The Fentiman's Botanical Garden Cocktail Bar

Let's start at the beginning shall we...

...that seems, for all intents and purposes, like the best place to start.

Like many a night before, we found ourselves half-skipping excitedly through Soho on a week night, in search of the next pop-up bar or restaurant, or handheld food stand that we had heard about on some obscure Twitter feed, or email that had landed by spectacular coincidence in our overburdened work inboxes.

This time, it was the turn of the Fentiman's Botanical Garden Cocktail Bar at L'Escargot. As we climbed the stairs past ornately decorated salons the colour of La Durée macarons, we had high hopes, and we were not disappointed when we reached the bar in the rafters. On this particular night, an album launch for a folk band was also taking place in the Fentiman's room, so we were treated to dulcet tones as we sipped.

A large, and very beautiful conservatory-slash-greenhouse-slash-library-slash-laboratory greeted us, and we established a perch directly in front of the very charming barman, between the company of flora and ferns that bedecked the room.

It was while we were so perched, in a heady haze of cocktails and a veritable hoedown, that we decided to start a food blog, and document our adventures properly.

We started with a 'Lillet Rose', comprised of Lillet Blanc and Fentiman's Victorian Rose Lemonade, and a 'Citrus Dream' (Ketel One Citroen, Rose Wine and Fentiman's Victorian Lemonade) respectively. The Lillet Rose was sweet and infinitely refreshing, and disappeared all too quickly.

The 'Citrus Dream' was a tantalising mix of delicious citrus notes leaving a sharp but satisfying taste on your tongue. Much like the 'Lillet Rose', it was gone all too soon. 

Next, we were dutifully offered our second round of cocktails, and plumped for the 'Fearless Fun' (tequila, cointreau and Fentiman's Ginger Beer) and the 'Curiosity' (bourbon, orange zest and a reduction of Fentiman's Curiosity Cola). 'Fearless Fun' was deliciously fresh and moreish, with a hint of heat from the underlying ginger beer.

The 'Curiosity' was balanced in the most perfect way, with the warmth of the bourbon underlying every sip creating a constant want for more. 

Having exhausted our Time Out London voucher for 4 cocktails, Chloe's gift for befriending barmen came in handy (not for the first time, certainly not for the last) and we were kept well-watered for the rest of the night with Fentiman's collaborative Bloom's gin mixes. The Bloom's and Rose Lemonade is not to be missed.

If you haven't yet visited the Fentiman's pop-up at L'Escargot then do - you won't be disappointed.

Stephanie x