Hennessy VSOP, Tanqueray gin, Cloud Tea, strawberry, lemon & Champagne — Gymkhana London
The Royal Bombay Yacht Club was founded in 1846 — the oldest yacht club in Asia, on Apollo Bunder at the edge of Bombay Harbour. It is the most British of all Bombay's colonial clubs, a place where cognac, gin, and Champagne would have been simultaneously in use throughout the Empire era. Gymkhana's cocktail named for it combines precisely these spirits — Hennessy VSOP (cognac from the Charente, France), Tanqueray gin (London Dry from Cameronbridge, Scotland), and Philippe Gonet NV Champagne (a grower Champagne from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, among the most refined in Champagne) — with Cloud Tea (likely a Darjeeling or Yunnan white tea) and fresh strawberry. It is the most architecturally ambitious cocktail at 42 at Gymkhana, a cocktail lounge that reopened in April 2025 to considerable acclaim.
Philippe Gonet is a grower Champagne (small producer growing their own grapes, not a large house blending from across Champagne) — the Le Mesnil-sur-Oger chalk terroir gives it extraordinary mineral precision. Any quality Blanc de Blancs (Vilmart, Pierre Péters, Jacquesson) is an excellent substitute. Cloud Tea (white tea from Yunnan province) is available at specialist tea shops — Silver Needle from the same region is widely available and equivalent.
Substitute Champagne with a high-quality English sparkling wine (Nyetimber, Hambledon) for a fully British version of this British-Indian club cocktail.
A Michelin-starred Mayfair institution inspired by the colonial-era gymkhana clubs of British India, where maharajas, army officers, and civil servants mixed. Gymkhana is known for exceptional game dishes, a legendary bar programme, and cocktails that draw on the subcontinent's rich botanical heritage — from wild game to monsoon spices.
Visit gymkhanalondon.com