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No 3 Gin cocktail winner turns to Beatrix Potter's Mr Tod for inspiration

Published:  03 October, 2014

Let's be honest the average top bartender is not the kind of person who would admit turning to Beatrix Potter for inspiration. Let alone the kind of bartender who would be allowed to play along the back bar of the uber cool City Social in Old Broad Street in London.

The Tale of Mr Tod: an inspiring foxThe Tale of Mr Tod: an inspiring foxWayne Chapman turned to Beatrix Potter to help him create his winning No 3 Gin winning cocktail

Let's be honest the average top bartender is not the kind of person who would admit turning to Beatrix Potter for inspiration. Let alone the kind of bartender who would be allowed to play along the back bar of the uber cool City Social in Old Broad Street in London.

But fair play to Wayne Chapman who said the inspiration for his winning cocktail in the recent No.3 Gin Cocktail Competition was none other than Mr Tod from the Tale of Mr Tod by the one and only Beatrix Potter.

In this tale of derring do Peter Rabbit, no less, has to work with his enemy Mr Tod, the local crafty fox, to help rescue Benjamin Bunny's children which have been stolen by evil badger Tommy Brock.  Not only does Brock kidnap the children, but he hides them in the oven of Mr Tod, intending to gobble them up after a sleep in Mr Tod's bed.

But he's followed to the house by Benjamin and Peter Rabbit, who lie in wait until Mr Tod returns to find Brock still sleeping in his bed. As a fight breaks out between the two, the rabbits rush in, under cover of the ensuing fight, to lead the children to safety. Phew!

Chapman, who it has to be said has some facial hair in keeping with a modern day Mr Tod, came up with a cocktail 'Mr Tod's Redemption' in honour of the classic tale.

The winning combination features homemade clementine cordial along with a carrot and ginger puree, unusually finished off with a pinch of carrot salt. With clearly a nod to Peter Rabbit.

Chapman beat off competition from bartenders from across the UK who were all asked to create an 'English Garden Twist' on Jerry Thomas' classic 'Gin Cocktail' using Berry Bros & Rudd's No.3 London Dry Gin.

His Potter-inspired cocktail won the hearts and taste buds of the jury which included Amanda Humphrey (Mixxit), Matt Fairhurst (2013 No.3 Gin cocktail competition winner) and Amanda Baxter (product training manager, Berry Bros & Rudd Spirits) with the competition being held with Leeds' Roundhay Park.

For his troubles Chapman has won a "Bros & Rudd experience" which includes an exclusive lunch for him plus one in the 300-year-old private director's dining room at No.3 St James's Street before going to Dukes Hotel to sample a No.3 Gin Martini in the room where Ian Fleming first created the Vesper cocktail.

He will then be whisked off to enjoy a show of his choice at the Royal Albert Hall, where Berry Bros & Rudd opened its No.3 Gin bar in 2012,  before sleeping it all of at Dukes Hotel, London. A day quite fitting for Mr Tod himself.  

The children's tale of how Peter and Benjamim Rabbit save their stolen children under the noses of Mr Tod and the badger Tommy Brock is now the inspiration for a winning No 3 gin cocktail competition.

If you want to have a go at making Chapman's winning cocktail here's the recipe.

In shaker add: 

50ml No.3 Gin

10ml lemon juice

10ml Campari

10ml clementine cordial (homemade)

30ml carrot and ginger puree (homemade)

Pinch of carrot salt  

Shake and serve with a ginger tuile.

Chapman presented his competition winner in a picnic basket complete with checked blanket and the scent of freshly cut grass sprayed into the air. But a glass will also do the trick.     

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