Cool trend for summer
Ice cream and alcohol are the hottest pairing
in the UK right now, says Sarah Miller…
Given the weather we’ve been enjoying/enduring in the UK, including the warmest June ever recorded in England and three official heatwaves, it’s little wonder that ice cream is on everyone’s menu.
Top-end restaurants are leaning into the high-low pairing of caviar and ice- cream, and cocktail bars are embracing ice cream in almost every imaginable way too.
The first ice cream cocktail was purportedly created for Queen Victoria
in the mid-19th century and consisted of cognac, orange curaçao, maraschino liqueur and champagne. By 1930 the seminal The Savoy Cocktail Book included ice cream cocktails such as the White Cargo, and with good reason. Ice cream’s basic ingredients of cream, egg, sugar, vanilla (and other flavours) are also common to many cocktails, so using a pre-made scoop makes perfect sense.
However, today’s trend goes much further and plays into a desire for nostalgic experiences and flavours that remind us of childhood and simpler times.
“Artisan ice cream parlour and wine bar The Dreamery quickly became a TikTok sensation.”
Ice cream has always featured at East London’s Coupette, which opened in 2017. Their signature Champagne Piña Colada is blended with coconut ice cream, while they added a soft serve to their menu six months ago. In Leicester Square, Archive & Myth have been serving an Absinthe Frappe made with Jersey ice cream since they opened a year ago, and even the London Wildlife Trust (LWT) has got in on the act at their Coal House Café, which opens late on Fridays between June and August.
LWT Café Operations Manager Barry Mays, formerly of the Dorchester Hotel, wanted to create something “local and playful” in a space where guests can enjoy lawn games in the sun with “what feels like a vanilla ice cream float from when they were a kid.”
To achieve this Barry collaborated with local business Hackney Gelato to create three visually striking highball cocktails: a Golden Hour cross between a Horse’s Neck and Spicy Margarita, a Ramos-like Affogato Martini, and a dynamic Raspberry Sundowner with Campari, rhubarb and apple soda, and raspberry sorbetto, which gets fruitier and more sour as it melts.
Artisan ice cream parlour and wine bar The Dreamery quickly became a TikTok sensation after it opened in London’s Islington in December 2024, and ice cream and alcohol pairings really hit the headlines. It sounds like an unusual pairing, but ice cream can reduce the tannins in wines and is a “fun and joyous” combo according to Director Alex Young, who recommends trying Sicilian Marsala Alto Grado Catarratto from Barraco paired with banoffee pie ice cream.
Bombay Sapphire has joined in too, launching a gelato and cocktail pairing
at four venues nationwide. Designed to showcase the gin’s citrus-forward profile, Bob Bob Ricard City has paired a Bombay & Orris G&T with a Murcian Lemon & Orris Sorbet, beautifully presented on a bespoke platter.
Not to be outdone, Lyaness – current holder of the World’s Best Cocktail Menu Award – recently announced a collaboration with Marcelo’s Ice Cream. The “Sundae Lyan” event promises to celebrate nostalgia and creativity with a limited-edition menu including a Peanut Butter Miso & Dark Chocolate Hardshake, and pairings such as Cardamom & Gooseberry Ice Cream with Lyaness’ Irish Coffee.
This trend isn’t just about keeping cool and behaving like big kids though. Or about meeting consumer demand for inventive, interactive and sensorial experiences. It makes good business sense; after all, why sell an ice cream or a tipple when you can sell both? Whether that’s in one glass or two is up to you.
Sarah Miller is a UK-based spirits writer, judge and consultant.
ginadingding.com
