botanical in BLOOM Gin along with Honeysuckle and Pomelo.

Kester's Chamomile Collins

Ingredients:
2 x tsp Vanilla sugar

1 x Juice whole lemon

50 ml x BLOOM Gin
25 ml x Elderflower Liqueur - St Germain

25 ml x Kester's homemade Chamomile syrup

Method:

shake all ingredients over ice and pour into a collins glass over ice.

Garnish:

Fill the glass crushed ice and top with dried Chamomile Flowers and grated Lemon peel.

Overall the experience of No. 5 is of opulence and luxury combined with great atmosphere and fantastic drinks.

Highly recommended!

BLOOM Gin

I'd seen it here I'd seen it there but never managed to lay my hands on any. The early reviews I'd read were great and the packaging looked stunning. Simon Difford had written and raved about BLOOM and its producer Greenall's in Class Issue 3 (July/August) and it had even won a Gold in The Drinks Business Design Awards.....

I now have some and have even shared it with a few fine folk in the industry. See the great Cocktail Sean at Callooh Callay made last week below.

Nose: Thankfully most definitely GIN - indeed, exactly as it says on the bottle - Premium London Dry Gin - light relief from the recent wave of 'boutique' gins that don't taste anything like gin. Predominatly Juniper with light, uplifted floral notes, which would be explained by the Chamomile and Honeysuckle botanicals. Sitting underneath all of that is a hint of citrus which would be from the Pomelo - a strange fruit that apparently tastes a bit like a mild grapefruit. This is all bound together by herbal and violet notes.

Taste: Incredibly soft and smooth on the palate with a silky mouthfeel and again most pleasingly GIN! Although delicate in style there is real weight given by the honeysuckle, notes of orange bitters and freshly cracked black pepper. The chamomile hits mid palate with zesty grapefruit and sweet violets, all neatly finished off with resinous pine and smooth spice.