Four Roses Bourbon, fresh orange juice, cinnamon & curry leaf — Colonel Saab London
Memsaab (Memsahib) was the honorific for the British colonial official's wife — a term of respect and distance, used throughout the subcontinent to address European women of status. Colonel Saab's cocktail named after her is 'gracious, sweet, simple and elegant' — the cocktail's own description. Four Roses Bourbon (one of the most food-friendly American bourbons, made in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky — a single-distillery blend of ten different bourbon recipes, known for its smoothness and subtle floral character) with fresh orange juice, cinnamon syrup, and the South Indian curry leaf. The curry leaf is the twist that makes it Indian: its citrus-herb-lime character integrates seamlessly with orange and cinnamon, adding depth without dominating.
Four Roses is available at all major UK supermarkets. The Trafalgar Square location uses Buffalo Trace Bourbon — either works beautifully with the orange and cinnamon. Fresh orange juice is important; do not use carton juice. Curry leaves must be fresh — frozen are acceptable; dried are not.
Add 5ml Cointreau for a more intense orange dimension, or swap cinnamon syrup for cardamom syrup for a different but equally Indian-tasting version.
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.
Visit colonelsaab.co.uk