The London Essence Company will be profiling people's palates to mix cocktails that match their taste profiles at an activation during London Cocktail Week.
At "Essence house", visitors will get a personalised journey through flavour and receive a bespoke cocktail that has been scientifically matched to their palates and mixed by one of the world’s top bartenders.
Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart, an expert in the science of gastronomy and flavour perception, has developed a series of interactive taste and aroma tests to help each visitor identify their palate profile over the course of 45 minutes.
Each day, the house, open for three days from 3 October, will welcome different bartenders, including Maxim Schulte from the American Bar at the Savoy; Lorenzo Antinori from the Four Seasons, Hong Kong; and Liana Oster from Dante in New York. The guest bartenders will each combine their signature styles with visitors' individual palate profiles to create one-of-a-kind drinks.
A partnership with Diageo Reserve means that, at the activation, London Essence’s distilled botanicals will be paired with Ketel One Botanical vodka, Tanqueray No Ten gin, Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky, Belsazar vermouth and Seedlip non-alcoholic spirit to make the cocktails.
London Essence has also teamed up with Evogro, a plant-growing system, so that fresh garnishes can be grown on site.
Visitors to the ticketed experience can also experiment with London Essence’s tonics, gingers and sodas to create their an individual cocktail at a self-serve bar. Each ticket includes two cocktails.
Ounal Bailey, co-founder of London Essence, said: "When it came to developing the 'Essence house', we wanted to share our appreciation for flavour with consumers. The unique palate profiling experience will explore drinkers’ relationships with taste and aroma to help them open their minds (and palates) and explore flavour combinations that they may not have considered before."
London Essence Company is working with Splendid Communications and Global Bartending to deliver the project.
