Garden Party
Garden Party
2 oz White Rum
1/3 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
2/3 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Lavender Syrup
1/8 oz Creme de Violette
Garnish: sprig of dried lavender
Rinse glass with Creme de Violette. In a shaker filled with ice, add the rest of the ingredients and shake well. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a sprig of dried lavender clipped to the edge of a glass with a mini clothespin.
One of the most surprising discoveries on my second trip to London was the prevalence of flowers everywhere throughout the city. The most beautiful trail of roses and camelias will line the door frames of shops from Hyde Park to Notting Hill to East London – regardless of whether they sell flowers or not. It could be a shoe store, or a hair salon. I even found a donut shop in Shoreditch that had rose graffiti painted on the exterior. And let’s not forget Columbia Road Flower Market – the best way to spend a Sunday in London, hands down. Pre-COVID times, we’d try and vertically swim our way across the mosh pit of humans along Columbia Road, catching a glimpse of massive tropical plants poking their heads among a mile of colourful bouquets for sale at ridiculously affordable prices – at least to Canadian standards. Once you get through the other side of Columbia Road, you’re left with this exhilarating feeling like you’ve just emerged from a fantasy land.
Because cocktails are often a reflection of our life experiences, I just had to create something that would be the equivalent of that fantasy land, in a glass. And so, with ‘Garden Party,’ I hope you’ll be able to imagine that sense of being completely engulfed in blossoms among a sea of strangers – a garden rave, if you will, minus the ecstasy pills.
