Fresh turmeric-infused Absolut vodka, lime & ginger beer — Colonel Saab London
Turmeric (haldi in Hindi — Curcuma longa, the yellow rhizome that colours everything from dal to skin paste to paint) is the defining spice of Indian cooking — an anti-inflammatory, an antiseptic, a dye, a sacred offering. Fresh turmeric (as opposed to dried and ground) has a more vivid, slightly earthy, less acrid flavour — like a combination of ginger and black pepper with an orange blossom note. Colonel Saab infuses fresh turmeric directly into Absolut vodka, creating a golden spirit with haldi's distinctive depth. In the mule format — ginger beer (a fellow rhizome, adrak, from the same botanical family as turmeric) and lime — the result is a cocktail that makes turmeric the hero rather than a background health add-on.
Fresh turmeric is available at most UK Indian grocery stores and increasingly at supermarkets (Waitrose, Sainsbury's). Wear rubber gloves when slicing — turmeric stains skin and surfaces bright yellow. Coffee filter straining is essential to get a clear, golden drink rather than a cloudy one. The infusion produces a vodka with a warm, earthy, slightly spicy character — genuinely transformative compared to plain vodka.
Add 5ml fresh ginger juice alongside the turmeric infusion for a double-rhizome vodka with even more depth.
An elegant homage to the era of the Indian Army officer — refined North and Central Indian cuisine in a handsome Holborn dining room. Colonel Saab's bar programme is built on house-spiced spirits and techniques drawn from both the subcontinent and the British raj era, producing some of London's most inventive Indian cocktails.
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