If you want to get the flavour of a place before you go, one of these punchy drinks might help!
Top London cocktail bar Mr Fogg’s – which has six venues around the city inspired by the protagonist in Jules Verne’s 1873 novel Around the World in 80 days – has shared a selection of its top secret recipes with MailOnline Travel.
Explorers such as Levison Wood and Sir David Attenborough have been spotted plotting their next adventures with a beverage down at Mr Fogg’s. So, scroll down to see which travel-inspired tipple whets your appetite…
Rapa Nui
Rapa Nui is inspired by the ingredients found on Easter Island, with fruity mix of Grand Marnier orange liqueur and banana
Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, inspired this namesake cocktail served at Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration – a bar described as ‘a sanctuary for those more curious than most’. The ingredients used are intended to transport drinkers to the remote volcanic island, where ripe fruits and lemony herbs are rife.
Instead of a glass, the drink comes in a small earthenware pot, complete with a lid and sprig of flowers.
Ingredients: 40ml Bacardi Cuatro Añejo rum, 20ml Grand Marnier orange liqueur, fresh grapefruit, 30ml banana lemon shrub (the shrub is pre-made by fermenting banana skin and lemon thyme in water and sugar with wine yeast). Shake and pour the ingredients over ice.
Cresting the Summit
Cresting The Summit is a drink inspired by ingredients used by locals in the Himalayas, including butter-infused tea
Created to evoke the feeling of being close Mount Everest, Cresting The Summit served at Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration features a range of ingredients inspired by those used by locals in the Himalayas, one being butter-infused tea.
Instead of yak milk however, butter from cows is used to make this concoction. This drink – served at Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration – was actually taken to Mount Everest by MailOnline last year and drunk at 7,100m, while setting the world record for the highest dinner party.
Ingredients: 45ml Metaxa 12 Star aged amber spirit, 20ml spiced-butter-infused English breakfast tea – shake to combine and pour into vessel, and garnish with yoghurt powder. Best served out of a Thermos flask-style vessel.
Valley of Silence
The Valley of Silence was named after the Western Cwm on Mount Everest. The glacial valley basin is nicknamed the Valley of Silence because when the wind stops, it is eerily quiet
The Valley of Silence is also part of the Mount Everest section of the Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration menu.
It was named after the Western Cwm, which is a a broad, flat, glacial valley basin on the mountain. It is nicknamed the Valley of Silence because when the wind stops, it is eerily quiet. The drink is served in a traditional Tibetan singing bowl.
Ingredients: 60ml Bombay Sapphire gin, 25ml sake, 40ml of mirin (a Japanese sweet rice wine), 5ml milk and vanilla syrup, a splash of lime and one egg white. Shake all of the ingredients to combine and until the egg white is foamy. Strain into a vessel.
Goan Lass
The Goan Lass features on the menu at Mrs Fogg’s, which is located in the heart of London and inspired by Mr Fogg’s better half – his Indian wife, Aouda
This fruity drink was inspired by the sandy shores of Goa in India.
It features on the menu at Mrs Fogg’s, which is located in the heart of the City and inspired by Mr Fogg’s better half – his Indian wife, Aouda.
Ingredients: 40ml Bacardi Anejo Cuatro Rum, 20ml Martini Riserva Speciale Ambrato vermouth, eight leaves of mint, 20ml fresh lime, 30ml mango juice, one spoon of yoghurt powder, 15ml of cinnamon syrup, topped with around 70ml of beer. Garnish with mint springs, a cinnamon stick, a straw and a sprinkle of icing sugar on top.
Mombai Mule
The Mombai Mule is on the menu at Mrs Fogg’s which is an eccentric bar modelled on a Rangoon steamer ship
The aromatic Mombai Mule is another concoction that makes an appearance on the leather-bound drinks list at Mrs Fogg’s.
All of the drinks at the eccentric City spot – which is modelled on a Rangoon steamer ship – pay homage to India.
Ingredients: 50ml Cardamom-infused Russian Standard Original vodka (allow 20 green cardamom seeds to infuse 70cl Russian Standard Original for five hours, then remove the seeds from the bottle), 25ml pear puree, 50ml apple juice, 15ml fresh lime juice and 10ml cinnamon syrup, topped with around 80ml of ginger beer. Build the cocktail directly in a floral metal mug if you can, with plenty of ice. Garnish with curly parsley, dried apple and a dash of icing sugar.
The Inca Trail
A photo of the Inca Trail cocktail which features ingredients inspired by those found in the wilds of Peru, such as vanilla, coffee and cherries
The Inca Trail appears on the Machu Picchu section of the Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration menu.
The mixologists went for ingredients inspired by those found in the wilds of Peru, such as vanilla, coffee and cherries, which can be growing in the mountainous regions of the country.
Ingredients: 40ml Patron silver tequila, 60ml signature cold brew coffee, 5ml morello cherry syrup and 5ml vanilla syrup. Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake to combine and pour into vessel with one large ice cube.
The Lagoon Reef
The Lagoon Reef promises to transport drinkers to the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia
The extensive menu at Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration includes a section dedicated to the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia.
The Lagoon Reef promises to transport drinkers to the land of crystal clear waters and balmy weather, with a blend of coconut and nut essence, with chestnut trees growing in abundance back on land.
Ingredients: 45ml VII Hills gin, 10ml Frangelico, 10ml coconut water, mint and chestnut essence. Shake all of the ingredients and strain into a blue-coloured vessel with a large piece of ice.
The Rosey Rooster
The Rosey Rooster cocktail is inspired by Cuba, where the strutting rooster is one of the most common animals
The Rosey Rooster – served at Mr Fogg’s Gin Parlour – was inspired by Mr Fogg’s fictional travels to Cuba. The rooster is one of the most common creatures on the island and found strutting around most homes and farms.
The team at Mr Fogg’s suggest serving this tipple in a miniature rub barrel to further the Cuban theme, but a standard highball will also suffice!
Ingredients: 35ml Dictador Colombian Treasure Aged gin, 20ml Roots Tentura liqueur, 30ml Aspall Draught Cyder, guava jam, peanut butter, pink grapefruit juice and fresh lemon juice. Build all of the ingredients into the vessel and stir.
Bad Luck Bunraku
The Bad Luck Bunraku comes served in a sake-style china cup, placed inside a wooden box, with some edible flowers reminiscent of the Japanese cherry blossom to finish
The Bad Luck Bunraku, served at Mr Fogg’s Gin Parlour, takes drinkers on a ride to Edo – better known as Tokyo today after being renamed in 1868 – in Japan.
The floral and citrus concoction comes served in a sake-style china cup, placed inside a wooden box, with some edible flowers reminiscent of the Japanese cherry blossom to finish.
Ingredients: 25ml Hendrick’s Orbium gin, 20ml plum liqueur, 15ml fresh orange Juice, 5ml fresh lemon juice and 15ml sage and lavender honey. Mix and strain the ingredients into a glass. Spray ylang ylang essence around the glass, which is commonly used in Japan, season with edible flowers and a bamboo leaf.
Man of Stone
The Man of Stone drink was inspired by the mysterious stone Moai monoliths which are scattered around Easter Island
The Man of Stone is another libation at Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration inspired by Easter Island, and named after the mysterious stone Moai monoliths which are scattered around the remote outcrop.
The bar team picked a smokey mezcal as one of the ingredients, to reflect the area’s volcanic past. There are also some other unusual elements to the drink, with the team explaining: ‘We prepare a low Abv aperitif from rose grenache wine using graviola leaves and pau d’arco tea plus some chamomile. If you chew graviola and these tea leaves you get a kind of high which might enable you to talk with the moai faces.’
Ingredients: 35ml Alipus San Juan mezcal, 20ml Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur and 60ml infused aperitif wine. Stir the ingredients together and serve in a stone man-shaped vessel – if available!