London cocktail bar Swift has reinvented its classic cocktail list with ‘retro’ flavours and lesser-known ingredients such as Armagnac and mezcal.

The dimly-lit downstairs bar at Swift in London’s Soho

Swift, based on Soho’s Old Compton Street, has created the new cocktail list for its downstairs bar – a dimly-lit spirits-centric den.

Developed by co-owners Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston, along with the Swift team, the new menu continues the bar’s signature style of “paired-back presentation”.

In honour of the new menu, Johansson and Hiddleston have also created a list of ‘Swift Classics’ featuring some of the bar’s most popular drinks.

The new drinks list is described as combining “timeless classics” with current trends.

The list features “green and savoury” flavours; darker serves that showcase lesser-known ingredients such as Armagnac, mezcal and Irish and Canadian whiskies; and ‘retro’ flavours including peanut butter, kiwi, passionfruit and rhubarb.

Launched in late November 2016 on the site of former industry hotspot Lab, Swift is the brainchild of ex-Milk and Honey veterans Hiddleston and Johansson and Rosie Stimpson and Edmund Weil, of Nightjar and Oriole. The venue won the title of Best New International Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards last year and was named our European Bar to Watch in 2017.

Click through the following pages to view a selection of cocktails featured on Swift’s new menu.

Sterling

Ingredients: Orange bitters, absinthe, crème de peche, manzanilla, Tokaji, Noilly Prat dry vermouth

Tapping into the Sherry trend, Sterling is a light and delicate fortified drink, bursting with stone-fruit flavours.

Daylily Fizz

Ingredients: Montelobos, lime, pea sherbet, green Chartreuse, Plymouth gin, Perrier-Jouet, soda

This vegetal take on a Gin Sour has a hint of smoke, and takes its green hue from Chartreuse, along with lime and pea sherbert.

Tinderbox

Ingredients: Angostura bitters, ginger bitters, honey, orange Curaçao, Clos Martin Armagnac, peanut butter-infused Bacardi 8 Year Old

A fun twist on the classic Old Fashioned, the Tinderbox combines peanut butter rum with Armagnac for a rich finish.

Santa Fe

Ingredients: Angostura bitters, Hellfire shrub, tonka syrup, Martini Riserva Speciale Rubino, Monkey Shoulder Smokey Monkey

A smoky version of the famous Rob Roy, this whisky serve is laced with vanilla and chocolate flavours – plus a hint of spice.

Pinwheel

Ingredients: Lemon, mandarin sherbet, Amaro Montenegro, Prosecco

An updated, fruitier version of the Aperol Spritz – long and sparkling.

Pembrook

Ingredients: Lime, sugar, falernum syrup, Absenteroux Vermouth, Calvados Père-Magloire, Hendrick’s Orbium

A fresh and zingy gin Highball, with the addition of stone fruits and anise.