Do you remember when you first rode a bike? Your first day at school? Or how about when you first fell in love? Now, if you had to choose, what colours, aromas, feelings and flavours would you associate with those memories?
This was what the Artesian bar at the Langham hotel in London asked hundreds of people as part of the research it put into developing its new “Artesian Moments” cocktail menu, inspired by “life’s defining moments”.
When You Rode Your First Bike
Each of the drinks embody “events that contribute to personal identity” and “aim to evoke memories and experiences synonymous with different stages in our lives”.
When You Fell in Love
After receiving 500 responses relating to experiences such as discovering a passion, moving out of your childhood home, and travelling, they found it was clear that certain flavours were “emblematic of the feelings that people relate to key points in their lives”.
When You Turned 30
Head bartender Remy Savage and bar manager Anna Sebastian together used this information as the foundation for their 17 new cocktail recipes. Illustrations by Paris-based artist Tatiana Blinova were also specially commissioned to go alongside.
Your First Steps
Savage said: “Our wish with Artesian Moments is to create a deeply personal menu for our guests; one that can be enjoyed collectively, but still inspire an individual memory. It was our customers’ experiences and memories that helped create these drinks. You could say they were there all along, we just had to ask.”
What can you order from the Artesian Moments menu? Cocktails include…
- Your First Steps – Bacardi Heritage 1909 rum, milk and banana strawberry “medicine”
- When You First Rode a Bike – Monkey 47 gin, citrus, gangnam tops lavender and iron sorbet
- When You Went To Big School – Blanche de Normandie, almond lemonade apple and meadowsweet
- When You Fell In Love – Michter’s sour mash whisky, rose isolated chilli and pomegranate
- When You Discovered A Passion – Grey Goose vodka, goji, Dianhong tea and ginseng
- When You Turned 30 – Glenfiddich 15, Sauternes, orange wine isolated tannins
- When You Achieved Success At Work – Hennessy VS cognac, yellow catura, sesame
- When You Looked Back – Bulleit rye whisky, pine, moss, dry vermouth