Mr Lyan develops cocktail seasonings
Ryan ‘Mr Lyan’ Chetiyawardana, renowned bartender, bar owner, and founder of Mr Lyan Studio, has partnered with Sri Lankan family-owned businesses to launch a range of cocktail seasonings.
Born out of a collaboration between three family-owned brands – Mr Lyan, Rockland Distilleries and Dilmah Tea – the range, known as Three Families, includes five unique heritage flavours that combine traditional bitters techniques with modern fruit distillates and extracts, each of which has been designed to ‘elevate any cocktail’.
The line-up is said to allow for personalisation of drinks while evoking a ‘sense of fun’ for individuals to experiment with, bringing ‘depth and complexity’ to all cocktails, from Gin & Tonics to Old Fashioneds and Margaritas.
Inspired by the rich cultural and culinary history of Sri Lanka, the blends have been created using tropical flavours such as rambutan, tamarind, coriander, peppercorns and lemongrass.
While they feature a combination of ingredients, each of the five seasonings captures three dominant flavours.
The Ceylon Sour offers a citrus hit of calamansi, tamarind and coriander seed. It is advised to be used in any serve in which ‘you’d squeeze a wedge of lime’.
Meanwhile, the Verdant Sinhaya is a greener, vibrant cocktail seasoning that harnesses the verdancy of the Sri Lankan rainforest with preserved mandarin, wildflower honey and lemongrass. It is said to be ‘ideal’ for a Martini ‘or wherever you need an aromatic brightness’.
Rambutan, jasmine and arrack are the three dominant flavours of the Pettah Market, which is described as a tropical fruit explosion that embodies ‘the essence of Sri Lanka’s markets’. It is recommended in any drink you want to add a ‘tropical twist’ to.
Sunset Pekoe’s blend of warming pekoe tea, earthy turmeric and sweet, complex toasted oak provide peppery heat and lasting finish to Sours and Gin & Tonics, while the Amethyst Punch has been created specifically for celebrating the five flavour camps of a traditional Punch cocktail, with green tea, mangosteen and peppercorn.
Three Families was made available to the trade in November 2024 via Mangrove and Speciality Drinks, and to consumers in January via The Whisky Exchange for £27.95 (US$35.25) each.
It is currently available in the UK, with Singapore and Australia to follow this year.
Yesterday (18 February) it was announced that Mr Lyan will host his own travel TV show.
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