Award-winning bar, The Churchill Bar & Terrace in Marylebone, is proud to announce the launch of Churchill’s Cocktails, a cocktail recipe book created in partnership with Imperial War Museums (IWM), to celebrate and honour the bar’s namesake, Sir Winston Churchill.

Launching in October 2021, the book will feature 30 recipes inspired by the people, places and passions associated with Sir Winston Churchill, alongside historical insights and anecdotes about the famous wartime Prime Minister. Each recipe has been expertly crafted by The Churchill Bar & Terrace’s team of mixologists, and a handful are much-loved favourites on current and previous bar menus, which guests can now recreate at home.

The Churchill Bar & Terrace has long been renowned for the tribute it pays to Sir Winston Churchill, not only in its varying cocktail menus, but also in the bar and terrace design, which incorporates family heirlooms, letters, an impressive cigar selection, and artwork of Churchill. This fun celebration of Churchill’s life pairs perfectly with IWM’s historic expertise, showcased in the secret underground headquarters of the Prime Minister during the Second World War, Churchill War Rooms, and the award-winning Churchill Museum.

A connoisseur of food and drink, Churchill’s refined palette would have been no stranger to many of the ingredients featured in this book. Highlight recipes include The Clementine champagne cocktail with a hint of orange in honour of Churchill’s beloved Clementine, the punch-style The Artist evoking the wintery English countryside in honour of the landscapes Churchill enjoyed painting and The Cigar Smoker which promises a touch of theatre by using an aromatic ‘smoke bubble’ to represent his love of cigars. The book has been divided into four sections – Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Experienced – denoting the level of preparation and skill required to create each delicious recipe and also features a helpful glossary of equipment and homemade ingredients, as well as alternatives to create alcohol-free concoctions.

Arnaud de Saint Exupéry, General Manager of Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill Area Vice President for Hyatt Hotels UK and Ireland, added “While our hotel pays homage to the great man and his life and work and maintains a strong connection with the Churchill family, the Churchill Bar & Terrace has carved a reputation for itself as a fun and sophisticated spot that celebrates Churchill through its innovative and creative menus and modern artwork. Throughout our changing menus, there is a long tradition of our mixologists drawing inspiration from Churchill, meaning that each cocktail in the book has been carefully created to encompass not only ingredients and flavours that Churchill would have enjoyed, but also an intriguing story behind them that celebrates Churchill’s life. We are excited to be sharing many of these recipes exclusively in the book, and for the first time with the general public, so they too can share in this celebration.”

Reflecting on Churchill’s relationship with the finer things in life, Nigel Steel, Head of Content at the Churchill War Rooms, commented ‘Churchill himself admitted that he was “easily satisfied with the best of everything” and had a reputation for indulging in the finest food and drink. He was a legendary bon vivant who cherished his cook, Georgina Landemare, as a highly valued friend of the family. Despite his propensity to consume alcohol of various strengths, from breakfast right through until bedtime, Churchill was enormously energetic and driven, regularly working 18-hour days and remaining seemingly unaffected by this consumption. He even famously said “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me”.’

For those who would like to try their cocktail before they recreate it at home, The Clementine and Churchill Martini are both on the current bar menu, which guests can enjoy either in the cosy bar, or outside on the terrace, a hidden gem in central London.

Churchill’s Cocktails will be available to purchase from the IWM online shop and in our museum branches from 7 October 2021.