Before making the syrup, pick out a few good-looking bay leaves and put to one side to use for the garnish. If you want to add some more intense, complex flavour to the drink, you could add some bay leaf bitters (off the shelf), but we make this simple DIY syrup. This drink will be on the menu at our new flagship site in Canary Wharf, opening early next year.
Raspberry and bay leaf martini
Serves 1
For the bay leaf syrup
10 bay leaves, plus 1 leaf extra per serve, to garnish
100ml water
100g sugar
For the drink
3 raspberries, plus 1 extra per serve, to garnish
40ml gin – we use Hendrick’s
20ml raspberry cream – we use Briottet
20ml bay leaf syrup (see above and method)
20ml fresh lime juice
1 egg white (25ml)
First make the syrup. Blend the bay leaves and water, then boil for 10 minutes. Strain, gently reheat the liquid with the sugar, stirring until it dissolves, then leave to cool. Decant into a jar, seal and store in the fridge, where it will keep for up to a week – the longer you leave it, the more the bay leaf aroma will dissipate.
To make the drink, muddle the raspberries in the base of a shaker. Add all the liquids and a big handful of ice, then shake hard, so the egg white froths. Double strain into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with a raspberry and bayleaf flag: place the spare raspberry in the centre of a bay leaf, lift up the sides of the leaf to enclose, then secure with a cocktail stick and balance on the edge of the glass.