London hotel bar Artesian at the Langham has created some really innovative twists on the traditional G&T.

Drinks on the 'Tonic & Gin' list include the Sipsmith Sonic: Sipsmith gin stirred with pine liqueur, orange bitters and lime juice served over cracked ice with pine-scented pinocchio leaves and equal parts tonic and soda.

The G&Tea features Beefeater 24 blended with lemon juice, bitters and sugar, charged with a homemade soda showcasing botanicals from the gin, which include sencha and green tea (the soda is also offered by itself as a teetotal G&Tea).

While the Aromatic Rendez-Vous goes even more off-piste with fresh herbs including tarragon, rosemary, coriander and oregano muddled with fresh lime and G'Vine gin, served over ice with sparkling water, garnished with apple blossom and jasmine.

Kratena explains: 'I've created T&G with my team to celebrate that quintessential British icon, the Gin & Tonic, in order to deliver an exciting experience for both international travellers and discerning Londoners, together with the intention to up-sell typical 'spirit & mixer' drinkers to cocktails as these generate higher margins.’

He adds: 'To our big surprise, since we've launched T&G, it immediately started to generate incredible sales and the funny thing is that those twist on G&T we've forecasted to sell less, such as the G&Tea Deluxe Edition, actually exceeded all our expectations and make huge volume in terms of both sales and repeat custom.'

Artesian at The Langham

News item from Imbibe.com, 09-06-2011