London's Lyaness cocktail bar has unveiled a new menu inspired by unexpected partnerships around the world, from koji and KitKat to Lego and MIT. Olivia Palamountain reports

Lyaness, the cocktail haunt at Sea Containers hotel, has introduced a collaboration-themed drinks list, featuring twelve innovative cocktails and four alcohol-free alternatives.

Building on their successful Cookbook series, which earned the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award at The World's 50 Best 2024, the new Collaboration Menu celebrates a concept central to the Lyan philosophy: the coming together of ideas.

The bar team drew inspiration from diverse collaborative relationships across the globe - from unexpected partnerships in nature to the alliance between Lego and MIT that enabled more precise robotic modelling. These narratives have informed their approach to flavour development.To bring these stories to life, the Lyaness team has created twelve unique ingredients forming the menu's core, each embodying the signature Lyan balance of fun, clarity and exceptional taste.

These include Lego Olive Oil, made by deconstructing olive oil in solid form to create a funky, cereal quality with fresh and buttery green olive notes; Kit-Katso, combining koji with KitKats for savoury depth with bright chocolate creaminess; and Bitterless Aperitif, a blend of radicchio, grapefruit and plantain transformed through enzymes to balance sweet, sour, salty and umami flavours.New serves include the Moo Reed, which honours unexpected harmonies found in nature by infusing Teeling Single Malt whiskey with smoked camel milk, hummingbird nectar, grass and lemon.

The Atsushi Sour reimagines the classic White Lady, combining Hendrick's Gin, moscato and sudachi citrus with 'brainless melon curaçao'—a mixture of milk, melons and penicillium candidum, the fungus responsible for soft textures in brie and camembert.

For richer flavours, the No Spoon Old Fashioned combines Del Maguey mezcal with walnut honey and 'purple bitters'—a floral hibiscus that takes the classic in an unexpected direction. The Lyan King offers a zesty whisky sipper, bringing together Maker's Mark, citrus bitters and gooseberry with jellyfish used to kick off fermentation, and an 'endless table sauce' inspired by classic condiment techniques.Ryan Chetiyawardana says of the new menu: "Collaboration is at the heart of what we do at Lyan – across the bars – we use an internal democratic creative process, utilising the diversity of the team. We work with other bars and restaurants, material scientists, agronomists, food scientists, alongside other industries and experts, to marry their insight with our own to create something neither of us would have done in isolation.

"For this new book series, we wanted to delve deeper into exploring the mechanisms of collaboration, and with this first book, we're celebrating the stories of working together that have led to a 1 + 1 = 3 situation. We've not only stronger together, but we're able to find wholly new things through shared perspectives. This menu has allowed us to create very new ideas, drinks and flavours."Other imaginative offerings include the Digital Fruit, featuring Johnnie Walker Black with sour raspberry, paperback kombucha and leather soda; Baloo-za, a tropical rum sour with Diplomatico Planas, bear beer and lion's mane; and the Vantapink Gimlet, made with The Botanist gin, spite cordial, rhubarb and fermented nettles - which the menu notes is "not available to Anish Kapoor," referencing the art world feud over exclusive colour rights.

Lyaness is the flagship venue from award-winning bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana, also known as Mr Lyan, is currently the only bar globally to hold three PIN status from The Pinnacle Guide – the drinks industry's equivalent of three Michelin Stars.