London Calling (Chris Jepson)
Shake.Up. Double strain to cocktail glass. Express grapefruit peel and garnish
Cara Devine's video mistakenly lists the gin as Beefeater 24. However, Beefeater 24 was not released until 2008.
Created for a 2002 Drinks International Magazine competition.
- Merrily We Go To Hell — Gin, Bianco Vermouth, Lime juice, Cinnamon syrup, Grapefruit peel
- Black Bowtie Gimlet — Gin, Bitters, Lime juice, Simple syrup, Squid ink, Salt Solution
- Sun-kissed — Gin, Aperol, Lemon juice, Crème de Pamplemousse, Simple syrup
- Gin Sour — Gin, Blackstrap Bitters, Simple syrup, Lime juice, Egg white
- Lord Byron — Gin, Mastika, Lime juice, Mint
Curated to correct gin, a note added about Beefeater 24 error, and a link added to reference an article published yesterday (which I didn't see until today, eerie coincidence) about the history of this cocktail.
It is a lovely drink. I particularly enjoyed a slight variation published by Adam Elmegirab which uses 3 dashes of his Spanish Bitters in place of the two dashes of orange bitters. The Spanish bitters are a more floral/fruity, semi-orange bitters which fit seamlessly into this recipe.
From what I can tell, the original recipe called for Beefeater in 2002, but not Beefeater 24 (which has teas as part of its profile) since the latter was not released until October 2008. [There is a typo in one article that says something about it being in 45 markets in 2004, but it doesn't match the rest of the article and was likely meant to be 2014 based on the article's 2015 date.] Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Book of Bitters lists the venue as Mad Fox in Amsterdam. Difford's says 2002 at Milk & Honey, London. I am wondering if the competition it was created for was in Amsterdam, since all appearances are that Chris Jepson was working in London at the time. At any rate, its long time inclusion on Milk & Honey's menu is what drove its popularity.