For four exclusive days in October 2019, we opened The Essence House in the heart of London; an immersive, interactive drinking experience launched in celebration of London Cocktail Week.
Designed to unlock each guest’s palate profile, The Essence House experience was a 45-minute journey of discovery, beginning with a multi-sensory exploration of the London Essence drinks collection using distilled botanicals, and ending with a bespoke cocktail, mixed by one of the world’s best bartenders.
THE ESSENCE HOUSE EXPERIENCE
Upon arrival, visitors were welcomed into the light, bright space, where they were greeted by our host, and brought through to the Library – a room dedicated to the London Essence history – which we’ll touch on again later.
Once they’d drunk their fill of our heritage, the next component of The Essence House journey could begin.
Our visitors were guided to the interactive sensory wall, where they could smell and touch a range of distilled botanicals, in order to select their favourite London Essence blend.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR PALATE PROFILE
After this, our guests moved on to the experience table, where they took part in a series of insightful taste and aroma tests, which revealed their sensitivity to different flavour families, like sweetness, bitterness and acidity. These tests were curated in partnership with Dr. Rachel Edwards-Stuart – one of a select number of experts in the UK dedicated to gastronomy and flavour perception.
This experience was designed to encourage our guests beyond the realms of their usual flavour favourites; we hoped visitors would expand their horizons, and be led through The Essence House by their own sense of touch, taste and smell. It was our intention to assist participants in identifying their likes and dislikes, and discovering the roles of nature and nurture in their developing tastes.
We hoped visitors would expand their horizons, and be led through The Essence House by their own sense of touch, taste and smell
A BESPOKE FINALE
After our visitors had completed this series of taste and aroma tests, they handed their unique results over to the expertly trained team of guest bartenders.
To guarantee an exquisite drinking experience for every guest, we gathered four of the finest bartenders in the world to run the show. Each day, one of these prestigious four led the creation of custom cocktails, ably supported by the London Essence brand ambassador team.
Our lineup of world-renowned bartenders included James Fowler of Terroir Tapas, Maxim Schulte of The Savoy’s American Bar, Lorenzo Antinori of Four Seasons Hong Kong, and finally Liana Oster, who joined us from Dante in New York, which won the title of World’s Best Bar in 2019.
Our experts got to work, equipped with an array of premium mixers from the London Essence collection, and several superior spirits. These ranged from the delightfully fresh Ketel One Botanical, to Tanqueray Ten and the world’s number one Scotch whisky, Johnnie Walker – as well as Seedlip’s non-alcoholic spirit, for those who preferred not to drink.
The team analysed the preferences of our guests, utilizing this insight and adding their own unique twist to every spectacular bespoke cocktail, which catered precisely to the individual’s particular taste.
We hoped visitors would expand their horizons, and be led through The Essence House by their own sense of touch, taste and smell
CELEBRATING OUR HERITAGE
As well as enjoying a personalised cocktail, guests at The Essence House were given the opportunity to discover our rich heritage, by stepping into the Library. Visitors could peruse a selection of oversized, scented pages from the original Book of Essences, which were artfully hung around the space.
This priceless resource from our archive details some of the intricate processes and ingredients used by the original London Essence Company, dating back to the late 19th century, when our founders supplied essences for the leading perfume houses in the city.
