I won't lie to you, initially this seemed to be the assignment from hell. "We're doing a Sussex week" they say. "Fantasic… Sussex is lovely!" I responded. Cue my internal monologue screaming 'what cocktails ever came out of Sussex, why do we never do a Cognac week, or a Venice week… or better still a tiki-themed Polynesian week?'.It turns out I was doing Sussex a massive disservice. As well as its incredible selection of beers (which, incidentally, I may or may not have tried 'a lot of' to decide on a decent cocktail recipe) the county is also responsible for Bluebell Vineyard Estates and their incredible sparkling Hindleap. You can grab it from your local Oddbins or a number of other retailers… and so you should. I was tempted to adapt a champagne and lavender cocktail I'd read about but finding fresh lavender can be a nightmare so cue a touch of experimentation. The freshness of the Bluebell Hindleap would be perfectly complimented by thyme, and whilst it's easy to make a thyme syrup, it's even easier to make one out of elderflower cordial. A touch of vodka to bring the drink up to adult levels of fun and you're done.
For the thyme and elderflower syrup:
- 200ml of elderflower cordial
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- Bring all the ingredients to the boil
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes
- Pull out the thyme sprigs
- A bottle of chilled Bluebell Hindleap (or Prosecco)
- 50ml of elderflower and thyme syrup
- 25ml of vodka
- 1 sprig of thyme to garnish
- Add the syrup and vodka to a champagne flute
- Stir to mix
- Top up with the sparkling wine
- Garnish with a sprig of thyme
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