This week, I couldn’t help but rejoice as I sipped some of the finest cocktails on earth, mixed to perfection, without leaving my home. I’m alright behind the bar, but not this good.
London is an endlessly fun city of high end cocktail dens, but the novelty of having drinks freshly prepared by Tayēr & Elementary, which recently defended its honor of World’s Second Best Bar in the just published, World’s 50 Best List, was too much to pass up.
Despite being a sought after destination in London’s Old Street neighborhood, they currently ship nationwide in the UK. Very cool, indeed.
We’ve come a long-long way together, through the hard times and the good, and this week I can’t help but heap praise on the inventive solutions this literally world class bar has created to keep people connected, even when home avoiding everyone with flu!
Tayēr & Elementary And Cocktail Trends
About two years ago, during the health crisis, I wrote about the growing trend of canned cocktails. I even questioned whether bars would continue focusing solely on the in person vibe and experience or might get clever with other opportunities.
The supermarket variety but a bad vibe on the notion — whiskey and coca-cola does not a cocktail make — but any great mixologist will tell you that some cocktails actually benefit from time in a bottle/can.
Drinks that don’t require fresh citrus, and are a bit boozier in nature actually mellow really nicely and let smoother flavors sink in during bottling. That’s something Tayēr & Elementary have clearly focused on with great success. Plus, “at home” is just a fun flex.
I ordered — and yes, paid full price — for The Vetiver Negroni, made with tequila and mezcal is outstanding, the Sandalwood Martini and The Jasmine Mai Tai, which even gave me a sweet tooth it was so good.
About a day later, they showed up neatly boxed and beautifully bottled at my door. Think Aesöp, but with delicious drinks inside the bottle, rather than hyped hand soap.
The instructions are super clear. Get a big @$$ ice cube, put it in your sexiest glass and pour. Each 300ml bottle is enough for at least two, and if you’re behaving like an actual bar, more like 4 cocktails.
Fun Pivot For Home Fun
The aromas, the sounds, the playlists, the unique countertops and the bar stools are things not easily replaced at home when you’re talking about a leading bar. The desire to feel that both literal and proverbial “buzz” of these places isn’t either.
But when it’s a busy week and you want a bit of escapism or a holiday from the ordinary, it’s amazing to live in the modern world where some of the finest things in the world, unique to one London street, can zip around a nation. Cheers to that.
