G & Tea – our gin & tea-inspired cocktails

Posted on December 17, 2013 by aqua-shard

From the moment the bar at aqua shard opened, our cocktails have proved very popular and we’re often asked how the unusual ‘Gin Inspirations’ and ‘Tea Inspirations’ recipes came about.

Quintessentially British drinks, and both commodities traded for centuries from Bermondsey and Southwark where The Shard stands, gin and tea inspired the design of aqua shard – our two dining wings are known as the Gin Wing and Tea Wing – so it felt fitting to also feature them in our cocktails.

All created by our bars manager Manuel Soro, ‘Gin Inspirations’ use botanicals – the ingredients of gin which provide its complex and distinctive flavour – to create bespoke homemade bitters, tinctures, syrups and infusions. In a Stinging Tommy’s for example, the botanical coriander seed is used to create a tincture which is added to tequila blanco, lemon verbena-infused St Germain elderflower liqueur, stinging nettle agave nectar, Citronge and lime juice.

‘Tea Inspirations’ draw on not only the flavours of Britain’s national drink, but also the traditions associated with tea-drinking such as the taking of afternoon tea. The cocktails use tea as an ingredient in a unique way, such as The ‘Devonshire Cream Cup’ that combines gin, Aperol, crème de fraise, lemon curd, tarragon balsamic vinegar and lemon juice and is topped with Earl Grey ‘air’.

No reservations are required for the bar at aqua shard so to try one of our unique bespoke cocktails for yourself, simply come on up between 12 and 12.