We're born and bred Londoners so we make no apology for saying that London Cocktail Week is one of our favourite times of the year. To set the mood, we're opening two products raised in the capital: Jensen's Old Tom Gin and The London Essence Co, a range of premium mixers.

Our bar review sees us going back to one of the original good-times spots– a bar that started life as the Covent Garden Cocktail Club back in 2008, before changing its name to the London Cocktail Club when it expanded to two further venues in central London. Now, with 10 bars in the capital under its belt and having taken the crowd-pleasing formula further afield to Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Reading and Exeter, it's no longer just a London thing – hence its new name: The Cocktail Club. But London is front and centre of our book choice which zones in on what is considered to be the true spirit of the capital, it's London Gin – The Gin Craze by Thea Bennett.

All of which primes us for our interview with Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne, the brilliant minds behind London Cocktail Week. Tune in to hear what's in store in this year's packed programme, and their plans for the Michelin-star guide for cocktail bars, The Pinnacle Guide, launching in November 2023. #amazing

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

What we're mixing:

London Calling

45ml London Dry Gin

15ml Fino sherry

15ml sugar syrup (2:1)

15ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 dashes orange bitters

Method:

Shake all ingredients over ice. Pour into chilled Nick & Nora glasses. Garnish with grapefruit twist (optional)

Recipe created by Chris Jepson, Milk & Honey, London

Method: Shake all ingredients over ice. Strain into a Collins glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with an orange 'sail' (Luxardo or Maraschino cherry pierced through a slice of orange in the shape of a sail).

Jensen's Old Tom Gin

London Cocktail Week

London Gin – The Gin Craze

The Cocktail Club

The London Essence Co

The Pinnacle Guide

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

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London Cocktail Week special

The Cocktail Lovers