How do you like your martini? Shaken or stirred? With vodka or gin? Dirty? Or drier than the desert? How about… heated? Because Ham Yard Hotel has partnered up with gin brand Sipsmith for a Winter Martini Garden with cosy vibes and, yes, hot martinis.
Opening November 15, the pop-up event sees Londoners welcomed to the hotel terrace – usually reserved for hotel guests – until December 31. Guests to the Winter Martini Garden are welcomed with a Paloma-tini, a warm riff on a Paloma, to be enjoyed in the al fresco living room environs. Your next drink will then come after you tap your way through an interactive quiz, which will reveal your perfect martini – one of 15 new creations from the Ham Yard bartending team and Sipsmith’s Master Distiller, Jared Brown.
Cocktails range from The Beekeeper’s Martini (a hot honey-forward cocktail that is finished with a puff of smoke) to The Pharmaceutical (a warm, zesty orange take on the beloved espresso martini), and beyond. Clearly hot martinis weren’t enough – they’re going the whole hog and heating all of the cocktails!
But it’s not just about the drinks at the Winter Martini Garden. They’ll also be serving up a menu of fire-cooked food and sharing dishes to line the stomach. Dishes include the likes of venison tartare with bitter chocolate and wood sorrel, game and smoked bacon skewers with smoking rosemary and juniper, and more.
Hot gin cocktails?!
Sipsmith first paired up with Ham Yard Hotel all the way back in 2016 for Ginuary, when they kicked off the hot gin craze. Back then, though, drinks like the Hot G&T and Steaming Julep warmed Londoners up from the inside out with a double whammy of high-proof liquor and high-temperature drinks.
Previously known as the Hot Gin Roof, this year they’ve gone for the tamer (and far cosier) sounding Winter Martini Garden. After all, you don’t have to have your gin hot. Indeed, fans of the classic cocktail can enjoy cold martinis served tableside from a brass trolley.
Tickets to 2023’s Winter Martini Garden cost just £22, and include a welcome Paloma-tini and a subsequent martini creation.
The Winter Martini Garden will run from November 15 to December 31, on the Ham Yard Hotel roof terrace (4th Floor), 1 Ham Yard, W1D 7DT. The nearest station is Piccadilly Circus. Find out more about the Winter Martini Garden and book your ticket here.