Wow!

By Scott Hallsworth, renowned chef and entrepreneur. Formerly Nobu head chef, Kurobuta chef/owner and now chef and owner of Freakscene in Soho

I could not heap more praise on Jeffrey’s Tonic Syrups. When you discover a range of drinks as special in taste and ingredients as Jeffrey’s you just want to spend more time than you should on experimenting with them and developing some amazing drinks, both cocktails and mocktails as well as soft drinks.

And that is precisely what we’re doing here at Freakscene. Thanks to our amazing drinks guru Barry McCaughley who devised our cocktail menu, we are now serving the Hi-Chu in the restaurant. The Hi-Chu uses the Japanese spirit Shochu, served over ice in a high ball glass and we top it with soda and any of the four Jeffrey’s Tonic Syrups but it’s especially good with the Lime, Galangal & Orange one.

I just love how Jeffrey’s Tonic Syrups are so versatile. They’re not like any other cordial on the market and are a bartender’s dream. We’re bowled over by the mix of top-quality ingredients, exotic flavours and the natural way they’re produced. Our customers just love them over ice with soda as a long, cool, thirst-quencher. And are lapping them up in our cocktails.

Here are four Jeffrey’s Tonic Syrups:

The Original Recipe combines warm spices of Cassia bark, nutmeg, clove and allspice with cinchona bark and Sicilian Lemon. We mix the Original with a wide range of gins, taking ordinary gins to a new ‘cocktail’ level and it works really well with premium orange-based and spiced gins.

‘Not so Plain’ Tonic is a classic representation of the best Indian tonic, bringing together cinchona bark and organic Sicilian lemon juice. This one works a treat with any good gin and brings out the flavours of the spirit so a top ingredient for all those who love a hearty G&T.

Another favourite of mine is the Lime, Galangal & Orange. It’s a complex and unusual blend with strong hints of the Far East. A really interesting summer soft drink, which also works well with citrus based gins and rum. One of our best-selling cocktails uses pink grapefruit gin as a base over ice, topped with soda and Jeffrey’s Lime, Galangal & Orange Tonic Syrup and it is absolutely fantastic. It’s not only a great mix of flavours but it’s amazingly refreshing too.

And last but definitely not least is the Yarrow, Rosehip & Elderflower syrup with cinchona bark, yarrow flowers, rosehips and elderflower juice which has delicate, warm and sweet notes and we recommended it by itself with just soda or with floral or fruity gins, vodka or even prosecco.

All this talk of gin and Jeffrey’s is making me very thirsty so I’m off to create some more drinks to try on my lovely customers. Cheers!