D1 International Cocktail Exchange Launches for Another Year

Hyperlocal flavour trends have gone global again this year as 21 of the world’s top bars and restaurants from the UK, Hong Kong, China, Canada, Australia and America prepare to pair up and swap signature cocktails.

The D1 International Cocktail Exchange was devised by luxury British spirits company, D1 London Spirits, three years ago.

It offers discerning UK cocktail lovers the chance to experience an authentic taste of global culture, with a range of bespoke and luxurious cocktails from the other side of the planet, which contain either award-winning D1 London Gin or luxury D1 Potato Vodka.

The D1 International Cocktail Exchange launched this December with some outstanding international cocktails and flavours. In addition there are bespoke offerings from seven of UK’s finest cocktail bars, such as Mayfair’s Lanes of London.

The UK bars are paired with some of the crème de la crème cocktail bars in Hong Kong, China, Canada, America and Australia, such as Hope & Sesame (Guangzhou), to offer cocktail lovers tastes and flavours from around the world.

Each bar and restaurant in the elite exchange has collaborated with a like-minded international venue to share techniques, knowledge and passion to produce a truly authentic array of cocktails.

UK bars are serving a signature cocktail created by their ‘twinned’ venue that features D1 Potato Vodka or D1 London Gin as a base spirit, plus the highest quality ingredients. The resulting drink offers the taste, ambience and drinking experience of its associated bar, giving guests a truly immersive experience.

Each venue in the exchange is considered to be a pioneer in its own field, whether because of its high-end reputation, or award winning craft cocktails made from locally foraged ingredients. All of the cocktails are lovingly created by some of the best mixologists in the world.

For Hope and Sesame’s Oolong Tea, for example, the oleo saccharum citrus oils are collected by preparing all the husks with a coating of sugar and left to sit in a jar for about two weeks, while another ingredient uses loose Oolong tea leaves and then carbonate in soda with CO2 capsules.

D1 London Spirits has also created keepsake cocktail cards featuring the signature cocktail from their partner bar, detailing the character of that venue and the cocktail recipe, meaning bar goers can know that someone on the other side of the world is drinking that very same cocktail and build a collection of all 21 cards.

D1 London Spirits founder, Dominic Limbrey, comments: “At D1 London Spirits we have a passion for design, arts and culture. We’ve introduced the D1 International Cocktail Exchange to help bring a new way for cocktail connoisseurs across the globe to enjoy international craft cocktails. It’s about exploring and understanding the nuances and character of different places and very local flavours, which can be found in the carefully curated cocktails served with an element of theatre in these hand-picked world-class bars.

“We are facilitating a project where we partner up different venues with huge character and personalities, allowing guests the opportunity to experience something international in a local context. The project will also give mixologists from across the world the chance to take inspiration from each other, using luxury spirits like D1 London Gin & Vodka as the base – ultimately helping pioneer and push the boundaries of craft cocktail-making”.