As I've mentioned elsewhere, I am a sucker for limited-edition and seasonal menus. That goes for mixed drinks as well, because God knows I like a nice drink. So, while on holiday this year, I made it a point to try as many seasonal (or otherwise special) mixed drinks as I could and see how they turned out. Some amazing, some Very Okay. Some quite expensive.
Seen above is an apple and ginger cocktail from the Noël Coward Theatre bar. I can't remember the specific name it was given, but it was the featured drink on the table tents. Very strong on the ginger, very light on the fruit, and mixed very strong. I had a second one waiting for me at the interval because it was very nice. But I'm also a fan of very strong things. Not the best of the trip, but certainly nice enough to have two.
Score: 3.5/5. Good for an evening out, wouldn't seek out ingredients to replicate it.
My first drink of the trip was the Winter Warmer in British Airways' business class from JFK to Heathrow. It was described as a mix of Scotch, cranberry, blood orange, and mandarin, and it had a little Christmas tree symbol next to it to indicate it was special for the season. I loved this, and it's partly because the Scotch was so prevalent in the mix. People who aren't big on whiskey flavor would hate this, which is fair, but it was very lovely.
Score: 5/5. Fantastic, does what it says on the tin.
The holiday drink at Chez Antoinette in Covent Garden was a French martini — basically a very frothy martini with strawberry flavor and a raspberry garnish. It was a little on the sweet side for me, but still nice. Enjoyers of very sweet and fruity drinks where you don't taste the alcohol as much would like this.
Score: 3/5. Perfect for someone, not for me.
The extremely lavish London Palladium panto had a themed drink, of course: simply called the Aurora Fizz, it was a £12 Chambord and Prosecco. Very sweet and fizzy. It was an okay midday drink, and Chambord tends to circumvent my aversion to overly sweet drinks. But it was very expensive for something so simple.
Score: 2.5/5. Would have been a 3.5 but didn't live up to the price tag.
Sadly, I forgot to snap a pic of the Ginger Jamboree, the themed drink for the Jingle Jamboree charity fundraiser held at the Loading Bar. But when you're less than ten feet from the Outside Xbox faves playing LEGO Party and sharing a table with a lot of like-minded new friends, snapping pics for the blog kind of falls by the wayside. This drink was more pastry-sweet than fruit-sweet, and reminded me (appropriately enough) of gingerbread.
Score: 5/5. I've never been disappointed by a Loading Bar drink, and tonight was no different. (Bonus points for the Assassin's Mead also being fantastic, but it's a menu mainstay.)
In hindsight, this blog post makes me sound like I drink a lot. And I truly don't. But that's what a holiday is for. And I'm definitely making a point of scouting out other special drinks in future.
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